<INNS: My favorite in Crescent City is the Bayview with its ocean-view rooms, some with Jacuzzi; 21 rooms. The next door café, the Apple Peddler, serves good food and is, surprisingly to me, open 24 hours daily at 310 Highway 101 South; Tel.: 800-446-0583. Oceanworld is just a few steps away.
 Best Western Northwoods Inn, across from Crescent City's marina, has 89 units, restaurant/cocktail lounge, picnic area, some rooms with refrigerators, microwaves: address 655 101 South; Tel: 800-528-1234; web via Best Western site: www.bestwestern.com.
 Curly Redwood Lodge was built from only one curly redwood treet. It offers queen beds; the 36 units are near the harbor. Address: 701 Redwood Highway South; Tel: 707-464-2137; e-mail curlyredwood@telis.org.
 Crescent Beach Motel is the only motel on the beach, has panoramic view rooms with patios. Address: 1455 Redwood Highway South; Tel: 707-464-5436.
 Anchor Beach Inn is the town's newest B&B; two-person Jacuzzi tubs; microfridges. Address: 880 Highway 101 South; Tel: 707-464-2600.
<RESTAURANTS: Stop by Da Lucianna Ristorante (classic Italian) or the Fiesta Café (a hole in the wall for family-prepared Mexican dishes).
 On the way north or south from Crescent City, stop by the Forest Café at Trees of Mystery. You'll feel you're snorkeling underwater and enjoy the good American fare prepared by chef Rob Santestevan. It is against the law beyond the Klamath to depart before finishing the hote blackberry cobbler.
 Happy New Year to all. Some of the Big Trees up here already have reached their second millenium!
EN ROUTE December 1999

Driving, San Francisco to Eureka: Highway 101, the Redwood Highway, is the speediest route, about 278 miles. A beautiful alternative is Highway One, which can transport you by any number of wiggly ways and inexplicable miles. (Suggestion: Try it one way or the other if you make a round trip from San Francisco.)
 Staying in Eureka: In my view, the choice rooms in town today are those of the Hotel Carter and Carter House Victorians (30 rooms, $95-$285; tel: 707-444-8062). The classic for many years was the Tudor-style Eureka Inn (105 rooms, $110-$250; tel: 707-442-6441). Returning from decay, a veritable phoenix, the Eagle House Victorian Inn may have its restaurant and bar ready by the time you arrive (24 rooms, $55-$95; tel: 707-444-3344).
 A standout among B&Bs, Abigail’s Elegant Victorian Mansion offers four immaculate bedrooms in antique atmosphere ($85-$185; tel: 707-444-3144). Carson House Inn, that distinguished B&B, has 60 rooms ($65-$115; tel: 707-443-1601. The Best Western Thunderbird Inn & Executive Suites is handily located ($61-$150; tel: 707-443-2234).
 Dining in Eureka: Absolutely epicurean, a standout in Northern California, Restaurant 101 at the Hotel Carter boasts one of the state’s best wine lists (tel: 707-444-8062). Eureka Inn’s Rib Room is masculine (which is why women also like it), traditional, with suave service (tel: 707-442-6441).
 Unique, that most-overused adjective, may be applied to Samoa Cookhouse on its peninsula elbowing Eureka on the north. The last surviving lumbertown cookhouse in the west, it serves enormous meals at meager prices at long, tables. There’s also an interesting museum.
 Web sites: Check out the Eureka! Humboldt County Convention & Visitors Bureau at www.redwoodvisitor.org;
Eureka Inn at www.innplacetobe@eurekainn.com; Carter House Victorians at www.carterhouse.com.

EN ROUTE November 1999

Driving to Humboldt, Del Norte: From San Francisco on 101, the Redwood Highway, it’s about 205 miles to Benbow, two miles south of Garberville; 273 miles to Eureka; 350 to Klamath. (Weott, Rio Dell, Ferndale, and Fortuna are a few miles south of Eureka; Arcata, Blue Lake, McKinleyville, and Trinidad range about the same distances to the north.)
 Seasonal celebrations: For a Coastal Christmas brochure outlining events, telephone 800-346-3482 or e-mail redwoodvis@aol.com.
 Staying inn for the holidays: Benbow Inn offers a special $89 rate for rooms in the main lodge, Nov. 28-Dec. 22; 445 Lake Benbow Drive, Garberville, CA 95501; tel: 707-923-2124; e-mail: bewbow@benbowinn.com; web site www.benbowinn.com.
 Carter House Victorians has planned seven Milleniam Madness packages for New Year’s Eve, ranging from one night to three nights/four days, all including double rooms and degustation menus in the formidable Restaurant 101, priced from $470 to $25,000. (Ah yes, but that last figure includes nine of the greatest wine bottlings of the 20th century, among them a 1900 Château Lafite-Rothschild and a 1975 Château Petrus.) Address Carter House Victorians at 301 L. Street, Eureka, CA 95501; tel: 707-444-8062; e-mail reserve@carterhouse.com; web site www.carterhouse.com.
 Eureka Inn once again plays hostess to the host of pilgrims to a Coastal Christmas with the 17th annual unveiling of the 22-foot tree, caroling of childrens’ choirs in the lobby, and a black-tie dinner dance on New Year’s Eve. Address Eureka Inn, 518 7th Avenue, Eureka, CA 95501; tel: 707-442-6441; res. tel: 800-862-4906; e-mail innplacetobe@eurekainn.com; web site www.eurekainn.com.
 Gingerbread Mansion in Ferndale is a handsome escape into a more gracious past; try it on Dec. 5 when America’s tallest living Christmas tree, a 165-foot Sitka spruce is lighted in a ceremony traditional since the 1930s. Address 400 Berding Street, Ferndale, CA 95536; tel: 800-952-4136; e-mail innkeeper@gingerbread-mansion.com; web site www.gingerbread-mansion.com.
 Lost Whale Inn Bed and Breakfast (eight rooms) a cozy retreat on a brisk and glittering winter day, sits on a cliff above the sea in a gardened setting. Address 3452 Patrick’s Point Drive, Trinidad, CA 95570; tel: (800) 677-7859; e-mail lmiller@lostwhaleinn.com;web site www.lostwhaleinn.com.
 Other relevant web sites: www.redwoodvisitor.org; www.redwoodempire.com; www.californiainns.com; www.TreesofMystery.net
 

EN ROUTE October 1999

INNS: Benbow Inn: 55 units, some in main lodge, others in newer terrace building; $115-$225, cottage $305. At 445 Lake Benbow Drive, Garberville, CA 95542; tel: 707-923-2124, 800-355-3301. Excellent cuisine; dining on terrace, weather permitting; www.benbowinn.com .
Gingerbread Mansion: 11 rooms; $140-$350. At 400 Berding St., Ferndale, CA 95536; tel: 707-786-4000, 800-952-4136; www.gingerbread-mansion.com .
Shelter Cove Ocean Inn: two suites with two queen beds, $105; two rooms with a queen bed, $65. At 148 Dolphin, Shelter Cove, CA 95589; tel: 707-986-7161.
BACK ROADS: Just north of Garberville (itself five miles north of Garberville), take the turnoff for Alderpoint Road east to Harris; north to the hamlet of Alderpoint. Crossing the bridge, head north to Blocksburg (don’t miss the cemetery, liveliest place in town). Continue north on Alderpoint to Bridgeville, where you turn west to Grizzly Creek Redwoods State Park on Highway 36, which returns you to Highway 101 via Carlotta and Hydesville.
On the day you “do” Ferndale, follow Highway 211 off 101 just north of Fortuna. From Ferndale, continue along 211 (Mattole Road) to Capetown, Petrolia, and Honeydew. Mattole runs on into Humboldt Redwoods State Park and meets 101 just north of Weott.
To reach Shelter Cove, take the Redway exit north of Garberville and follow the Briceland-Thorne Road to the point where it becomes Shelter Cove Road. Follow that unless you wish to become completely lost.

EN ROUTE - September 1999

Klamath: Approximately a five-hour drive from San Francisco’s Golden Gate Bridge, the river is a place for following the fish: king salmon and chinook run the river mouth, sandspit area from mid-July into October; steelhead struggle upsteam from mid-August through October. Fishing camps and RV parks cluster along the shore. In summer, the swift vessels of Klamath River Jet Boat Tours whiz thrill-seekers on a 64-mile escape from ocean to wilderness (tel: 800-887-5387).
 Photograph your family at the Tour Thru Tree, driving through a man-made opening in a 700-year-old redwood (Klamath Chamber of Commerce, tel: 800-200-2335).
 Requa Road: The original Klamath Inn dates from the early 1880s. Last year, Paul and Donna Hamby recreated the casual, cozy retreat of 10 rooms priced from $59 to $95. Rates include complete breakfast; dinners feature local seafood, filet mignon, chicken, etc; tel: 707-482-1425; web: www.home.earthlink.net/~innkeeper1/_uimages.
 Trees of Mystery: Its End-of-the-Trail Museum displays a magnificent collection of American Indian arts, crafts, and jewelry, a priceless record of the artistry of some 25 tribes from the Southwest to the Aleutians.
 Two trails, Kingdom of Trees and Tall Tales, widen the eyes of adults as well as of children. Here, Mother Nature indulges her prankish humor and the story of Paul Bunyan plays itself out in wood sculptures.
 Fine country-style food is served by chef Rob Santestevan in the Forest Café (tel: 707-482-5585). It’s against the law beyond the Klamath to depart before consuming a hot blackberry cobbler.
 Motel Trees on the same property is a handy place to stay for those who don’t wish to drive on to Crescent City; 23 rooms, $40-$65 (tel: 800-848-2982).
 Del Norte Coast Redwoods State Park: The dense, virgin forest here is the least developed of the region’s parks. Alder Basin Trail takes you on a rather easy ramble through alder forests and maple and willow groves (two-mile round trip, 45 minutes). Damnation Creek Trail on the distinctly opposite hand, designed for serious walkers, leads from old-growth trees and a sea cove to an oceanside spruce forest (2½ miles, three hours).
 Crescent City: The town (pop. 8,800 or so) well repays a two- or three-hour prowl. Stop by the Redwood National and State Parks Headquarters at 1111 Second Street. Two museums worth a call are Battery Point Lighthouse (1856), open only at low tide, and the county’s historical Main Museum in the old Hall of Records.
 Follow Pebble Beach Drive. Pay respects at the Brother Jonathan Cemetery, where lie some 200 victims of a century-ago shipwreck. Pet a shark and ogle sea lions at Ocean World Aquarium.
 For overnights, I like best the Bayview Inn with its ocean-view rooms, some with Jacuzzi; 21 doubles are $64-$69, suites $95. The Apple Peddler, next door, serves meals for 24 hours (www.hotelsontheweb.com/bayview.htm).
 Stop by Da Lucianna Ristorante (classic Italian) or the Fiesta Café (hole-in-the-wall, great Mexican food).
 Patrick Creek Resort and Historical Inn is a destination in itself within Smith River National Recreation Area, some 305,000 pristine acres bisected by the Smith River Scenic Byway. Patrick Creek is one of those splendid small finds that highlights a trip. By itself near a burbling creek, it’s as calming as an evening breeze. Menus are very creative; doubles, $69.50; suites, $79.50; one cabin at $109.50 for two, $149.50 for four; tel: 707-457-3323.
 Oregon Caves National Monument: From Cave Junction on Highway 199, turn southeast on Highway 46 for the 20-mile of curvy road to the caves. The park is open daily except on Christmas Day. Along half a mile of marble passages, water drips, drips; rocks and minerals spin into fantastic shapes; guides discuss natural and cultural history on 75-minute tours. (Cave entrance costs $7.50; $5 for children of 11 years and younger; Golden Age Passport holders, $6; tel: 503-592-2100.)
 Cave temperatures stay stuck in the ‘40s year-around and the floors may be wet and slippery. Dress accordingly. The route includes more than 500 steps; the tour is not recommended to people with difficulties in walking or breathing or those with heart problems.
 There’s something old-fashioned and immensely attractive about spending a night at The Chateau (1934), open May to mid-October. The 18 rustic rooms are priced at $90 double, $125 for the four suites that sleep up to four guests; dining room and coffee shop available; tel: 541-592-3400. (Late in season, a $74 B&B rate applies. The fine web site is www.oregoncaves.com.)
 Grants Pass: Weasku Inn Historical Resort possesses the quality of rustic elegance you thought had vanished with the 1930s. The 17 guestrooms and suites include five lodge rooms, nine river suites (fireplaces and decks), an A-frame cabin, and two spacious river suites sset right above the Rogue; rates from $85 (smallest room in the lodge) to $295 (top suites); tel: 541-471-8000; outstanding web site www.weasku.com.
 Just down the Rogue River Highway from the Weasku, the R Haus (that’s right) serves German-continental cuisine.
 Most fun in Grants Pass is running the waters of the Rogue by raft, kayak, driftboat, paddle boat, or the craft of Hellgate Jetboat Excursions. Rock walls soar 250 feet above this scalawag of a street as it shoots through Hellgate Canyon. Operating dates are May 1 through September 30; inquire at 800-648-4874 for various durations and prices of trips or check the web at www.hellgate.com.