I do my fair share of badmouthing our community here on the North Coast, so as atonement, here’s my take on what’s right about where we live.

I start from the thesis that the least fortunate of us is still better off than the richest king or queen who lived two hundred years ago: we live longer, thanks to vaccines we’re not dying early (from polio, measles, diphtheria, whooping cough, German measles, mumps, tetanus, etc.) (for that matter, a quarter of us aren’t dying before age one), the water’s clean, we have teeth into middle age, mattress aren’t full of fleas, a cut doesn’t lead to possible sepsis and death, getting information (Google, Wikipedia, youtube) is like turning on a tap, and on and on. From that perspective, we’re doing better than OK.

That said, it’s easy to miss just how good we’re really doing—I probably complain as much as my counterpart two centuries ago. So as an antidote to our innate “ain’t it awful” fallback attitude, here’s a few perks to demonstrate how much enjoyment can be obtained here for minimal or no cost. Most of what follows is Eurekacentric (with some national thrown into the mix), totally idiosyncratic and non-definitive. Please help by adding what I missed in Country Club comments.

Eating and Drinking 

  • Dollar store or Winco rice pudding, ambrosia in a plastic cup. $1

  • Rum balls. Trust me on this. Ramones’ under $2

  • Jaegermeister herbal liqueur, nectar of the gods, wickedly good. A $15 bottle lasts a month or more the way I indulge, half a shot glass sipped slowly late at night. $0.50/day

  • Rice and beans burritito at Chapala’s. Food for the whole day, practically healthy. $10 with tip.

  • Doritos and other snacks, not even slightly healthy, Steve & Dave’s $1

  • Coffee at Los Bagels every March for $1

  • Bowl of clam chowder. Best in town, in county, in country. Waterfront Cafe. $10 with tip.

  • “No one has to go hungry in Eureka.” Betty’s Blue Angel (twice a day, seven days a week, meals and coffee in the St. Vincent de Paul parking lot: $0.); St. Vincent de Paul (daily lunch $0). Food for People $0. And many more services for needy folks.

  • Pretty decent wine (happily, we’re the opposite of connoisseurs), Grocery Outlet, $4.95

  • Titanium spork, eat like a queen or king every day. Adventure’s Edge $10

Computer and On-line 

  • Free wifi at most coffee shops with coffee (except Los Bagels!) $0

  • Freedom Pop cell. (Very) limited service for $0

  • Topo Maps: downloadable 7.5 minute maps (1:24,000) for the entire U.S., iOS, $12

  • The world at your fingertips: refurbished laptops and notebooks from Amazon and many others, from $100

  • Fake Word, Excel etc: Open Office $0

Entertainment

  • Regular movie nights, lectures, etc. at the County Library $0

  • Open mic, best free show in town, Thursdays 6.30-9.00 pm, Old Town Coffee and Chocolates $0 (but purchase appreciated)

  • Books galore, cheap racks outside Eureka Books and Booklegger $1 and up

  • Little Free Library at Old Town Coffee and Chocolates (and many more locations) $0

  • DVD rental, County Library $0

  • Morris Graves, regular music and arts events, usually $5 or less

  • Pool, if you suck (i.e. one game lasts 30 minutes) Steve & Dave’s $2/hour

  • Questionable Content, best online comic strip, five days a week $0

  • Mr. Robot. Five-star techno thriller, can’t praise enough. Download from all over, about $1 per episode.

  • Arts Alive, first Saturday of the month, 6 pm, Old Town Eureka. Come play with the beautiful people. $0 (but street musicians need to eat too)

Fitness and Fun 

  • Omron basic pedometer (poor man’s FitBit), best fitness tool for your buck, nothing beats “smug” when you’ve got your 10,000 steps in a day: Walgreens, about $15

  • Adorni, $22/month for seniors (family and friends are free)

  • Pickle ball at Adorni $0 with membership, seniors $2.50, adults $3

  • Sequoia Park, Hikshari’ trail, new waterfront trail from Samoa Bridge to Community Clinic via Target: Clean! Walter views! No potholes! $0

  • Skate Park (Cooper Gulch) $0

  • 16 x 20 photo enlargements on stiff boards (no need for frame), Walgreens during their regular 40%-off sale $15 plus tax

  • Mail anywhere in the U.S., such a deal: $0.35 (postcard), $0.50 (letter)

  • Thrift stores: just about anything for just about nothing. $1 and up

  • Reading glasses, see above $1

  • Dollar Store (and clones) for all the stuff you just paid five and ten bucks for. $1 plus tax.

  • Get stoned for free! Walk down the boardwalk. $0

I know. I’ve just scraped the surface. And there’s still plenty to fault. But here we are, so why not love what we do have?