To celebrate our eighth wedding anniversary, Kelvin and I got away for an evening + overnight locally while his parents graciously picked up the boys from school and watched them overnight.
We had a nice dinner at Arcata's Campground restaurant, and then headed to our lodging at Humboldt Bay Social Club in Samoa, a coastal peninsular area south west of Arcata.
The lodging venue, open since May of 2017, is on the site of a former WWII blimp base and then municipal airstrip, and sits adjacent to Samoa Drag Strip, a historic racing grounds that hosts street-legal races in the summer months.
There are multiple quaint rooms on the "Samoa Field" side, as well as other lofts and cabins in Oyster Beach (a hub of vacation rentals) across the road.
We were lodged in Bunk 9, which had bunk full-sized beds and a cozy sitting area, but without a private bathroom (which was fine-- I didn't see another soul using the shared shower and bathroom just down the hall). The room was complete with complimentary snacks, beers, and coffee, and the Lobby Bar (on site of the former hangar) was just a short hallway away, serving drinks, snacks, and fresh oysters.
We wandered around the grounds in the evening light, checking out the DIY-barbecue stations, outdoor games, and vintage lounge areas, as well as the outdoor Bath House with a large claw-foot tub.
These "beach wagons" were free to use if we wanted to go down to the dunes.
Vintage trailer-turned coffee station
We both slept amazingly well, although our bodies still wake us up at the time that our kids usually do, circa 5:40 a.m. I enjoyed a morning jog on the drag strip, in-room coffee, a hot shower and some watching Wimbledon time before we headed back home late morning to rejoin the family.
