Weekend in Santa Cruz

Last Friday night (the 24th) we headed West to Santa Cruz to visit Patrick's coworker, Sarah (and her fiance- Justin), who has been inviting us to come see the city for quite a while now! I am very pleased we did because we had a great time exploring!

We started the weekend off with a pleasant walk downtown to stroll among the shops and have a local brew over a delicious diner dinner, and followed it up the next morning by checking out a couple coffee shops and visiting the wharf.

Justin dropped us off at the wharf, where a pier with shops and restaurants extends over the ocean. On the opposite side of where you see Patrick, there's a large boardwalk with a carnival along the shore (it reminds me of Monopoly!).

The weather was perfect, and the sun made the ocean look like a blanket of blue sequins.

Sea lions liked to lay on the rafters underneath us. A few railed openings allowed us to observe them and hear their barks echo.

Leaning over the edge of the end rail, we saw a large group of the sea lions swimming and showing off for the onlookers.

Some of the seagulls were perched very close. It's amazing how hundreds of feathers can lay so smooth and flawless-looking.

On our way back, I noticed a sign for a wine tasting room on the second story of a shop. The price was reasonable and the view and atmosphere were pleasant, so we ordered a flight to share with the "purple cow" appetizer (a red wine-soaked cheese with crackers). It was the perfect impromptu stop!

We left the wharf to embark upon a somewhat long, but lovely, walk along the coast toward our destination of tidal pools.

Ice plant, a succulent, coats the steep hills to help prevent erosion, and it looks pretty to boot!

This plant striked me as rather odd and intriguing in appearance.

It was fun to watch surfers ride the large waves that came in. It's funny how that's a common hobby around here when it seems like an activity for the movies to a girl from the Midwest. Sarah told us how there's a whole unwritten set of rules/protocol to the culture- if you hog the good waves and don't take turns, that can be grounds for a beat down! (Click on the picture for a short video.)

The tide was already coming in when we made it, but we still had plenty of intriguing and beautiful surroundings to keep us engaged at the tidal pools.


These weird rock structures were dotted all around, but this was one of the larger ones. Patrick thought they might be concretions. I thought they looked like drinking fountains. :)


Doesn't that outline look like a goldfish cracker?!


Upon our first glances in the puddles, we didn't see much, but after a more patient and careful observation, Patrick noticed the subtle movements of many tiny hermit crabs.


If you touch the "petals" of the anemone, they cling to you- it was so weird feeling! This one is a fun color.


This one looked so perfect, almost like a flower.


We'll have to bring our kayaks here sometime, but for this trip it was enjoyable to watch others from a comfy ledge with a good view.


I had hoped to see starfish, but we didn't get down to any of the deeper pools since the algae made the rocks quite slippery. Luckily, Justin joined up with us to give us a ride, and he's a seasoned and passionate tidal pool adventurer. Within minutes he handed us a few to look at, to my extreme delight!


A deep purple one. It's almost hard to tell in this photo, but the underside below reveals more of it's plum hue on camera.


This one just has muck on it, but the orange one has an iron grip on a mussel, if you were to flip it over.


So cool and pretty!I feel like miniature ones would make lovely brooches were there not the issue of them being alive and needing water, and whatnot.

The ocean's intrigues kept us so occupied that we skipped lunch, but we fulfilled our hunger with a popular downtown ice cream place that makes all its ingredients from scratch and carries some unusual flavors. After a brief respite at our hosts' house, we spent Saturday evening picnicking outside at a local brewery with a gourmet pizza we picked up on the way. For dessert, Justin sneaked off to the bakery around the corner for a large pan of scrumptious apple crisp. The next day we walked a bit of it off during a short hike through a park just outside of town.

We've seen the Sequoias in Mariposa Grove about a year and a half ago, but it's still astounding to take in the girth of the Redwoods! You may be able to make out Patrick's face peering out from the hollow in the trunk.


Even the forest has unusual new creatures for us to see. The banana slugs are rightly named! If you click on the picture, you can see its lined belly better.

After our hike, we hit up a bakery of recommendation from Sarah, where we went a bit overboard on the sweets (we bought a bag full of goodies to take home!), and browsed/shopped among the downtown strip. Sarah told us the population of Santa Cruz is smaller than Merced, but by its unique and many offerings, you wouldn't think so!

You know, I never used to think of myself as a big beach town person, but I've gotta say my exposure to the ocean is starting to prove me wrong. Santa Cruz was an awesome new place to explore, and I look forward to seeing more of it soon!