Santa Cruz, CA - Day 2

My favorite no-name beach

Okay, technically, the photo at left is not in Santa Cruz. It's actually a bit north, closer to Halfmoon Bay. I suppose the reason I've always counted this as part of Santa Cruz is because I access it by driving up Highway 1 from Santa Cruz. I have rarely driven past this idyllic spot to Halfmoon Bay. When I spend time here, it's with the intent of returning to Santa Cruz, and probably having dinner at Ristorante Avanti, my favorite little restaurant in Santa Cruz. This was the plan for the day with K, when we came her last Wednesday.

Photo by K (see below where I captured him taking this)

I first discovered this beach after spending many days at Pebble Beach, which is connected to it. (Not the Pebble Beach in Carmel, associated with the golf course, but a state park called Pebble Beach due to the pebbles that make up the shore.) My grandparents first took me here when I was about six or seven. My family has been returning here for years, and on one of my trips, I chose to walk across the expanse of rocks to the north of the beach, and found a little special spot that rarely sees more than one or two people/couples at a time. It's very remote and beautiful for that.

Me on Pebble Beach

K on Pebble Beach

When we arrived this time, first to Pebble Beach, there were a busload of school kids here. We took a few photos and then got back into the car to drive north a little ways, as I knew of another place to access the beach. It takes you to a sandy beach, also with no name, that's part of the California State Park system. It's also lovely, with its amazing rock formations, and I love the beach home that sits perched on one end.

Me walking back to the sandy beach

You can just make out the beach house in the photo above. Those rock formations are what you have to traverse to get to and from my secret beach. The ancient lava floes created anamorphic shapes, so you can sometimes make out a whale, dolphin, seal or even a puppy's face and an elephant head in the rocks.

  
I love the smooth, colorful pebbles that make up the shore at my secret beach... they're lovely, and you can't help but lay close to them so that you can see the individual colors and shapes of the stones. We collected some seashells for K's school kids, to connect them to this amazing beach. We took videos of the creatures we saw in the tide pools... hermit crabs, anemones and a starfish!

An open anemone

We were pretty lucky, actually. I didn't have my tide log, and had forgotten to check my tide log app before we arrived. It was high tide, but it was going out. So we only had to wait a bit for the waves to recede, and then we were able to view the sea life up close! We were very careful not to tread on the live snails living on the rocks. It wasn't easy!

Some seashells for the kids, some rocks & driftwood for us

We had a truly lovely time here... having the beach to ourselves was wonderful, and the sun was out and it wasn't too windy. As I wasn't feeling that great, having come down with a cold, it was nice to just relax on the straw mat when I felt tired. Something about the ocean air is very healing, though, and I found that I was able to stay longer than I had expected. Also, we planned a dinner at Ristorante, and I wasn't going to skip out on that!

The drive back into town is just lovely, too. The fog was starting to roll in just a bit... wisps, really, nothing too heavy... making the golden grasses off the sides of the highway just glow. Then we arrived in town, and got seated at little table for two, tucked away in a corner.

Mmm... yummy food!

K eating some calamari

We had their calamari fritti (so crispy and delicious!) served with a light mignonette, and we both got the grilled sea bass served on Israeli cous cous with locally grown tomatoes and cucumbers in a light citrus sauce. It was absolutely fantastic! The veggies were so fresh and sweet (a commitment that the restaurant has made is to use only locally grown veggies and humanely raised livestock and produce.) 

Our sea bass on cous cous

It was the perfect ending to a wonderful day! We drove home to San Jose with our tummies full, smiles on our faces, love in our hearts and a little sunshine left on our cheeks. I can't ask for more. 

Santa Cruz, CA - Day 1

K under the eucalyptus

Our first day in Santa Cruz, I took K to Natural Bridges State Park. It's a beach that used to have some natural rock formations that were shaped like a bridge. However, a few years ago, the center collapsed, and the bridge was gone. I used to come here with my artist's sketch board, paper, charcoals, pencils, etc, and made drawings of the rock formations in the water. That was when there was still one bridge left. Erosion doesn't discriminate, and it's effects are visible everywhere along the coast. Quite dramatically, at times.


This park is interesting for more reasons than the bridges, though, so it still sees many visitors! There are trails you can walk under pines, cypresses and overgrown eucalyptus trees. These eucalyptus trees are the favorite resting place for monarch butterflies, too, actually, and every year, around the beginning of October, thousands of monarchs come to rest here!
We got here just a bit early for the huge numbers of them, but we saw a few... maybe around 50 or so, as they feasted on pollen, fluttered around, and hung out in the warm, California sun.

A few monarchs on the wild roses

There's actually a wonderful wooden pathway that was built so that the land wasn't affected by all the visitors to this place. I've been coming here since I was a teenager, having discovered this place when I was around 14, on a school outing. Many schools bring their kids here for a field trip, as there's also a visitor's learning center near the monarch resting area.

Description of the migration of the monarchs

Pathway towards the monarch viewing area

Since we weren't able to show you that many monarchs on this trip, I'm including this photo of another time when I came here by myself. It's a good reason to visit this park in mid-October... it's just amazing!

Fluttering monarchs

Look closely... there are many!

I hope you enjoyed this glimpse into Santa Cruz... more to come tomorrow!

Santa Cruz, California

We drove to Santa Cruz on Tuesday, and it was gorgeous! The weather was hot & sunny. I wasn't feeling great, having come down with a cold, but I was determined to show K around my favorite town.



We only had a little time before my hair appointment with one of my good friends who is also my hairdresser... So we grabbed a yummy lunch at Cafe Brasil, and stopped by the beach...




This beach is one that I used to take my dog, Jake, running on. It's big, wide & gorgeous and I love watching all the dogs play together!




Afterward a nice walk together on this beach, we went to get my hair done & then join my friends for sushi at Miyuki's.... Mmmm... Fresh and delicious!

More later... I haven't been able to get the photos off my camera, only my phone, so you'll have to wait for the best pictures after I return!

xox

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