Colleen has some great notes on visiting Santa Cruz on our main Slow Travel website. What do you enjoy doing? I enjoy the scenic beaches like the one at Natural Bridges and I like gardens. If you like plants, visit University of California Santa Cruz. They have an unusual garden of plants of South Africa. I also enjoy shopping downtown.
Posts: 7464 | Location: Edmonds, WA | Registered: 25 October 2001
We were there (actually in Aptos) during spring break. For us it was mostly a family trip--highlights were visiting and eating in restaurants. If you have any more specific questions just ask.
Don't forget to look at the restaurant reviews linked above.
How long do you have? It really is a fantastic place and it is our home!! ( Thus the title grabbed me right away )
That is a great report on this site. I think Shakespeare Santa Cruz really is a "Must" and it should be playing when you are there. Do the one in the grove and bring a picnic ( something we did every year and I miss).The University really is great ..one of the most amazing campuses with wonderful ocean views and lots of things always going on.
The Cabrillo festival might be going on then too and is fantastic. You can sit in on the rehearsals if you want for free and they have great things for kids of all ages. Also they have a great one at a mission that we loved every year. ( It is in a nearby town and I can not think of the name of it, but it is quite magical to hear great music there).
Some odd fun things could be a brunch in a restaurant with a babbling brook running thru it in the near by mountains. Some people like Roaring camp and their many historical goings on or ride to the beach. They do a great old fashion 4th of July there. There is a special lake called loch lomond where you can ride on a boat out to an island and have a picnic.
There are always drum sessions going on where you can dance and drum along to the sunset if you are a free spirit or just enjoy watching others. There are tons of spa places to have a hot tub and massage and more chiropracters per capita probably than any where on the planet.
There are monarch butterflies near a beautiful beach and park. It is a nice place to hang out if you like nature.
There are endless nice beaches. Capitola is the oldest beach town in California and a charming town to walk around in with lots of festivals.There is a cute little opera house there on the beach that puts on sweet productions.I would not miss a brunch,appetiser or dinner at Shadow Brook...very romantic and pretty.Oh and do not miss Gayles or have them pack your picnic for shakespeare santa cruz.
Aptos has some very pretty areas too ( and shops...don't miss Wisteria which is a treat!) but it is deep in the fog belt and can be quite foggy when capitola and santa cruz and the mountains are sunny. Some like Seascape.
Like most of California...especially at the beaches..it is a layering kind of place. I know a friend from NYC was quite confused by the weather and chill. I love it, but it is often cool in the morning and evening ( and almost is never too hot).
And if you need any sports related equipment while you are there, the "Play it again Sports" on Soquel Ave. is supposed to have very good sales staff. (I can't get the wink smilie to work)
Originally posted by dlsc: Am I the only one who is "corny?" What about the Boardwalk? I love to go there, even if it is just to walk and look, typical California!
I love the boardwalk! The Big Dipper roller coaster, the arcade, the salt water taffy...
OMG, Farrell's donuts, where my husband, then boyfriend, spent most of his college days, also at 3 AM, in the early 70's.
They sold out years ago, the original store on Hwy 1 leading out of town may not be there, but whoever bought it has a store in town. But just this morning, while we were grocery shopping in Aptos, at the Safeway, I looked up and across the street was a little shop with a sign that says "Original Farrell's Donuts." We are going to have to explore that later in the week.
I remember a huge storm in the winter of 1982/3 which almost took away the roller coaster. The little creek running into the ocean there lived up to its name on that stormy day -- The Mighty San Lorenzo -- taking away the entire beach up to the boardwalk. My friend's house on East Cliff Drive -- just across from the Boardwalk -- lost half it's backyard. We sat on my friend's roof, just outside his bedroom window, a little under one influence or another, and watched it all happen. When I drove back to Berkeley later that evening, a tree fell from the hill just missing my car, blocking I-80. A few minutes later on the radio they announced that the highway had been closed. I was the last car out of Santa Cruz that day. I remember it like it was yesterday.
Hey Marcia, let us all know if the Farrell's in Aptos is indeed the 'original.' Of course, you'll have to get in there in the middle of the night to be sure!
Posts: 473 | Location: Bayeux, France | Registered: 01 December 2001
We spent this last weekend in Santa Cruz. The weather was gorgeous! We walked the Boardwalk (didn't go on the roller coaster this time, because the lines were so long, but it's such a classic...everyone should do it at least once!) and took the beach train up to Roaring Camp. The train was a blast...it goes right down the middle of residential streets, through a very dark tunnel, up into the redwoods and along the San Lorenzo River. They also provide some historical commentary along the way. I give it .
) 
