July 9, 2024 - California
Santa Cruz
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When I was a kid growing up in Sunnyvale and Mountain View, when we went to the beach, we went to Santa Cruz. We'd drive Highway 17 south from San Jose to Santa Cruz , up the Coastal Coast Range and then back down, on a narrow, winding 4-lane highway. It hasn't changed much in 50 years. It was an exciting ride, then and now. The restaurant at the summit is still there but is closed. The dinosaur park just outside of Santa Cruz is long gone.
Our ultimate destination was Monterey. Normally you'd take Highway 101 to get there from San Jose but you can also do it by going to Santa Cruz and then south along the ocean coast. So we decided to visit Santa Cruz for old times sake.
Here we are on the beach at Santa Cruz!
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| At the beach's west end is the long pier. |
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The east end is bounded by that cliff. It used to have a natural tunnel you could go through. Looks like it still does.
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| Lots of people were enjoying the beach on this beautiful summer day. But the Pacific Ocean was always cold; hardly anyone ever went into the water! |
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Now we're walking down the Santa Cruz Beach Boardwalk. The Louff Carousel has been revolving since 1911. |
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| The other historic attraction is The Big Dipper, a wooden roller coaster that has been thrilling riders since 1924. Yes, it's 100 years old! |
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| Of course, there are a lot more rides than the Big Dipper and Carousel. They've really added a lot of new rides than what I remember. In fact, the Boardwalk is really looking good these days, and a lot of people were enjoying it. I'm glad it's doing well. |
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| The Rock-O-Plane was my favorite ride when I was in high school. It's still here! |
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As you can see, The Colonnade [building] has been around since 1907. I remember it. There wasn't much inside; a miniture golf course.
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| Well, they've certainly fixed up the inside. It still has a miniture golf course but the old one was nothing like this. There is also a pizza and beer place, plus wall placards where you can read about the Boardwalk's history. |
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We began walking out on the pier. Which was huge, by the way. Cars can drive on it and there is lots of parking on the pier.
Now we're looking east at the Colonnade and Boardwalk.
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| Looking south down the pier as it juts out into Monterey Bay. |
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| P22 |
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| A better look at the Colonnade and Boardwalk. |
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| A lazy harbor seal snoozing in the sun. |
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A tourist train rolls through town.
We enjoyed visiting Santa Cruz; we're glad we came.
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