We stayed at the Best Western Beach Resort Hotel, which is in an absolutely perfect location, right on the beach. Although we didn't have an oceanview room, our lodgings were fantastic. The hotel has been recently renovated, and there were very nice amenities, including a 40" flat-screen Phillips TV with snazzy cable and electronically-operated blackout screen on the large bay windows. I would guess that the oceanview rooms are totally worth the money. It was worth it just to have a room where you could walk out the door, and down the stairs and be on the beach. The beach itself was quiet and clean.Weather on Sunday was OK, but not great. Mostly cloudy, so that when the sun peeked out from the clouds all was glorious and warm-- but cold and breezy when it went away. In a lame attempt to even out the t-shirt tan I received in SF on Pride Day, I did get a bit sunburned again. Oops.
After the beach we headed over to Cannery Row for dinner and shopping. We decided to try a
pub called Captain Bullwhacker's for dinner... mostly I was drawn in by their $26.99 steak and lobster special. The food was good for the cost, and Alice really enjoyed her shrimp scampi.It was relaxing to just stroll down the Row, browsing in whatever shops were still open late on a Sunday evening. I was on a hunt for any locations that were featured in Steinbeck's novel "Cannery Row," which I had read only the week before. The Cannery Row of today is, of course, very different from the downtrodden 1930s
locale of Steinbeck's day. Some original buildings do still exist, and I wanted to find Doc's "Western Biological" building, where one of the main characters lived and worked. I didn't find it, but I did find the building where "Lee Chong's" market was (the Wing Chong building, now a seashell store) and the "La Ida" bar (now a bakery/ice cream store called Austino's).Monday was absolutely perfect. Lovely weather, and huge waves that came crashing in one after another. Usually I love to get in the water and try to bodysurf... well, my sad attempts at bodysurfing, anyway. I had ventured into the water Sunday despite the cloudy weather, and I really, REALLY wanted to go frolick (yes, frolick) in the waves that were crashing around on Monday. But since we had checked out, and didn't have a hotel room- specifically a shower- anymore, I had to abstain. There's nothing worse than driving home with sand in places that sand ought not to be. So no swimming for me on Monday.
After a couple of hours of relaxing on the beach, we packed up and headed up to Santa Cruz, where we had dinner at my favorite restaurant on the Wharf, Gilbert's- home of the nom nom
Hot Crab Bake, and then spent a little bit of time at the Boardwalk. I love the Cave Train. Yes, it is for little kids. Yes it is cheesy. But I love how horribly campy it is. I was also planning on riding the carousel a few times. BEST. CAROUSEL. EVER. Reaching out to grab iron rings from a mechanical arm and then hurling them at a clown face is great fun. We were disappointed, though, that the ring machine kept breaking down. :( So we decided to head home.I love the beach. I love the ocean. The Pacific Ocean may be cold,
but I feel very fortunate to live in California, despite the current problems in the state government. I can't fathom that there are people in this country who have never seen the ocean, have never stood in the water waist-deep so that the surf crashes down all around you. Just watching the waves is so calming to me, that it serves as a kind of reset button when life gets stressful.Now if I could just get a camping trip to Yosemite off the ground.....
~Lizzie~
(OK, not so short)
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