Monterey Bay was calling to me, so we packed up and took off. One of the things we missed doing the last time we were there was the Youth Museum which seemed right up Z's alley. We got there and got a parking spot right in front of the building!!! Then I figured out why... closed on Wednesdays. WHAT?! One of the challenges of this vacation was not planning out every minute of every day while still trying to remember when every museum was open, and I obviously didn't meet the challenge well in this case. Bummed out, I remembered reading about a really cool park nearby, so we walked a few blocks and found it. When I heard the name of it, I knew we'd have to check it out...
And the park was awesome. Perfect for my own little Menace and every other kid there. We stayed way longer than planned, but had a blast! When we finally left to find some lunch, Z said "We'll go find some lunch and bring it back here for a picnic, okay Mom?".
We drove to the Cannery Row area and Z got to experience his first crepe. He liked his lunch crepe okay (he called it a pancake quesadilla so how can you go wrong with that?) but he truly loved the banana-chocolate one he generously shared with me for dessert. Yum!
Even with tummies full of yum, I couldn't resist stopping in the cool old candy shop on our way back to our car. I pretty much let Z pick out whatever he wanted, and he always asked "Mommy, does this have peanuts in it?" and then "can we buy it?". It was so easy to say yes when he was having such a blast... you know, like a kid in a candy shop. :)
We didn't end up back at the park, but we did find the beach and Z brought along his buddy (who apparently told him he didn't want to get really wet, but wanted to put his nose in the water, haha). It was beautiful and we stayed way longer than we had change for the parking meter (luckily no ticket!).
As we headed back to our hotel, I realized we still had enough time to visit one of the Santa Cruz museums... it was hard to choose so I let my co-pilot decide. He figured the USSC Marine Discovery Center would be best, so we got there with about an hour to check things out. The blue whale skeleton out front was incredible... the photos don't do it justice but it was amazing to see. Inside, Z got a great tour from one of the volunteers who had some time to spare and had a go in the touch tank. He especially liked holding the hermit crabs under water and letting them crawl off his hands. Really cool place!
We were both getting hungry for dinner by the time we left but I was at a loss for where to go. We took a drive along the cliffs while we thought about it, and in the distance I eventually saw the Boardwalk. Duh! It was the one thing I had meant to do and totally slipped my mind! Not my first choice for dinner, but once we arrived we found our way to the best grilled cheese sandwiches! We spent the rest of the night exploring the Boardwalk, riding kiddie rides and eating ice cream. Oh, and getting Z-man a kick-butt dragon tatoo!
It was a perfect ending to our time in Santa Cruz.
1 comment:
What a fun trip! THanks for sharing it with the rest of us through your comments and pictures.
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