Santa Cruz
 

Our daughter will be at University CA Santa Cruz for some classes in July. What is there to see and do for my husband and me while she is busy with classes? What about beaches? Hotels?

Don't miss the Mystery Spot. Details In AAA guidebook of the area.I am not sure of the website address but if you do a search, I'm sure you will have no problems finding it. The physical location is quite hard to find but it is interesting or worth a laugh.Depends on how cynical you are. Also, If you drive a couple of hours northeast to San Jose to the Winchester Mystery House, 525 South Winchester Blvd.(webpage http://www.ghosts.org/haunted/winche...inchester.html) or www.netview.com/svg/tourist/winchest/ (those websites are a few years old so hopefully they haven't changed. We LOVED it. It is so different and bizarre. We also loved watching the sealions (seals?) at the pier at Santa Cruz.

We go annually for a birthday trip. Our favorite things to do are to stay at the Dream Inn (Westcoast) right on the beach. The boardwalk and pee-wee golf are a must. There is a pool table above the golf are(Neptune's Palace)also. <BR>Don't miss the Blacklight bowling across the street if you like to bowl. <BR>I would also venture over to Felton for the train ride. Do the one with the Western BBQ at the end. It is fun. <BR>Visit nearby Capitola.Gayle's Bakery is incredible for any meal. If you are looking for an unusual and beautiful dinner go to Capitola and up on the hill there is a restaraunt that in beautifully landscaped with a "hillavator". Check the Capitola Chamber website for more info.We never have been to impressed with any of the places to eat on the pier in Santa Cruz, but the view is great!

I couldn't imagine going to Santa Cruz & not hitting the waves. SC is perhaps the world's premier surf town. In fact, one of the best breaks on the Cali coast is right in town at Steamers Lane. <BR> <BR>If you're not surfers, you might think that you're too old to try. You're not. Anyone from eight to eighty can learn to surf and SC is a great place to do it. Just contact any of a number of surf shops in town about lessons.

Another vote for the Mystery Spot! Don't forget to buy one of their bumper stickers while you're there. Besides the attractions mentioned above, there are also quite a lot of small craft studios around town that turn out some beautiful work. You should also visit UC Santa Cruz, a beautiful campus, and buy some gift items with their banana slub mascot printed on them!

Sorry, I meant "Banana SLUG", not "slub". It only looks like a slub.

I agree with previous posters suggestions. You can also enjoy shopping downtown on Pacific Avenue, and if you like wine tasting, try Bonny Doon winery out of town to the north about 25 minutes or so. Good wines, interesting and informed tasting help behind the counter. I don't know where you are coming from, but take a day to explore Monterey and Carmel, just down the coast (30 mins.) Monterey has a fantastic aquarium, and Carmel has a lot of art galleries and shops (although mostly expensive!) And everywhere there are fabulous restaurants in all price ranges. We stay in S.C. every year for two weeks for the last 11 years, and love just strolling along the cliffs around Pleasure Point and Steamer's Lane, watching the surf and surfers, and looking forward to going to our favorite eating places (Gayle's in Capitola is one of our favs for lunch.) And try Seabright Brewery--good food AND beer!

I forgot to mention that the name of the very beautiful restaurant in Capitola that has the "hillavator" a prev. poster mentioned is Shadowbrook. We took my mother-in law there last year when she came to S.C. with us.While it doesn't have such "inventive" cuisine as many restaurants in California now try to have, the food is excellent of the steak, fresh fish type. My m-i-l actually liked the food here better than some of the nouveau Cali-fusion places we had taken her to earlier, that are so trendy nowadays. But the setting is so unique, it needs to be seen at least once. Good for a very special evening.

Definitely spend a bit of time exploring the UCSC campus. I went to college there, and it is stunningly beautiful. All the buildings are nestled in a redwood forest, with rolling meadows below and the best ocean views. Try to be there to take in the sunset from Cowell or Stevenson colleges or the student center. If you'd like a hike or walk through the redwoods, there are fire trails behind the campus where you can walk. Even in the main part of the campus, it is not unusual to see deer and racoons. If hiking and seeing the redwoods is important to you (it should be!), drive up to Big Basin State Park in the Santa Cruz Mountains. Natural Bridges and Seabright beaches are very nice and a bit less crowded than others. Pacific Avenue is certainly good for a shopping/windowshopping stroll; lots of interesting shops and boutiques and good bookstores. A day trip to Monterey and Carmel is an excellent idea (though you probably would want to include your daughter); there is a lot of good info on this forum about these places.