SANTA CRUZ, CALIFORNIA
7/9/04-7/13/04
At this point, it was Friday afternoon, and we had plans to meet a group of firends in San Francisco that evening. However, we couldn't pass up the opportunity to see Tony Luna's parents, Ralph and Ki, who have been like a second family to Mike since he was a kid. So, we high tailed it up the coast, with only one quick detour - the "17 Mile Drive" at Carmel, which both of us had always been interested in checknig out, but had never taken the time. all in all, it was worth it. Although the drive starts in a pretty annoying way, e.g., an admission fee and about two miles of driving 20 miles an hour through residential neighborhoods, which are not even visible through high fences and trees, you soon pop out back on the coast, which definitely lives up to its descriptions. Neither of us are big golfers, but we were inspired to go out and play, except for the fact that it was $300 a round; maybe if we win the lotto.
Once we got to Santa Cruz, we took some much needed showers (we were dirty), and set off for the Santa Cruz Pier. We at edinner at Gilda's (owned and operated by the one and only Stagnero Brothers). The food and drinks were great, and we were both amazed by how built up the pier was - imagine Coney Island meets Venice Beach. After dinner, we got some very cool pictures. Just past the pier, there is an old lighthouse, which is now a surfers museum. We watched the surfers take 40 foot jumps off the cliffs, with their boards, to catch these crazy waves. They didn't seem to mind the $1,000 fine signs, which were posted about every hundred feet! |
