Santa Cruz to Bezerkeley
The California sun continued to shine on us as we left Monterey and drove north on Hwy 1 to Santa Cruz, home of surfers, hippies, the Santa Cruz Beach Boardwalk and my favorite place on the planet to get a corn dog -Surf City Grill. I came here every summer during my childhood and into my 20's. Rowan was amazed how I could drive through this city and get exactly to where I wanted to go. It has to be at least 25 years since I have been here, but it seems like just yesterday. All of the same landmarks are still here.
The Boardwalk has been here since 1907 and is California's oldest surviving amusement park. There are wonderful arcades, food stands, kiddie rides, old fashioned carnival games and the Giant Dipper roller coaster, one of the best-known wooden coasters in the world and one of the most visible landmarks in Santa Cruz.
The California sun continued to shine on us as we left Monterey and drove north on Hwy 1 to Santa Cruz, home of surfers, hippies, the Santa Cruz Beach Boardwalk and my favorite place on the planet to get a corn dog -Surf City Grill. I came here every summer during my childhood and into my 20's. Rowan was amazed how I could drive through this city and get exactly to where I wanted to go. It has to be at least 25 years since I have been here, but it seems like just yesterday. All of the same landmarks are still here.
The Boardwalk has been here since 1907 and is California's oldest surviving amusement park. There are wonderful arcades, food stands, kiddie rides, old fashioned carnival games and the Giant Dipper roller coaster, one of the best-known wooden coasters in the world and one of the most visible landmarks in Santa Cruz.
The main entrance to the Board Walk
A short video as we walked out of the arcade and onto the board walk to the beach.
A view from the beach looking at the Board Walk
The recent storm had pushed huge piles of debris from the ocean onto the beach. I have never seen this much debris on this beach in my lifetime.
Surf City Grill - World Famous Corn dogs
If you like corn dogs, this is the ultimate place to come and enjoy one. The hotdogs are made to order and hand dipped in home made corn meal batter. You can't be in a hurry here. You can watch them make your corn dog through the window taking great care to dip it in and out of two different kinds of hot oil, all the while testing the crust to make sure it is perfectly done - crispy on the outside and moist perfect corn bread on the inside.
The corn dog I had today is exactly the same as the ones I used to eat as a kid. PERFECT!
Rowan showed some restraint and got a regular size dog. Me, I had to go for the foot long!
The dog must be eaten with traditional yellow mustard, none of that brown stuff.
I know. It is obscene. But this is the only way to show you how huge this corn dog is. I ate the whole thing! Nap anyone? :o) I can't even tell you how many of these I ate during my childhood.
What is not to love about these gargoyles that sit atop the haunted house ride. And don't forget that chocolate dipped ice cream cone. The whole place is so funky and fun!
The Looff Carousel
We used to ride this carousel a lot as kids.
The Carousel includes a brass ring dispenser. Riders on the outside horses can reach out and try to grab rings which then get tossed at a large clown's mouth target. It is one of the only ring dispeners still operating in the world.
The Big Dipper Roller Coaster and the Looff Carousel, which still contains its original 342-pipe organ built in 1894, are both on the US National Register of Historic Places. They were, together, declared to be a National Historic Landmark in 1987 and the park is a California Historical Landmark.
The Carousel includes a brass ring dispenser. Riders on the outside horses can reach out and try to grab rings which then get tossed at a large clown's mouth target. It is one of the only ring dispeners still operating in the world.
The Big Dipper Roller Coaster and the Looff Carousel, which still contains its original 342-pipe organ built in 1894, are both on the US National Register of Historic Places. They were, together, declared to be a National Historic Landmark in 1987 and the park is a California Historical Landmark.
We continued north out of Santa Cruz on Hwy 1 towards our Bay Area destination. We didn't get far until we had to make another emergency stop at another old haunt for food - Whale City Bakery in Davenport. This is just a little spec in the road and is famous for this bakery (you can see by the crowd). Their specialty is chocolate eclairs and killer breakfasts.
I had called here before we left Monterey to reserve 6 eclairs to take to Berkeley with us for dessert with our friends, who we will see later tonight. Good thing I called ahead because they were out of them when we got there. I am hoping I can digest that corn dog before I have to eat the eclair!
Pigeon Point Light Station Historic Park
It is really a wonder we can get anywhere in a timely manner when we head on down the road. I think it was about 15 minutes after Davenport and we were stopping again :o) Look at the photo. Could you pass this up? It is a magical place. There are very few of these historic lighthouses remaining along the west and east coasts of the US. If you travel along these coasts of the US, take time to stop at one of these. A great lesson in maritime history.
The lighthouse was built in 1871. It, and Point Arena lighthouse (north of San Francisco in Mendocino County) are the tallest lighthouses on the west coast of the US. It is still an active coast guard light station, helping to guide ships along the rugged California coast.
The coastal view looking south from the Pigeon Point Light Station
Bezerkeley
We are so lucky to be able to travel. We are so grateful for the things that we have done to put us here. One of them is working in academia. This opportunity to travel and to work on research with colleagues around the USA and the world to help make our world better for all of us is a gift. This opportunity also gives us a chance to see many of our friends from around the world who just happen to be in the same place that we are. We are lucky to be in Berkeley the same time as our friends Ben and Carl (who usually live in New York City). They are also on sabbatical and just happen to be in Berkeley. We spent a few days with them upon our arrival to the Bay Area.
We are so lucky to be able to travel. We are so grateful for the things that we have done to put us here. One of them is working in academia. This opportunity to travel and to work on research with colleagues around the USA and the world to help make our world better for all of us is a gift. This opportunity also gives us a chance to see many of our friends from around the world who just happen to be in the same place that we are. We are lucky to be in Berkeley the same time as our friends Ben and Carl (who usually live in New York City). They are also on sabbatical and just happen to be in Berkeley. We spent a few days with them upon our arrival to the Bay Area.
Carl and I as we get ready for a martini toghther.
Ben and Rowan. They were lab mates doing their PhD's together years ago at UC Berkeley.
We wasted no time getting the ingredients together for a delicious seafood meal together.
When in the Bay Area, we eat seafood as much as possible. When it comes out of the ocean from just down the street, you just have to.
Day scallops and fennel salad. We also served fresh artichokes we brought from Santa Cruz with this meal.
Sunset looking from the Berkeley hills to San Francisco. The Bay Bridge and Golden Gate in the distance. Hmmmmmm.....looks like there is another storm coming this way!
We couldn't resist having that world famous Zachary's Pizza during our stay in the East Bay. The deep dish is...........well..........the only way to explain it is if you went to heaven and had a welcoming meal (like Jesus said to you, "what would you like for your first meal to heaven?"), this would be it! The ultimate comfort food.
Left to right: box of crackers, book, cabbages as boobs. Welcome home Ben! :o)
I am curious to see what we will do with the cabbages.
The cooking and eating continued, it always does with Ben and Carl :o).............this time I whipped up some lamb and fig stew with a side of steamed brussel sprouts. The real special part of this meal is the bottle of 2005 Bandol Domaine du Gros Nore. We bought two bottles of this years ago and drank the first one with Ben and Carl in Philly in 2009 and brought the second bottle with us on our trip to have with them now.
Cheers!
While in Berkeley, we also made a stop at The Thai House, our favorite place to eat when we lived here.
The Paht Si-Yu was as delicious as ever.
I can't leave this post without at least one photo of political street art from Berkeley. Since war protest pretty much defines this city, I figure this photo is appropriate.
Our next stop is San Francisco. Here is a night view of The City from the Berkeley hills.
Stay tuned for lots more fun!
