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 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.

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.

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!

CARMEL-by-the-SEA

The sun was out again for the second day in a row, so we went out for a hike along Carmel River State Beach. This beach is just to the north of Point Lobos State Natural Reserve. The Carmel River flows out across the beach at the northern end and is usually a small stream, however, due to the heavy rains in the last few weeks, we saw it as a rushing river, slicing through the beach and into the ocean. The surf was just pounding due to all of the storm activity. Wise to stay well back from the edge of the water.

There are many tide pools along this beach so I was in my element. Again, looking down while keeping one eye on Mother Nature as she slung water our way through the rocks.

A view of Point Lobos behind us in the distance.

As you can see behind us, the tide pools along this section of the beach were just waiting to be explored.

We found all sorts of life in the tide pools. Everything from turban snails, mussel's, anemones and barnacles to star fish and this little guy - I think he is a kind of limpet. If anyone out there can positively identify this one, please let me know what it is.

Limpet or other kind of mollusk?

Can you see this fish?

There is a fish in this photo. It is called a tidepool sculpin. These fish can change color and pattern to match their surroundings. Talk about blending in! What a great defense mechanism. Wish I could do this :o)

Nina was completely overcome with the warm sunshine while we were tide-pooling and collapsed like a lizard in the sand to take a nap. Ahhhhhhhhh, what a life!

 

I ran into this shore crab as I was walking along the pools and we had a stand-off. He let me get so close to him, which is unusual. Most of the time they scurry off to hide under a rock as you approach their space. This guy just stood fast on the rock with only the tip of one leg in the water. We became such good friends while I looked in the pool next to him, I finally asked him to come over for dinner........I told him we were having crab........he didn't think that was funny :o)

This was the pool that my crab friend called home. Not a bad place to live.

Another good reason to come to places like this in the off-season........we were just about the only ones on this beautiful beach!

The ocean is SO blue-green along this stretch of the Monterey/Carmel area. The cadence of the waves rolling in as they crash on the shore is just hypnotizing. A sort of peaceful turbulence.

We found this very interesting stripe of quartz rock through a section of the sandstone along the beach. What sort of event made this happen a zillion years ago? Who knows!

Looking south towards Point Lobos

We came upon this Turkey Vulture who sat there on the rock till we could almost touch him.

We finally got too close and he flew off and followed us as we made our way down the beach, all the while looking at us like we could be his dinner.

Speaking of dinner..........all that hiking made us hungry, so we collected Kim and went into Carmel to go to the famous Cypress Inn for a drink (c.1929, known as the most dog friendly hotel in the US). Every time we visit this area we come here for at least a drink so we can sit and pet all the dogs laying around the feet of their owners in the bar.  Doris Day, yes the legendary singer, actress and animal activist Doris Day, has been part owner of this hotel for more than 20 years. The bar here is called Terry's Lounge and features a lounge singer every night with classic song singalongs. It is just fabulous! Very Hollywood glam. None of the photos I took really do the place justice. Go here for more history, photos and a real tour of the Inn: http://cypress-inn.com/

The FABULOUS Doris Day

A view of the outside bar area of the Cypress Inn (sorry, all the dogs were inside since it had been raining)

A mural of Charlie Chaplin is painted on a wall in the outside bar

We had our drink and then headed over to our favorite sushi restaurant in Carmel, Sushi Heaven. And, yes, it is heaven if you like sushi.

We enjoyed our fresh fish, seaweed salad, miso soup and saki.

Of course we never miss an opportunity to be silly and take photos over a meal when we are with our dear friends Nina and Kim :o)

We did a little window shopping on our way back to the car. The shopping in Carmel is just out of this world, however, bring lots of money if you plan on doing any. This is a pretty exclusive boutique community so you will hear a big CHA-CHING if you want to buy anything like a pair of these boots.

I couldn't resist taking a photo of these little doggies in the window. Too bad the place wasn't open so I could at least try a pair on. Here is the website so you can see for yourself how fabulous these boots are: http://www.artemisboots.com/

Looks like many of them are one-of-a-kind.

This was our last night in Monterey. Our adventure continues tomorrow as we head off for a stop in Santa Cruz and then on to Berkeley.  

Stay tuned! All of this happened a couple of weeks ago. I am still trying to catch up on my posts.

Point Lobos Natural Reserve

Ahhhhhhhh.........Fresh Air!

There is nothing in life I enjoy more than the smell of the fresh sea air on a bright sunny day.

Crisp! Salty! Alive! We wasted no time getting outside once there was a break in the endless rain. Our destination was just down the road to Point Lobos State Natural Reserve just south of beautiful Carmel by the Sea.

Note a very happy Jenni on the coastal trail

 Rowan wasn't quite feeling like herself yet when we got started on our hike. She needed a couple of lady finger cookies to get her in the hiking mood (thanks, Nancy :o)

We had been on the coast trail for only a very short time before we spotted our first Southern Sea Otter having a little nap on its back. 
Otter info. from the reserve flyer: These otters were once found along the coast from British Columbia in Canada to Baja CA in Mexico but were nearly hunted to extinction for their dense, luxurious fur. Today, this threatened species is making a slow but steady comeback, with about 2,900 sea otters now ranging across more than 300 miles in central California. About 60-70 sea otters are routinely counted in the waters along Point Lobos. We looked for  them around seaweed beds, their favorite place to hunt and nap.

A little history about the Point Lobos sea shore: Evidence of mortars hollowed out of bedrock and mounds of shells indicate Native Americans gathered and prepared food here over a period of thousands of years. A permanent settlement was never established, because fresh water disappeared during summer and fall. Similar to the changing weather patterns today. Hmmmmmmm......... The Europeans arrived here in 1769. Point Lobos, at various times, was a pasture for livestock, the site of a waling station, an abalone fishery and cannery, a granite and gravel quarry and a shipping point for coal mined nearby. Chinese fisherman, Portuguese whalers and Japanese abalone divers all worked these lands and waters for a living. Proof that immigrants helped to build this country! 
In 1898, A.M. Allan bought the land and the area became a part of the California State Park system in 1933. The park today includes 554 acres. In 1960, 775 submerged acres were added, creating the nation's first underwater reserve.

The cliffs and coves are very dramatic

The rugged coast trail is covered with coastal live oaks, Monterey cypress and Monterey pine. The Monterey pine forest in Point Lobos is one of only three native stands of this tree. Considered the most important cultivated tree in the world today, the Monterey pine is grown for timber in extensive plantations in New Zealand, Australia and South Africa.

This photo was taken along the North Shore Trail

The live oaks along the trails are covered in Spanish moss (notice the tree to the left behind me). I couldn't resist putting some on to do my ZZ Top impression.

As we went south along the cliffs we merged onto the Cypress Grove Trail and Cypress Cove. This trail winds through one of only two naturally growing stands of Monterey cypress trees remaining on Earth! (The other grove is across Carmel Bay at Cypress Point).

Rowan standing along the trail under the massive Monterey cypress trees.

As we were standing looking out from Cypress Cove, we could see Gray Wales spouting off in the distance (impossible to get that in a photo). The wales migrate through here between December and May.

The scenery along the coast is so captivating it is hard to remember to pay attention where you are walking. It is critical to stay on the trails and out of the bushes. Poison Oak is one of the most plentiful shrubs in the Reserve. The oils from this shrub are evil! It gets on you and your clothes and spreads everywhere. You won't know you have even been exposed until 3 days after you have touched it. Suddenly, you will start itching and breaking out in blisters. This will last for about 3-4 weeks! Best practice is to stay out of the bushes and in the middle of the trail at all times. Strip your clothes off and wash them and you immediately once you get home. I am telling you this from my experience growing up in this region. You want to avoid the itchy and scratchy show :o)

The evil weed

 The view from the point of the Allan Memorial Cypress Grove

Our 3 hour walk took us further south along the South Sore Trail and Devil's Caldron, Sea Lion Cove, Sand Hill Cove and to Weston Beach and Hidden Beach where there are wonderful tide pools to explore.

The one thing you NEVER DO is turn your back on the ocean while you are exploring the tide pools. I stood near the oceans edge and watched the waves for about 10 minutes before I looked down to start exploring the tide pools. You can see how close the waves got to me in that time.

I backed up about 20 feet from here before I started looking down :o)

We got lost for quite some time looking at all of the sea life in the tide pools. I could do this all day! So much life in these little pools.

This little crab was having a bite to eat while is crab friend looked on

The rocks express their own beauty too. I am pretty sure this is an example of granodiorite rock which comes from molten quartz.

This is my favorite video of the tide pools.

I call it the hermit crab jamboree.

We came across this artist painting the coastline. What a wonderful way to spend this perfect sunny afternoon.

Just before we left the coast trail to hike back to the car, I looked down and saw this very alien looking face in the sedimentary rock (or could that be mortars where the Indians had ground their corn?). Seems the aliens have been following us since we paid that visit to Roswell, NM a few weeks ago.........Hmmmmmmm, Should I take this as a sign?

Oh, dear.............We found Nina like this when we got back to the house. I think it is a sign!!! I mean, haven't they already taken over Washington?

HA!!!!

More from the beautiful Carmel coast in my next post.