Capitola Sunday

There's nothing like visiting a pretty beachside village on a Sunday afternoon.

Capitola is a beautiful little seaside village south of Santa Cruz. I visited there last year, but Sean didn’t get a chance to do so.

Pleasure Point is actually closer to Capitola than to Santa Cruz, and given that it was a lovely sunny Sunday afternoon, it was a no-brainer.

Let’s go to Capitola!

This is the view as you drive in to the village.

There is a hill overlooking the village. I love the Capitola flags hung from the street lamps.

 

First stop, Jelly Belly! Sean and I just about went into hyperglycaemic overdrive when we saw all the individual flavours on offer. Customised Jelly Belly? What more could one ask from life?

Sean gets stuck in outside the Surf Shack.

We wandered down the street and turned right to the beach. This tile mural is amazing.

Actually, there are a lot of murals in Capitola. Here’s another, shot in three parts.

And another:

 

We passed the railway bridge, and walked to the wharf.

There are a series of pretty, multicoloured Spanish-style holiday cottages right on the beach, next to the wharf, that I can never resist photographing.

This is the hill behind the village, as seen from the wharf:

 

More of the Spanish cottages:

Wharves here have cars, restaurants, dinghy renting businesses, you name it:

Seagulls in the U.S.A. look a little different to those in Australia.

 

 

We came back into town and then walked up the hill that overlooks the village. On the way we saw an awesome vintage car!

Yes, I’m going to go nuts about the real estate again. On top of the hill, there are some seriously nice homes:

They cost the BIG bucks. But they do afford views like this:

Finally, we wandered down the little “secret stairway”, overhung with climbing roses.

Imagine having your front gate on the stairway:

The view from the bottom of the stairway, looking towards the beach:

It was a lovely afternoon in Capitola, and it was made even more relaxing because we didn’t have to dress like this:

Sean arrives!

You're right. That's not Sean. It's a pair of shoes.

When I friended Val on FB, her profile picture was of her feet in these divine shoes (Jessica Simpson "Brinna", to be exact). I was smitten (with the shoes, that is).

So why am I posting about shoes when the subject is all about the arrival of my lovely husband?

Well, it's all a matter of priorities.......

Only kidding. Sean didn't arrive until Saturday afternoon. On Saturday morning, Val and I went and had pedicures (do you like my super awesome gladiators? Not new, but tres groovy):

We had then (naturally) aimed on doing a stint of shoe shopping, but after a yummy lunch at Asana I had to rush to get on the road up to San Francisco, to collect a surely shattered young Sean. When I arrived, I had managed to catch one of the last direct Sydney-San Francisco flights. Qantas have since discontinued this route, so Sean got to enjoy a 5 hour layover in Los Angeles. Luckily for him, my Qantas Frequent Flier renewal arrived in my absence, along with a single guest pass. So Sean at least got to use this, and spent most of his time in the Admiral's Lounge. But by the time he arrived in SF, he'd been awake for close to 30 hours.

What with having to leave the freeway to refuel the car in Scotts Valley, getting lured into an incorrect freeway exit near San Jose (was v cross, since I made the exact same mistake when collecting Sean last year), and getting stuck in traffic near SF, I was late getting to the airport. And then I mistakenly got on the AirTrain, at which point I realised I'd parked at the correct terminal in the first place. And when I got to the right terminal, I saw that Sean's flight had arrived early.

It was not a good feeling having an entire international airport in which to locate one Sean, but just as I was organising to have him paged, he showed up. RELIEF.

Although a bit sleepy, he was in good form, so I took him straight to The Penny Ice Creamery for a reviver. Yay! Here's Sean, looking none the worse for wear:

Their ever-changing flavour list:

Home made flavours in the freezer. Seriously the BEST ice cream I have ever tasted. Heart.

Sean feels better!!

Then we wandered down Pacific Ave, and lo and behold, it was Happy Hour Prices on food at Aqua Bleu, one of our favourite spots from last year. This is the view out of the window from our table.

And the view of the restaurant from our table:

Sean lost no time in nailing a burger. It doesn't take much to get him into the American groove: 

I had a delicious sushi with four different kinds of fish:

Getting amongst the ketchup:

And just to round off the gastronomic welcome, the following Tuesday we went to the Seabright Brewery.

There was an ice hockey final in progress: San Jose vs Vancouver. The Sharks fans were staking out the multiple big screens at the brewery, dressed to the nines in their aqua kit. They are a fanatical crowd. From the outside, it sounded as though a brawl was taking place. I wondered what it would be like when San Jose scored. It didn't take me long to find out, although I had to put my fingers in my ears! I was kind of glad we left before the Sharks lost in extra time.

Anyway, I was very taken with this surfboard above the bar:

Luckily we didn't have to wait long for a table, and we got stuck in to the Tuesday special of fish tacos.

Sean sampling his second Seabright specialty:

I think he's happy to be here!

Spectacular Santa Cruz Homes

When I first arrived in Santa Cruz last year, I was blown away by what a pretty town it is. Nestled between the beach and the redwoods, with only 60 000 people, it was always going to be an attractive place. But throw in the beautiful homes, and the aesthetic value goes into overdrive. Some of the houses are so stunning, it's hard not to end up in a traffic accident. I took to driving around with my camera on my lap, and pulling over at random intervals, or snapping out of the window while at traffic lights.

So without further ado, may I present to you Nat's Pick of Santa Cruz's Finest Real Estate.

Kicking off with the immaculate turquoise "Munster House" on Highland Drive:

 

Adorable white lace work on Center Street:

 

This next one is an old favourite that I stumble upon and can never quite find when I deliberately go looking for it. I think it could be on Laurel Street, if the location of the church is anything to go by:

Just your typical downtown homes, shot on a drive-by!

This one is on Mission Street, en route to work (ignore rearview mirror, although the angle does tell you I wasn't driving):

Okay, so not strictly a house, but this square just above the downtown area is my favourite part of Santa Cruz for beautiful architecture. First, the square itself, looking across to the Mission Church:

 

And now, my absolute favourite home, that faces the square. I have a bunch of better photos of this house/mansion from my visit last year, but this year I stopped to show Petra, and the weather wasn't quite as nice.

The house you can just see in the background is also amazing. (Who ruined this shot by parking their baby truck in front of the house?!)

It has a beautiful garden also.

 

Front door. I want one!

Again, not strictly a house, but you can't have a post about Santa Cruz architecture and not include the clock tower. It's featured on every "Downtown" direction signpost.

Petra's hotel on West Cliff Drive, and right near the wharf, was directly opposite from these mansions:

(by night)

 

(by day!)

Clearly, one has to be something of a multi-millionaire to own one of these fine pieces of Santa Cruz architecture.

On a bit of a budget? How about something closer to the harbour, instead?

Overlooking the marina: 

Live like you're in a lighthouse:

Or you can come and live in my neighbourhood. From these fine East Cliff Drive homes, you can watch the surfers at Pleasure Point.

(I took this shot to illustrate the abundance of Spanish-influenced architecture - i.e. the home on the right)

Or perhaps you'd prefer a little house made of stones:

Or you can live in a pretty wood shingle house, watching the waves and enjoying the beach.

Or even a little pink cottage :-)