Welcome to the Turkey Grove!

We started the day with another South Bay Striders Year Round Walk, one of our favorites – the Natural Bridges walk in Santa Cruz. The start point is the inland entrance to Natural Bridges State Beach, where there’s plenty of free parking (and lots of campers and RVs with full-time residents); the first kilometer or so takes you to the Butterfly Grove.

Naturally, there weren’t any butterflies there (it’s a different story in the fall and winter); instead, we saw a wild turkey crossing the boardwalk.

We continued onward to the viewing area overlooking the remains of the natural bridge that gave the park its name; it collapsed in 1980.

Most of the walk is along the West Cliff Drive seaside path; you can go as far as you like before turning around; today, we went all the way to the end of the Santa Cruz Wharf, giving us a 13km walk. The scenery was, as usual, delightful – and there were far fewer people on the path than we usually encounter.

West Cliff Drive was partially washed away during the January bomb cyclone and flood; I’m not sure when they’ll have it completely reopened.

Some of the natural bridges remain, but only the birds get to use them.

We thought about turning around at the Surfing Museum, but the wharf beckoned.

We ate a late lunch at Riva Fish House on the wharf; we were lucky and got a window table so we could see people enjoying the water.

On the walk back to the car, we saw a few wing foilers; it was a new sport to me!

This evening, we saw the last of the three shows that Santa Cruz Shakespeare is doing this summer: The Book of Will. It was funny, touching, and very enjoyable. I wonder what they’re going to present next year?

Wandering Capitola

We spent this morning and afternoon wandering around Capitola, mostly following the route of the South Bay Striders‘ Secret Paths and Stairways 5K walk. The route had to be modified after the floods in January, which washed out the Wharf and made some of the stairways impassable, like this one.

There were plans to rework the Wharf before the storms; they’re more urgent now.

The route started with a walk along Cliff Drive, giving us a nice view of the railroad trestle and Soquel Creek.

We wandered down the Esplanade and along the beach before climbing the stairs to Depot Hill for a panoramic view of the city.

We walked on the Grand Avenue walking path atop the cliffs until it ended, then it was back into the street grid until we reached the turnaround point of the walk.

We even got some free advice, which was somewhat useful as a reminder to drink the water I was carrying.

It was mostly downhill from there, taking us along Soquel Creek and under the railroad trestle.

We had lunch at the Capitola Bar and Grill, which had a nice view of the beach; dessert was at Polar Bear Ice Cream, which had a nice view of the Capitola Bar and Grill.

And then we finished the walk and drove back to the hotel to rest up and have dinner; we’re seeing King Lear tonight back at DeLaveaga Park, and it’s going to be quite late by the time we get home.