A Day At The Beach

Posted on by Backpacking Dad

“Let’s go to the beach,” Emily said. So we went, out the door to Santa Cruz.

Driving down highway 17 through San Jose traffic stopped just before the junction with highway 85.

“Let’s go to the beach,” Emily said. So we went, off the 17 and on to the 85, on our way to Monterey.

Driving down the 85 we joined the 101, and paralleled the distant coast.

“Let’s go to the beach,” Emily said. So we went, on highway 129, into the hills to Watsonville.

Driving through the mountains we passed cyclists and overlooks, then stopped at a berry farm just outside of Watsonville, which is not the Artichoke Capital of the World. That honour is Castroville’s. The berry farm sold pies and canning supplies and berries and apple juice and we bought everything but the pie. Then we ate our berries and drank our apple juice and did absolutely nothing with our canning supplies (because what are you going to do with canning supplies when you’re having a picnic?) and let the kids play on old tractors and tiny four-wheelers.

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“Let’s go to the beach,” Emily said. So we went, driving out of Watsonville and joining highway 1 as it paralleled the nearby coast.

Driving south on the 1 we were stopped in traffic again, and realized it was beyond lunch time. So we stopped at Moss Landing and had lunch at The Whole Enchilada (rather than The Haute Enchilada, the only other enchilada joint in Moss Landing, but clearly inferior for being snooty).

“Let’s go to the beach,” Emily said. So we drove down highway 1 until we came to Marina State Beach.

And then we went to the beach.

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As it turned out, Marina State Beach was less of a swimming beach than it was a hang gliding beach…

 

The waves at the beach were unpredictable, but getting soaked unexpectedly was fun.

“Let’s go home,” Emily said. So we left the beach and drove with the masses fleeing north. And we passed through Castroville, the Artichoke Capital of the World.

15 thoughts on “A Day At The Beach”

    1. Actually, we passed the 10 for a dollar and 12 for a dollar stands on the

      road. Emily said "Alright, if we see 13 for a dollar then we'll get some."

      But we didn't see that one :}

  2. I love the artichoke capital of the world. You can get deep fried artichoke hearts at that giant artichoke on the main street.

  3. What a fun post to read! I live in Monterey and it's great to read from local bloggers.

  5. I ate some strawberries from Watsonville today. And I thought, hey – my maiden name is Watson! Wonder where that town is? Now I know. :) Cool beach trip!

  6. Your kids are so cute. Don't you live in San Fran area? Maybe go north next time? Just a thought. Your son had sand mouth. I hate sand mouth.

    Great post.

    Casey

  7. We live on the East coast and enjoy the beach so much. My dream trip is to fly out to CA and drive from LA all the way up the coast to Canada.

    1. We rented Mustang convertible one summer and drove from San Diego to

      Vancouver, then back down through Seattle, over to Boise, then through the

      desert to Reno and back down to San Diego. It was one of the best vacations

      we've ever had and I highly recommend wearing sunscreen in your damn

      convertible because you will totally get sunburned, and probably only on the

      left side like I did.

  9. You people with beaches and oceans close by make me sick! Why couldn't the US have every state surrounded by LARGE bodies of water with waves crashing and white sandy beaches to play in. For those of us stuck here in the midwest we get the muddy Mississippi River or the Missouri River or the Meremac River or the Illinois River, the Cuivre River, the River Des Peres (aka the river da stink!). You get the point right? Rivers are not as fun as oceans and beaches. We have river bottoms that when you walk in them your feet have will have mud that oozes between your toes and you might step on rocks or fish or get hit it the face by the damn flying carp (Asian Carp). So stop rubbing it in about how glorious it is to be driving distance to so many beaches would ya!

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