Santa Cruzing - Week 2

Week 2 here we go! Here’s a recap from Week 2 of my time in Santa Cruz!

August 21

  • Pipeline Trail at Henry Cowell State Park in Felton, CA
    This is one of the most gorgeous hikes I’ve done, the Redwoods here are GORGEOUS, even bigger and prettier than the other Redwood parks I have been to so far this trip and perhaps one of the most popular for this park.

  • Tacos at Taqueria Vallarta

August 22

  • Capitola

    • Lunch at Zelda’s on the Beach
      I bumped into an old co worker from AMEX while we were having lunch, what a small world!

    • Ice Cream at Polar Bear
      Polar Bear has so many fun and unique flavors categorized by vanillas and chocolates to coffees and caramels to fruits and sorbets, needless to say I was very happy with the variety of flavors! I ultimately went with a double scoop of lavender & Honey and Olallieberry & Honey, which did not disappoint and I will definitely be returning!

August 25

  • Hanging out with Ivy at Black’s Beach after work

  • Dinner at Café Gratitude
    Café Gratitude is a vegan restaurant, which was surprisingly delicious! I had a delicious sandwich! Fun story - I did not know Café Gratitude was a chain and the first time I went was this past April with my friend Yasmine in Venice, CA.

August 26

  • Road trip to NAPA!
    Matt, Lisa & I took a road trip to Napa, my first time to NAPA! We made it to 3 wineries:

    • Rutherford Hill Winery

    • V. Sattui Winery

    • Priest Ranch Winery

    Check out my last blog post on Napa for more details: https://www.elizabethtam.com/blog/2021/8/26/first-trip-to-napa

  • Dinner at In-N-Out & a pit stop at Petco to get Luke the cat a cat toy

    Luke’s dad never got him any toys, what a sad kitty

  • Bonfire at Black’s Beach

    We made another bonfire, but came prepared with s’mores this time - yum!

That’s it for Week 2 in Santa Cruz!

Santa Cruzing - Week 1

Wow, what a week! This is my first time to Santa Cruz and Josh did not disappoint, he gave my friend Diana and I quite the tour of Santa Cruz this past week! Let me share a recap all the fun things we did our first week in Santa Cruz!

August 13 - Arrive in Santa Cruz

  • 1st stop… In -N-Out
    I ordered a Double Double & strawberry milkshake, what more do you need? 😋

August 14

  • Downtown Santa Cruz
    The downtown is a few blocks long, with few local shops, no big names and lots of restaurants and local performers playing on the sidewalks

  • Lighthouse State Park
    This is such a cute local dog park, perfect for Josh’s dog Ivy!

  • Hiking at the Land of Medicine Buddha - Soquel, CA
    We visited the Land of the Medicine Buddha and hiked the 5.6 mile trail in the Redwood Forest! The trail was a lot of fun, we went throughout the Redwood Forest and came upon some Buddhist relics along the way.
    The day before Josh had kept talking about signs and how they manifest themselves. Earlier that day, Diana had wanted to buy Pokémon socks, but dropped them along the way and sadly did not. If you look at shrine photo, there is a pokeball… if that is not a sign, I don’t know what is!!

  • Dinner at in the West End at West End Tavern
    I met Josh’s sister for the first time, after knowing him for 6 years!


August 15

  • Santa Cruz Farmer’s Market - local farmers and artisans selling their produce and goods with some live local music

  • Tamales & Pan Dulce at El Rosal Bakery
    This bakery had a HUGE variety of different types of pan (spanish for bread), they were all so pretty and tasty! They rate themselves for having the #1 tamale in town, they were not my #1 but pretty tasty!

  • Santa Cruz Wharf

    • Drinks at Makai Island Kitchen & Groggery
      This cute Hawaiian restaurant is super cute with fun decor and drinks! While sitting at the bar, my friends & I thought we were going crazy, but the entire back room rotates! If you go, I recommend getting a fun drink and sitting at the bar in that room!

  • Santa Cruz Boardwalk - boardwalk rides, games and boardwalk food!

  • Capitola - cute part of town with cute shops and restaurants

August 16

  • Dinner at The Crow’s Nest - cute little spot for Happy Hour at Twin Lakes State Beach overlooking the beach

  • Drinks (and open mic nite) at MeloMelo Kava Bar
    We downtown with the intention of getting cookies and ended up at this Kava bar, not realizing that it was not an alcohol bar but a kava bar. For those of you who don't know what kava is, it is a psychedelic root that literally means “intoxicating pepper.” According to WebMD, “kava contains substances called kavapyrones. They act much like alcohol on your brain, making you feel calm, relaxed, and happy. The plant is also thought to relieve pain, prevent seizures, and relax muscles.”

  • Cookies from Pacific Cookie Company
    The sweet aroma of cookies fills the store as soon as you walk in, there is a fun variety of cookies, my favorite was the “Almond Joe” - a twist of your classic chocolate chip cookie with nuts and coconut shreds, yummy! This reminded me of Diddy Reese cookies in Westwood, CA, however more flavors and the option of ice cream from local ice cream company, Marianne’s!

August 18

  • Hiking at Fall Creek State Park at Henry Cowell Redwoods Park in Felton, CA

August 19

  • Bonfire at Black Point Beach in Twin Lakes State Beach
    This was my first bon fire at the beach, it was COLD, but so much fun!

  • Matt & Lisa Arrive from NJ
    We had a few more friends arrive

August 20

That’s it for week 1 in Santa Cruz! Stay tuned for what we do in week 2 and please share any recs you may have on things to do and places to see!