If there’s one thing my husband knows how to do well, it’s travel and explore. He’s always on the move somewhere. Sometimes this can cause squabbles in our relationship because I’m the opposite. When we were living apart, there were weekends that I might only leave the apartment once for a grocery run. Alone time and having a completely open schedule to do what I want (even if it means sit on the couch and watch TV) is my happy place. But, I am grateful for a guy who can’t sit still and wants to embrace life. He helps get me out of the house and we see some pretty great places together! Already, my second weekend in San Francisco we took a little road trip to go apple picking and to the Santa Cruz Boardwalk.
I won’t elaborate much on apple picking except to say it sure is different than the Midwest apple orchards! The u-pick ranch we went to was all dust and hills. It was also hot, but that’s to be expected when it’s the third weekend in September in California and the skies are completely clear of clouds. By the time we were leaving I was incredibly hot and sweaty (although the apple cider helped quench my thirst). I was happy to have brought a change of clothes for the boardwalk!
The drive to Santa Cruz from San Francisco was quick and easy. The way there was broken up by a stop for brunch in Palo Alto and the aforementioned apple picking. Once we got to Santa Cruz we thought we were in for a headache though, when we saw the traffic for the boardwalk parking lot. Everyone else must have wanted to enjoy one of the last hot and sunny summer days, because cars weren’t moving. We cut off onto a side street and drove around until we found parking by the Kaiser Permanente Arena, about a 10 minute walk to the boardwalk. Street parking was reasonably priced for a few hours.
Being on a boardwalk felt so nostalgic, I immediately wanted to try all of the festival food and even was tempted to go on a ride. In the end we didn’t go on the Giant Dipper roller coaster or step inside the fun house, but watching everyone enjoy themselves on the attractions added to the fun! My favorite ride to watch was the sky riders because of how beautiful the pastel cars looked against the blue sky.
When I talked to people on the West Coast about moving to San Francisco I always heard the same thing: “There’s so much to do outside of the city!” That made me laugh, because I was moving to San Francisco FOR the city. But, this one weekend helped me understand what they were saying. This time we went to the beach, but in a few months we can drive to see snow. There’s so much on our West Coast bucket list – glad we already checked off the Santa Cruz Boardwalk!
