Day 16 Carmel to Santa Cruz

  Santa Cruz, California, United States
Sunday, June 1, 2008

We had our latest lie in of the holiday, up at 9am. We had our waffle breakfast, checked out and packed the case in the car. We went for a walk round Carmel and Catriona bought a Dragonfly she had seen in a shop.
 
We departed Carmel about 1030 and took the route via the 17 Mile Drive. The cost to drive it was $9.25 which you pay at the gate entering it. Basically the whole area is a series of gold courses and really, really expensive houses. All around the coast of the bay is also a wildlife sanctuary. We got lost a couple of times as there were are few signs all saying 17 mile drive, but made our way round. We saw some deer near one of the courses (wonder how many penalty points you get if you hit a deer?)
 

Squirrels chomping Poppycock

We stopped in a car park to watch some seals offshore and, surprise surprise some squirrels appeared! As we discovered, they seemed to love our bag of Poppycock!
 
We drove through Monterey up Highway 1 and followed the TomToms directions to the Ocean Pacific Lodge in Santa Cruz. The clouds cleared and it was blue skies and sunshine by the time we arrived. We were a bit early for check in (2 pm) but we got in OK.

Ocean Pacific, Santa Cruz

We got room 203 which is just above Reception. The room was spacious with a big bed. The hotel is pet friendly and also has free WiFi (it;s security enabled but the passkey is on the desk in the room). It also has a large fridge and a microwave - handy for reheating that pizza. The tv has dozens of channels.
 

Santa Cruz beach

We walked down to the beach front, only about 5 mins walk. We walked the length of the Santa Cruz Boardwalk which was a series of rides, games and shops. A tip, eat before you go as the food prices are ridiculous ($12 for 2 skanky cheeseburgers and a coke). The Boardwalk was just like a large version of Codonas Beach Amusements in Aberdeen or any other seaside town. We didn't bother partaking.
 
We headed up the road back past the hotel up Pacific Avenue to where most of the shops were and had a wander about.
 
We stopped off in an Irish bar for a drink, Rosie McCann's. $5 for an Anchor Steam, flipping rip off.
 
We headed back to the hotel and went to sit out by its pool to read a book for a while. You get pool towels from reception but they are so small they are more like tea towels. If you need a pool towel, ask for two.
 
We decided to try for one of the popular TripAdvisor restaurants and walked up to Ristorante Avanti, it took about 25 minutes to walk from the hotel, when we walked up Laurel Street, there seemed to be a bunch of goats feeding on the side of a hill across the street - not the sort of thing you expect in Santa Cruz.
 
When we got to the restaurant there wasn't much to look at. Inside it was bustling and lively. We were told it could be up to 20 minutes for a table but may be quicker if we didn't mind sitting at the tables near the bar which we said we wouldn't mind. We sat at the bar and had a drink and got a table 10 minutes later.
 
We ordered Torta Di Polenta with mascarpone, roasted tomato sauce and arugula pesto. Next course was Wild Nettle Mascarpone Ravioli with walnuts and goats cheese and Arugala salad with Fava Beans, toasted almond and a mint vinaigrette.
 
Main course was Poullet Rouge, half roasted chicken with grain & orange salad and sugar snap peas, and Boudin Blanc (basically sausages!) with roasted potatoes, spinach and a cream fraise sauce.
 
It was all very tasty and well presented. We didn't bother with pudding or coffee. Total cost was £113 with tip.  
 
We then headed back down to the hotel, allowing us to walk off dinner. This evenings bottle was Russian River Valley Chardonnay Francis Ford Coppela Reserve. That leaves us 4 bottles to take home.
 
We weren't that fussed with Santa Cruz, on reflection an additional night in Carmel would have been better.