Family Vacation Recap – Santa Cruz and Half Moon Bay

Monday through Wednesday (10/10 – 10/12) was the only time we took an overnight trip while my parents were here. My parents had seen much of the Californian Coast already save for the stretch north of Fort Ross and the stretch between Santa Cruz and San Francisco. So, we decided to drive to Santa Cruz on Monday.

We left early and made it to Santa Cruz just in time for brunch at ‘Linda’s Seabreeze Café‘ (a recommendation from my friend Sizzle). What I really loved about this place is that they had coffee dispensers outside and you could help yourself to some coffee while you wait to be seated. Neat! Every breakfast place (especially the ones with longer wait times) should have that!

The breakfast was delicious. I had granola with fresh yogurt and my parents ordered omelettes. 

After brunch, we went to explore the Walton Lighthouse and harbor area near by.

There was a warning that the lighthouse, which sits on a jetty, advising people of the potential for large breaking waves. I didn’t quite believe it, because it was such a calm, sunny day, but the couple behind us in this pictures got soaked just a few minutes later by a huge wave crashing over the jetty.

Here’s the back of the sign – with evidence that huge waves do happen here.

We drove over to the popular Santa Cruz Boardwalk.

The boardwalk was pretty much closed down (because they were doing some huge construction), but that didn’t stop us from taking silly photos with some of the photo-ops.

We walked on the Santa Cruz Pier… 

… said hello to the seals… 

We made a quick stop at the Mark Abbott Memorial Lighthouse and watched the surfers for a while. Then we drove further up the coast.

We then drove on to Half Moon Bay where we took a nice long walk along the beach and along the cliffs.  .

We had dinner at Sam’s Chowder House (a place I had been to with J before!) and my Mom and I shared clam chowder and a seafood platter while my Dad ordered some other fish dish.

We stayed at the Pacifica Beach Hotel hotel in Pacifica a little further up the coas (highly recommend it!). It was right across from the beach and very nice. We had a drink at a nearby restaurant and called it an early night. What a great day it was!