Brandon and I celebrated our one-year wedding anniversary in September with a trip to the Santa Cruz area. It was both of our first time down there, and we spent three days exploring. While we were there, I had several people reach out for details on where we stayed and what we recommended, so I made a rundown of our trip for those inquiring minds!
Day one:
Our first day in Santa Cruz we made our first stop at Seabright Deli. It's a small sandwich shop that packs a large punch to your tastebuds. They have an amazing selection of gourmet sandwiches. I had the Seabright, their version of a hot pastrami, and it did not disappoint! Right now, they are closed indoors due to Covid, but they still have their walk-up counter and service is as quick! We went on a Thursday however, so I can imagine they get pretty slammed during the weekend.
With sandwiches in hand, we headed towards Seabright beach for a picnic. Once we came up on the beach, we realized this may not be the best beach to picnic at. There was a lot of trash and a few camps of people who may have been under the influence of substances, so we decided to skip that particular beach and find a new spot. We headed north and stumbled upon Wilder Ranch State Park.
Boasting over 7,000 acres of land to explore, it's definitely a place to put on your list if you’re looking for great hiking in both the mountains and along the coast. From the crest of Ben Lomond Mountain, the landscape rolls down ancient wave-cut terraces through the marsh lands of a nature preserve to the seashore. It even has an 1800's dairy ranch where you can learn about California's early ranching history.
We chose to walk down to the coastline and picnic while watching the ocean. We walked a three-mile loop, stopping to take pictures of the amazing beaches and even saw a whole rock full of napping seals!
Side note: there is a $10 per vehicle day-use fee.
After our hike we headed to the resort to check-in. We ended up finding an amazing resort through Airbnb. The Seascape Resort has options where you can pay a pretty penny to stay as an individual guest, or you can rent out a spot that is privately owned for much less. We rented a one-bedroom apartment with a living room and kitchen, that overlooked the ocean. Another sidenote, if you rent through Airbnb, you don’t get access to the private beach fires or bike rentals, but we were so busy we wouldn’t have had time for that anyways!
Seascape has three sections, each with a pool and hot tub. There is a little restaurant where you can eat outside and overlook the ocean. We didn't get a chance to eat there, but it looked nice enough! There is also a really fun walking path that leads down to your own giant stretch of private beach. The beach is incredibly beautiful and wasn't too busy.
Seascape also has its own little shopping center across the street, about a five-minute walk. There's a small market where you can get the basics (they also have amazing breakfast burritos which could be a go to every morning), some little boutiques, a salon, a coffee shop/taproom, and a great Mexican cantina that we went to our first night for dinner! We sat upstairs outside and enjoyed their amazing happy hour! Lots of delicious drinks and appetizers for a great price! We had palomas, oysters, and little enchiladas that are amazing!
Day two-
On our second day we woke up and grabbed a freshly made breakfast burrito from the market. I also grabbed a chai tea latte from the coffee shop, and we set out for Capitola. Capitola is a wonderful little beach town in between the Seascape resort which is actually in-between Aptos and Santa Cruz. It's nestled on the Monterey Bay and is known for its colorful beach houses and hotels. We arrived fairly early, and on a weekday (Friday), so we weren't met with a ton of other tourists. The town is set up as a grid of several little streets all lined with restaurants (many overlooking the beach), spots for drinks and coffee, and more shopping than you could ever imagine. We parked (you have to pay for parking) and walked down to the beach to explore. We happened to be there when Operation Surf was hosting an event. According to their website, "Operation Surf’s curriculum-based programs aim to inspire injured military and veterans to seek wellness in all aspects of their lives while providing the necessary resources, tools, and peer-to-peer support to continue this mindset indefinitely." We found a great viewing spot and watched veterans learning to surf. It was so cool to see them catch their first wave and hear their companions cheering for them as they rode the wave! We watched for quite some time, enjoying the mission behind what we were watching while taking in the beauty of the ocean.
After leaving the beach, we walked through the town aimlessly and shopped. Every shop was local and had fun and unique things for sale. I found a gorgeous local agate ring, some locally made soap that came in a cool mesh bag for the shower, and Brandon and I always collect magnets when we travel, so we got a cute little crab one for the fridge. We only spent about two hours there as we had a big day ahead, but I would absolutely love to head back there for a night and enjoy what I'm sure is a fun atmosphere for drinks, dinner, and dancing!
After leaving Capitola, we headed to a local brewery, New Bohemia Brewing Co. Brandon and I love trying new craft beers and learning about the process and genius behind some of these beers. On their website, New Bohemia explains the thought behind the brand, "The inspiration for NuBo is tied to a couple special places. One is the magical region of Bohemia, in today’s Czech Republic, where a beer culture and tradition goes back a thousand years and even played a role in ending the dark ages. Today’s Czechs take their beer very seriously, all the way from tank to table. Our house yeast comes from Ceske Budejovice, in the heart of Bohemia, giving our lagers the crisp, yet rich, flavors found in the Pilsners that still set a global standard. The other is this place we call home—Santa Cruz, CA. History has cycles, and we aspire to emerge from 2020 as from a dark age, with the natural beauty, the forward thinking mindset, and the gratitude that permeates Santa Cruz helping to heal the world. Good beer leads to good cheer, which leads to… an enlightened new age?" We also stopped by Santa Cruz Mountain Brewing, which is nestled inside a container park that offers a fun atmosphere and also hosts a food menu. It's a family-owned award-winning brewery known for their organic beer. Both breweries had their individual charm and perks, but I was really excited about the fact that Santa Cruz Mountain Brewing has woman brewers! Both stops are absolutely worth adding to your list.
After our beer tasting extravaganza, we headed down to the pier right past the famous Santa Cruz boardwalk and had lunch at Riva Fish House. The service wasn't our favorite, but their oysters, clam chowder, and view was worth it! We then headed into Santa Cruz to visit Bookshop Santa Cruz. This is an incredible locally owned bookshop that has been open since the 60's! It boasts over 20,000 square feet of bookish goodness, so if books are your thing, absolutely do not miss this store!
For our anniversary, I booked Brandon and I a wine tasting evening sail through Chardonnay Sailing Tours. The company offers a variety of sails, from brunch cruises to pizza cruises! We would definitely book through them again; the crew was amazing and the sailboat was incredible! We sailed around the bay and were served a variety of local wines and pizza. I cannot say enough about Chardonnay Sailing Tours and definitely recommend adding a sail to your itinerary.
Day three-
For our final day of vacation, we headed down to Monterey. We stopped at Alvarado St. Brewing for lunch and to try another local beer spot. The atmosphere was fun, the food delicious, and the beer did not disappoint! After we fueled up, we migrated towards the famous Monterey Bay Aquarium. Now, I don't want to give too harsh of a review, but this was my least favorite part of the whole vacation and honestly invoked some anxiety on my part. First, the aquarium doesn't have its own parking. It's located in an area known as Cannery Row, which is packed. It took us half an hour to find parking which of course we had to pay for. After finally finding parking, we were shuffled into the aquarium which was equally packed. Now I get it, it's a big attraction, everyone wants to go, but it was so packed that people were walking into me and hovering to the point where I felt like I had no space to breathe. There were several aquariums that we never even got to see as there were so many people pushing through to get to the glass. We fumbled around the aquarium for a while before I decided I'd had enough and we left.
I was pretty excited for the aquarium because I am a huge fan of all things animal, so I felt pretty sorry for myself as we walked back towards the car. Another goal we had was to find a nice bottle of wine to bring back with us to drink on our second anniversary. We got a bottle on our honeymoon that we had for this first anniversary, so we wanted to carry on the tradition. As we walked to car, we stumbled upon what saved the day and made it all worth it, The Wine Experience.
The Wine Experience is a fun little wine tasting room that offer small bites and a variety of local wines. As we sat and tasted, we told our amazing hostess that we were looking for a bottle for our second anniversary. She instantly lit up and told us that she could make us a personalized label with a wedding photo for whichever bottle we chose! By the time we had finished our flights and picked our wine, she had already made an amazing label with our favorite wedding picture, our last name, and our wedding date! With our custom wine bottle in hand, we headed towards or final dinner destination.
Phil's Fish Market is in the heart of Moss Landing about twenty minutes outside of Santa Cruz. It's been a family-owned business for over 30 years and has won several awards. They have a cafeteria type set up, so we stood in line until we got to the counter to order our meal. They gave us a number and said they would bring it out. If you eat at Phil's, don't try to sit inside, weather permitting. Head outside and straight back to the beach. If you're lucky, you can snag a picnic table that overlooks the ocean and is the perfect atmosphere for a relaxed seaside meal. Their food presentation isn't fancy, but the food itself, the history of the restaurant, and the beachy location are all worth it!
Overall, we had the best time on our trip to the Santa Cruz area, when we go back, I would definitely do another sail, check out a few more breweries, revisit the bookshop, and head straight back to Capitola.

Santa Cruz

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