Not Matt's Sound Advice

Today's lesson. Do not eat a sesame bagel while driving. You and your seat will be covered in seeds when you get where you're going.

The Sea

Well, been in Santa Cruz for a month, and I finally went the last mile to the water. Not that we didn't try before, but couldn't get near it. We tried to go to the Municipal Wharf / Boardwalk. Apparently noon on the Saturday before the 4th of the July is not the best time for that. No parking and it took an hour to get out of there back into the habitable regions Well, yesterday I decided that 6:30 on a Tuesday is probably ok. And it was. Drove on out to the end of the wharf there was paring. And sea lions. Underneath the wharf, just above the water, every support strut had a barking sea lion on it. Topside, there was a lot of fishing, about 1300 seafood restaurants, a bunch of touristy kitsch shops, and the Marini's Candies, famous for the Saltwater Taffy. I walked the length of the wharf and then along the boardwalk, which is basically a seaside amusement park. And I actually went out on the beach to the water itself. Just so I could say I got in the Pacific. Not all of me, mind you. Or even much of me. It wasn't quite as cold as I'd thought, but not something I'd care to go in swimming. Not like the Atlantic.

I really wish I'd had the camera with me, because the full moon had just started to rise, and it was red. Oh, well, I'm sure we'll be going back there plenty, especially once tourist season dies down.