On Wednesday, April 1st, we checked out of our hotel in the redwoods and headed back to Santa Cruz. We hoped the kids wouldn't realize what day it was - we've had some doozies in the past. But they DID remember. They woke up extra early and packed everything up! It usually takes us forever to leave hotels, but not this time! That was the nicest "April Fool's" surprise ever. First we went to the Santa Cruz Wharf. It was early in the day, and it wasn't very crowded.
Apparently it just turned 100 years old.
There were lots of shops and restaurants on the pier. It smelled delicious! But the prices were all pretty high, and they didn't seem like very family-friendly places. No one had family-size fish and chips, for instance.
Finally, near the very end of the pier, we found this great little place with very reasonably priced food. Plus we could sit outside on the picnic tables, which is just easier.
We got 3 orders of fish and chips and 3 orders of calamari and chips plus a clam chowder bread bowl. There was lots of food, and we couldn't even finish it all!
Everything was super tasty. The fish and calamari were breaded instead of dipped in batter, which we like better.
There were a ton of these sea lions under the pier, serenading us while we ate.
Here's a view of the Boardwalk from the wharf. Before we left the hotel, we had no idea what we wanted to do that day; we just knew we weren't ready to go home yet. We thought about the Monterey Bay Aquarium, but we've been there so many times, and we weren't in the mood for crowds. It is always crowded. Spencer grabbed a flyer in the hotel breakfast room about a science place in Santa Cruz. It looked good, so we went there after the Wharf.
It's called The Seymour Marine Discovery Center, and it's associated with UC Santa Cruz.
There were lots of hands on things, which is their favorite.
They even got to pet a swell shark. Dallin said it felt smooth on one side and rough like sand paper on the other.
Levi was impressed!
It was much smaller than the aquarium, but it had some fun stuff, and the kids really liked it. Plus it was tons cheaper and less crowded.
A weird looking worm with a gas bubble moving through its body.
After we looked around for about an hour, Spencer, Tyler and Dallin went on a tour. It was free, but they had to get tickets for it.
Here's a gray whale skeleton
It was super windy!
This 87' blue whale skeleton is one of the largest in the world! After their tour ended, we headed back home. What a fun little getaway trip!
No comments:
Post a Comment