The Santa Cruz Beach Boardwalk! I spent my high school summers at this place. It was only about a 20 minute drive from my house so of course my friends and I spent countless hours here. Matter of fact, we had our prom here. They have a big ball room in one of the buildings along the strip where we danced the night away. Afterwards, couples slowly made their way down to the water's edge before leaving for the night. I can't believe that was my high school experience. Looking back it seems like a dream.
Now, nearly 20 years later, I was so excited to share this spot with my family. Daniel and I had gone before but we'd never taken our girls!
I also spent lots of time here and at the wharf, which is right down the street, with my parents. Whenever we'd have family or friends come into town we'd take them here or to the wharf for dinner. Sometimes, on Sundays, after church, my parents and I would just go to the wharf for dinner and sit by the window so we could look out on the ocean while we ate. I think I was unique in that I actually really liked hanging out with my parents even as a teen. Hey, I knew had a good thing!
Waiting to go on one of our first family rides together.
Here we go!
Morgan was our little dare devil! She went on EVERYTHING! Matter of fact, we had to keep telling her no because she wasn't tall enough yet to go on all the stuff she wanted to.
Daniel, being the amazing daddy he is, was nice enough to go on all the stuff with her.
It was cute because when Daniel got off this ride, he whispered to me that it was scarier than it looked. He said his stomach was a tad uneasy after this one. But for the record, Daniel will ride any ride and does great on them! Just thought I'd put that disclaimer there in case he reads this. Tehe.
Can you see the cliffs and water behind the below picture? I don't think you can see the water but it was there. We had gorgeous views all day.
Little miss Charlotte was terrified of the rides at first. We put her on this infant ride to start her off and she flipped out! I was like, uh oh, this is going to be a long day at the Boardwalk but after giving her a little time and having Morgan ride the baby rides with her, she warmed up to them and realized they were fun. Phew! I often took her on little kid rides while Daniel and Morgan rode the crazy scary ones!
Yep, Daniel and Morgan rode the below ride. It was one of those gravity ones but it was the most intense one I'd ever seen. This thing tilted a bunch of different ways and at extreme angles. Go Morgan!
Waiting in line with Morgan. She and I rode the Ferris Wheel! I too will ride (or used to) ride anything for the most part, but the Ferris Wheel has always scared me for some reason. Just being up that high on this chair that seems like it's going to tip over at any moment and dump you out just doesn't seem right to me BUT I've never let it stop me. I offered Daniel a break and told him I'd take Morgan on this one.
The view was amazing!
I was slightly terrified while on the ride and of course this was Morgan! Gosh I love her! Can you see the ocean behind us?
The boardwalk is along the beach so this was our scenery all day. It was just one of those days where everything was easy and happy and amazing. I will always think back to it with extremely fond memories.
I'm not a haunted house kind of gal but I try to never let me silly fears stand in my way of living. Of course Morgan kept saying she wanted to go on the haunted house ride so Daniel and I finally agreed to take her even though we were mildly worried we were going to scar our two young children for life. We asked some people standing in line with us if they thought it was okay that we were taking our littles on it and they said it would be fine...
And it was! They (and I) did fine! We had fun!
Standing in line waiting to go in the haunted house! Morgan was excited and poor Charlotte had no idea what kind of ride her parents were about to take her on.
The below picture screams California living to me for some reason!
The Pirate Ship! I rode this thing every time I went to the Boardwalk as a teen but happily passed this time to stay with Charlotte. I sure enjoyed watching Daniel and Morgan have fun together though.
I purchased tickets at Costco a couple of months before our trip. They included unlimited ride passes and tickets for activities like arcade games, miniature golf, bowling etc. We spent most of our day at the Boardwalk and there was no way we were going to be able to do it all. It was a blast but we still wanted to walk the wharf and have dinner. We had to leave the Boardwalk with still having tons of activities left to do!
After we left, we walked down the street to the Wharf. I've always loved this place too. It also brings back memories for me. Actually, my first date was here. A guy from high school took me to the wharf to walk along it and get some ice cream. I was so nervous!
And now I was thrilled to make the same walk with my husband and two children.
From the Wharf you can look over and see the Boardwalk.
Dinner on the wharf! We ate delicious clam chowder in sourdough bread bowls while watching boats go by and sea life play outside our window.
Pelicans! I love these birds! I could watch them for hours. One time Daniel and I camped with some friends on a beach and we were able to watch pelicans dive bomb the ocean. When we woke up the next morning we could see their tracks all around our tent. Apparently they had visited our beach during the night.
We walked down to a deck they had built so you could view under the wharf to see sea lions hanging out underneath.
Charlotte looking at the sea lions...
It was getting chilly with the marine layer rolling in. It was neat to watch! When we first walked onto the wharf, it was sunny and clear but by the time we had dinner and were at the end of the pier, the marine layer started covering everything.
I think I've mentioned before that Charlotte has always loved men. Daniel and I repeatedly get embarrassed (and amused) because she'll walk up to a man she's never met before and just sit right next to him and start up a conversation. She's done this since she was tiny. She has this confidence about her and doesn't think twice about saying hi to everyone who walks past her and if they'll give her enough time she'll talk their ear off. When we walked past this gentleman she of course stopped and walked right up to him to ask him what he was doing, what was in his bucket etc. etc. Luckily, as usually is the case, the man was more then generous and entertained her questions with lots of nice answers and interest.
We got to watch two adorable sea otters fishing for muscles that attach themselves to the bottom of the pier. The otters would dive under the water, retrieve the muscles and then come back up and lay on their backs while they opened them and ate them.
Our sweet babes were wiped out after our long beautiful day!
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