Celebrating Retirement Tour October 2019 - Day 15 Thur 17 Oct - Santa Cruz

[Fireworks]

Moving on again, this time to the Seaway Inn Santa Cruz just for an overnight stop before heading down the PCH. We did consider stopping in St Helena, which looked like another very quaint town in the Napa Valley, but the very busy main road running through the centre of it put us off so we decided to crack on and just head for Santa Cruz.

More very hairy driving on the American freeways, it really was like Wacky Races at times, far more scary than any theme park ride. Arrived at Seaway Inn at 2pm and our room was ready so just dumped the bags and went for a wander.

Had a lovely walk along the pier, spotting lots of sea lions sunning themselves, and then walked down to the tackier part of Santa Cruz, the Boardwalk. There didn't seem to be anything open as I assume it is now out of season, but it was a pleasant walk in the sunshine.

First impressions? We liked Santa Cruz, but give us a pier to walk along and we are happy 😁

Next we ventured into downtown Santa Cruz in search of refreshment. We had to walk through quite a rough looking area before we got to the nicer bit, and it was about a 25 minute walk from the seafront, so we both agreed we wouldn't be walking back 😳

Found a great gastro pub called "99 Bottles of Beer on the Wall". As the name suggests they had a massive beer menu so Brian was a happy bunny. The food menu was good too so we decided to eat here as well. Brian had a Fisherman's Platter and I had blackened chicken Caesar Salad and sweet potato fries, both excellent. Bill came to $75 including tip and several drinks each. Highly recommended.

Uber back to the hotel came immediately and cost $7.

Link to previous days: https://www.thedibb.co.uk/forums/sho... php?t=1150994