I have moved to the Cruz, or you could say I'm 'just cruzin'. What I decided to do this summer is sublet to see if Santa Cruz was the right match for me. I am only indebted to this place till September 15th and then I can choose to go back to the East Bay (Berkeley/Oakland, California), or stay here. Thus, I have henceforth decided to give thou the utmost Epinion* of where we lay our scene,

***SANTA CRUZ, CALIFORNIA***

which is Spanish for, Holy Cross, or something like that.

Well, so far so slug, and if you are wondering why I have chosen the word "slug" it is because here at the University of California, Santa Cruz, their mascot is the Banana Slug.

No lie! I love that too! Honestly, once you get here that is exactly what you become...a slug. Well, I have anyway. It feels like I am on permanent vacation--- there are surfers every which way, ice cream on the boardwalk, tourists, etc.

In addition, there is so much beauty in nature here you almost feel like someone has given you a little piece of paradise until you realize there isn't much to do here.

Really.

Really, truly...well unless you belong to

SURFERS ANONYMOUS

Unless you surf 24/7. Honestly though, Santa Cruz is a nice break from the big money hustle of San Francisco. The Cruz is definetly a small town rather than a city like it thinks it is. If you live here long enough, people will not only know your name, where you live and who you know but also wave to you on the street when they are driving by.

WHAT IT IS...

Santa Cruz is straight up a small town in the middle of the nowhere. About an hour and a half from San Francisco if you speed, and a good 30 minute drive to San Jose. Santa Cruz can be your little paradise in the midst of nothingness or your tragedy. Paradise because of nature. Tragedy because of boredom or lack of fundage.

FOR SK8TERS..

There are two skate parks that I know of. One is located downtown, the other by UCSC. The one downtown is off of the Boardwalk and Cowell's beach (you will see it). Little kids like the mini ramps but older punksters are seen there too.
I hear the one by UCSC is pretty cool, by an ace skater. I cannot however tell you how to get there. It has some kind of thing that teaches you turns. A rally run or something ? I don't know, he knows the terminology.

DIVERSITY -1

Basically Santa Cruz is not all that diverse. Other than a small Hispanic population, Santa Cruz is mainly all white. Since I have lived in a small town before, the lack of diversity made me feel like I was back in Wisconsin for a second and then I saw the surf and I realized I wasn't. There is a slight undercurrent of racial seperation here between the Mexican people and the white people which is wiggity whack. These people are our food gatherers for the most part (the Mexican farmworkers) and deserve respect. Especially considering San Jose is mainly consistant of Asian and Hispanic peoples and that Oakland ain't too far away...okay? So it seems silly to me that the Cruz is not too up on its Californianess...which is, diversity and eracism.

Besides that, Santa Cruz is fairly peaceful, humdrum and a sleepy little expensive surf town on the way to L.A. or S.F.

TRUTH AND CONSEQUENCE...

You can get lost here, in that, you can actually see the stars at night, breathe clean air, swim in the ocean without paying a toll, get smiled at in the grocery store by the cashier, buy as many beach cruisers as your wallet can stand, surf in the morning and still have time for one more organic corn cob on the grill. You can become a genuine 100% slug.


RECOMMENDATIONS ON THE SPARSE TIP...

Santa Cruz has a few spots I must recommend. First, Natural Bridges. Follow the signs off of Mission/Highway 1 entrance to the city and go see the bridges. They are stone formations that lead to tide pools and beachfront. They are usually much less populated than the Boardwalk and naturally beautiful.

Second, the Boardwalk. The Giant Dipper is a must ride, a classic roller coaster from the early days. On Mondays and Tuesdays you can ride for 60 cents!!! Who beats that in this day and age?

Third, if you are looking for food, The Herb Room off of Mission is a great grocery store. It is totally cool, open till Midnight and chock full of organic produce, Tofutti bars and great bread...

Which leads me across the street to Emily's Bakery which I hear is delish, but I haven't been there yet so I can't fully epinionate.

Saturn Cafe off of Pacific is really fun too. It is totally veggie (except for a tuna sandwich) and hip. Open till 4 am it may just be the only thing that IS going on in Santa Cruz!

PERSONAL TESTIMONY

The locals know something you don't know...Fourth of July rocks here!

This fourth I stayed in Santa Cruz after breaking up with a guy fully sad that I would have no one to kiss under the fireworks. Rejected and unpatriotic, I stumbled down with my new roommates to Seabright to watch "the fireworks".

Lo and beholdith, I saw the craziest chaos ever...people were lighting off fireworks left and right on the beach. I mean, presonally lighting them, for hours on end!!!

It was madness, anarchy and fully tolerated by the police as long as you snuck in after they searched you (?) I guess.

The point is, I wish I had a video camera because it was madness! I can't fully explain what I saw because I am not really sure what it was but I certainly watched for bottle rockets near my backpack.

Completely bad for the environment and a great fest for 20 somethings, I went home semi-satisfied with my loveless fourth of July *again, loveless will I never kiss under the fireworks?

P.S. Ladies there are some good looking surfers here.

I STILL DON'T KNOW...

I don't know if I will stay in the Cruz but it certainly is growing on me. I like being treated like I am a person rather than a number, like in the East Bay. Sometimes it is nice to live in a real small California town, but I would rather retire here than save my 20's in this place.

For now though, it's a nice breather from the rat race.

OVERALL, DUDE

I love the beach and surfers and surf wear and all that trite, so it suits me. I still think San Diego is better though, surf wise and city wise, but the access to San Francisco is pretty tubular, dude. Surf's up.







Recommended: Yes

Best Suited For: Friends
Best Time to Travel Here: Jun - Aug