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A Long Weekend at the Beach House |
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I will never again go for so long without taking a true vacation. Although, we were only in Santa Cruz for three nights, so I will refer to it as a mini-vacation. Regardless, it was a wonderful break from our routine and affordable to boot!
The beach house we rented (http://www.ahouseinsantacruz.com/windandseaII/index.html) was a beautifully decorated, two-story home with a hot tub (which you can see in the photo). The photos on the home's website do not do it justice.
I was pleased that we were able to get the house at the inexpensive rate of $320 per night. Because there were seven of us, the price broke down to just $45 per night, per person. By waiting until after Labor Day, we saved $50 per night as it is now considered non-peak renting season.
We drove to Santa Cruz on Thursday night. It took us exactly one hour to get there from Redwood City. We didn't leave until after the last class at Fearless so we had the road to ourselves. When we arrived, Mark was already there and opened the house. Kevin and our friend Jesse followed us in.
We spent most of Friday relaxing around the beach house. Janna and Karl arrived on Friday night after they got off work.
On Saturday, we went to the Boardwalk and cruised around for a few hours. What I should say is that we ate our way around. Corn dogs, cotton candy, chocolate dipped ice cream and one deep fried Twinkie was consumed. I'm all for deep frying, (remind me to tell you about the week Paul and I spent in Scotland), but Twinkies are gross on their own and aren't improved by batter and oil.
Typically, on these group vacations, we cook and eat all of our meals. Mark is a graduate of the Culinary Academy, Kevin is a home-grown gourmet and the rest of us love to cook as well. We decided to change things up this time and spent a few hours eating appetizers and drinking the home-brewed beer at Seabright Brewery. We then headed over to a waterfront restaurant for dinner.
After a quick brunch on Sunday, we spent some time at the beach absorbing the sand and sun before heading home.
A few highlights of the weekend:
* On the Boardwalk we found and purchased a plush pirate ship for Dante. We also picked up a stuffed pirate dog with a peg leg and scar. We named him "Stumpy". Dante enjoys chewing on his peg leg.
* Janna and I discovered and explored a great bookstore. The name of it escapes me now.
* Dante saw the Pacific Ocean for the first time. The sound of the surf was a little scary for him, but he did enjoy watching the seagulls and pelicans.
* We went on a quick midnight trip to the emergency room. Paul somehow managed to get a serious infection in his arm. Luckily, we took him to the hospital before it became more serious. The poor guy is still on three different antibiotics to kill the infection. At least it wasn't kidney stones!
* I thoroughly enjoyed eating, drinking and relaxing while playing various board games with my friends.
* Dante discovered the thrill of unrolling toilet paper.
A special thanks to Budget Savvy reader Terri, who was kind enough to send me coupons for the Boardwalk. They came in handy Terri! I really appreciate you taking the time to drop them in the mail.
I would recommend a long weekend in Santa Cruz to anyone looking for a relaxing, low-key weekend, especially if you live in the San Francisco Bay Area. If you are planning a visit to California, Santa Cruz is worth adding to your agenda.
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