Comedy and Connecticut at Cancun ~ AGAIN!

Many weblog writers find one of the true benefits from this segment of our lives is the people we come across…and the friends we make.  As we read, we glean little insights into strangers’ lives.  Not only by their words, but sometimes by the photos they take, and sometimes by the jokes that they tell. Every once in a while we step through the monitor glass to let our online life and our offline life merge. 

Monday evening
Linda, (supermom of Are We There Yet?), Sandee, (jokester of Comedy Plus,) and I met up for our second (annual?) consumption of Mexican food and hilarious conversation at the hotspot in all of Stockton, California…Cancun.

Sandee…and her silent photographer Zane, live in central California. Linda, who once lived in Stockton, now lives clear on the other side of the country in Connecticut.  Almost exactly one year ago to the day, we met when Linda came out to visit old friends.  This year Linda was attending a Dispatchers’ conference in Vegas….and couldn’t pass up making a quick side trip to visit us and others in the Golden State.

On Sunday Linda made the drive over the mountains.  As luck would have it…Santa Cruz was kinda rainy and foggy.  Still, we were able to see a few of the sights.  Contrary to popular belief I am NOT made of brown sugar and don’t actually melt when splashed with water.

After watching the surfers out at Pleasure Point (on the EASTside,) we drove along the water through Capitola and Aptos.  Linda was hoping for sunset photos (like at the very bottom of my weblog) so we went to a very special place, Seacliff State Beach.  I have a lot of personal history tied up with that cement ship, The Palo Alto…It always makes me smile.  I know Linda enjoyed seeing the ship…not so sure she enjoyed the way the end of the pier swayed with the waves. We could tell there would be no colorful sunset this evening…for the most part the sky looked like this:

We had dinner at my favorite Mexican restaurant, Manuel’s…which is right above Seacliff.  (I honestly gave her several choices…but Linda really wanted Mexican!)

As the fog rolled in, we drove back to the “westside” and Steamer’s Lane.  The Lighthouse here houses the Surfing Museum.  Linda wrote about her first day in Santa Cruz, and researched the history of the lighthouse…most of which was new to me. (I’m more of an Eastside sorta chick)

The next day we visited a bunch of places, including Holy Cross Church (Santa Cruz translates to
“Holy Cross”)

It is also the site of the Santa Cruz Mission.

The original structure was destroyed by a series of earthquakes, but portions have been rebuilt.

The historical area is closed on Mondays. I’m gonna have to go back and take the tour!

Linda and I headed to The Santa Cruz Boardwalk for a photo-op, thinking it would be closed.
  It was almost deserted, but a few of the rides were running….including the Giant Dipper !!!

 In a couple weeks, The Giant Dipper celebrates 85 years.  It is the sixth oldest roller coaster in the United States. 



You can watch a video clip of a ride on the Giant Dipper here.  It is one of my all time favorite places in Santa Cruz.  I am so glad Linda was up for a ride !

 

The Teamster is enjoying his
Five-O Tour and could not be present to ride…
I am sure he will be bummed he missed it!
There were several other
“attractions” on the Boardwalk despite the weather.

We went out to the very tip of the wharf (see the aerial picture at the top of my weblog?) watching the sea lions, the sailors, and the tourists.

We made a few other quick stops (chocolate shop, microbrewery) before the obligatory trek at the harbor down to the end of the jetty

We decided to drive together in Linda’s snazzy hybrid rental over the hills and into the central valley to meet up with Sandee and Zane at the aforementioned, Cancun.

(the following two photos of the three amigos have been shamelessly stolen from Sandee’s weblog..and were taken by Zane.)

After a glass of wine at the bar, we headed over to enjoy our meal.  We thought we would pay homage to the Queen…

But Zane caught us with our guards down…


(rather amazing…my eyes are actually open)

If you would like to see more of her hubby’s handiwork…please surf over to read Sandee’s post.

In addition to the first day post linked above…Linda wrote about our dinner too. She has captured many sights in words and pictures…and has promised more posts.

I hope that Linda will continue to make her annual pilgrimage to the west coast.  I know Sandee and I will try and find a time our weekend schedules overlap at the delta.    

I enjoy weblogs in several different circles. Groups of people who may overlap here or there.  Sandee, Linda and I read several weblogs in common, but we also each read quite a few sites the others do not.  While we are very  different women… and lead very different lifestyles, we have gotten to know each other online from our posts and in the comment sections.  I consider it a privilege to call each of them my friend.