Capitola

On the way back home from San Francisco, we took a detour through Santa Cruz and Capitola. It was raining as we drove through the hills towards Santa Cruz, and we found the city a little underwhelming. We did a short stop at the Boardwalk where Alex rode on a few rides, then jumped back in the car.

I had read about Capitola in an article in Sunset Magazine on the best small towns along the coast. We stopped in the small little downtown, the Esplanade, and walked around a bit. Luckily the sun came out by that time.


The old bridge for trains


The same bridge in the background, with a river running out to the sea


Asian lamps in a local boutique called www.omgallery.com


Alex and David shopping for some jelly beans


Alex sharing a Pina Colada jelly bean



Some beach rentals in downtown Capitola

We were getting hungry after walking around, so we went to find Shadowbrook Restaurant, which was mentioned in the article. We found it up the hill, but it didn't open until 2:00. It was 12:30 and we didn't want to spend an hour and a half waiting plus another hour just for eating. That would have put us way behind schedule and we still had 7 hours of driving to do. I guess they don't believe in Sunday brunch. The location was stunning, as you parked above and descended either stairs or a funicular down to the restaurant in the canyon. We'll have to come back sometime.


The funicular leading down to the restaurant

Capitola was a cute town and we was the best of all the beach towns we went to on this trip. For us So Cal residents, it felt like a cross between Seal Beach and Manhattan Beach, which are our favorite beach towns down here.