Howdy,
Okay, so, I promised some snippets from my six days in Santa Cruz.
Maybe this could be a series.
Maybe not.
Still, we did some cool stuff—some of which is not doing much at all. Or doing it slow. Or after late starts. Or without overthinking it first. Just being and doing. Or, sorta Santa Cruzing.
One thing I’ll write more about, try to craft a bit, is Riah Surf’s first birthday on Monday in Santa Cruz. We thought that was definitely cool and befitting—Riah Surf spending his first birthday where he belonged, on the beach, watching the ocean, the waves rolling in, splashing high over the cliff walls of rock, crushing against sand’s shore—the surf—and Riah on the beach, eating sand. Even more than the special birthday açaí, a bowl from Cafe Brasil.
Started to write sentence behind “Cafe Brasil,” but it’s truly worth its own paragraph: if ever in Santa Cruz … ever. Ever. If ever in Santa Cruz, California, go to Cafe Brasil and get the açaí bowl. It’s just my opinion. But do it. And it’s not really just my opinion. My brothers and I went for their açaí bowls two days in a row—and were left wondering why we hadn’t hit it the first day for all three. I’ve given a link to Cafe Brasil at the first mention. Speaking of mention, did I say you should go and try the açaí bowl? You should, and any of their other food. Everything we’ve ever had there has been amazing—unless it was a little odd. But still amazing, in its own way (right, Tom?) What’s a little risk, when you could walk out of their with an açaí bowl?
So, açaí bowl.
Believe it or not, I’ll write more about that another time—soon: Riah’s birthday day, starting with açaí bowls on a cliff ledge and the sea attacking us with glorious display—and power. POWER. Blew my hat right off! Seriously. Right off my head. Blasted into the air. But that’s a story and description for another time. But man am I glad that …—
So, let’s see, a snippet.
The brothers trip: Thursday through Saturday evening. Family trip stay: Sat. evening through Tuesday evening.
Thursday—there’s my series: Thursday; Friday; Saturday; Sunday; Monday (Riah’s birthday!); Tuesday.
Thursday: have you ever been driving freeways in Bay Area traffic and needed to pee? On the way up to S.C. a couple of my brothers were, and it became such a thing that then I had to too. Not all exits are conducive. But we made it to a Panera, where an old man spoke freely in giving us a lesson in the etiquette in using the urinal. Still not sure what he was talking about, but he was wearing an SF Giants hat, so we’ll give the elderly gentleman a pass.
That’s not really a S.C. Snippet, but all we got in after arriving Thursday afternoon was: the Verve Coffee Roasters—another highly recommended (hipster) hotspot; bocci ball in the park (old guys competition—starting the weekend slow); Woodstock Pizza (thumbs up, too) for the Finals Game 1 (Golden State Warriors versus Cleveland Cavaliers), which was a lot of fun, with the great local energy packing the house for a wonderful Warriors dominant victory; Trader Joe’s and Safeway for the weekend’s cabin groceries; some blitz Monopoly game and a junk-food bowl of M&M’s; and chatting with the world’s best brothers into the early A.M.
I could probably write more on this grocery list, but I’ve been drinking my H20 and iced coffee and need to find an exit …
—Billy
Reading. Writing. Living.
Word Count: 126,659 / On Pace: 130,350 / Year’s Goal: 200,000
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