Capitola is hands-down one of mine & Taryn's favorite places on this Earth. It's beautiful. It's peaceful. The ocean on this strip of beach is incredibly clean, the locals are as friendly as can be, and the town itself has the best vibe. We try to visit at least once each year, but it was 2 summers ago that we were here last with Eli. Addy had never been.
There have been some startling changes to the beach since we visited last. The erosion is astounding, and where 2 years ago you could choose any one of the multiple stairs leading down to the sand, there is now just one that's fit to use because the sand has been washed away so completely. There's a solid 4-5 foot drop from the bottom of the concrete stairs to the sand and beach below.
We left first thing Saturday morning and arrived at the beach at 9:30. And because we had Taryn with us (with that infamous Cooper luck) we had the best parking imaginable all day. Our first spot was right in front, next to the beach stairs, almost literally on the sand it was so close. When we hit our time limit and had to move, I scored a spot right across the narrow street from Zeldas on the main beachfront strip, where we always choose to spend lunch since the patio is right on the beach. Couldn't have been better.
Eli was in heaven. The kids absolutely loves the beach. We walked out on this super long concrete half-wall that extended into the water amidst the rocks and seaweed. We must have stood out there for half an hour watching the waves, pointing out all the different sizes and styles of boats, and saying "wow!" each time one of the handful of surfers in their wet suits brave enough to face the freezing water caught a wave and rode it in to shore.
Here's Taryn & Addy walking the half-wall on their way out to meet us. If you look to their left, you can see how severe the erosion is and how large the drop-off from the street to the sand.
I believe in this shot, Eli was daring the ocean to come and get him. Because it was still so early and a bit cool, none of us had changed into our shorts yet. We had to roll Eli's pants because he wanted so badly to play the game where you run down to the water line, then run away when a wave breaks, trying to keep from freezing your toes in the water.
Addy, usually our fearless wonder of a child, was a bit timid when she first hit the sand. She didn't know what to think of the texture and spent the first couple minutes saying "ow, ow, ow" with her big pouty lips sticking out each time she took a step. She had Taryn take off her shoes, took a few steps, then wanted Taryn to put them back on ... took a few more steps, then demanded that Taryn take them off again. Eventually she acclimated though, and she too played the wave dodging game. But, of course, being the Fearless Wonder, each time the water receded, she tried to run after it and follow it back into the ocean. I kept trying to explain to her that if she was patient and waited, the waves would come back. She wasn't interested.
Poor Eli. In the middle of dodging the waves, he got distracted when laughing with Mommy, and a large wave broke behind him without him knowing. It came up out of nowhere (and as I mentioned earlier, the water is COLD) and soaked him to the knees. He was so surprised that he lost his footing and went down, right into the water. The entire left side of his body was soaked. The look on his face was priceless. Daddy rushed him back to the car and changed him into his shorts, and when he was clean and dry again, he thought the experience was hilarious. So we rushed back down to the beach and spent another few hours playing before having lunch.
After leaving Capitola we decided to drive into Santa Cruz and visit the Boardwalk before heading home. Again, Taryn's presence scored us front row parking, and in short order we were walking through the crowd. And boy was it crowded! The place was completely packed! We strolled the children's rides section and found a couple that we thought the kids would enjoy, then went back and purchased some ride tickets. By this point we had already spent half the day running on the beach in the sunshine, and the kiddos were starting to get pretty tired. Addy only slept for the final half of the ride to the coast, and a couple minutes in the car on the road between Capitola and Santa Cruz. Eli of course hadn't slept at all. We thought we were going to lose them both while waiting in the line for ride tickets.
The first ride was a haunted mansion, where you use laser guns to shoot targets on the ghosts and skeletons and such. Eli thought it was the coolest thing ever (and his final score was pretty impressive!). Addy rode ahead of us with Taryn, and she too thoroughly enjoyed the experience. The ride was very silly - not scary at all.
The other ride we tried was the "dinosaur train." We sat in the middle car and watched as cavemen and dinosaurs went by, doing silly things (think The Flintstones, but very generic). The kids, however, loved it.
By the time the two rides were done, the kids were on their last legs. We thought it would be fun to visit the arcade, but it was on the complete opposite side of the Walk. We both got stuck carrying our tired children, but I carried both for half the trip. Wouldn't have been so bad if it hadn't been so crowded.
But we made it! Both Eli & Addy headed straight for the car games. These ones were very large, and the chairs were on hydraulics so that each time your car hit the wall or another driver, the entire chair bounced and vibrated. Addy was squealing with delight, and on the third lap, she flipped her car, causing the chair to buck like a horse. Eli wasn't lucky enough to get his car to flip, but he sure tried his hardest.
We played a couple games in the children's section (Eli rode a boat, Addy tried hitting popcorn into a bowl, etc.), then called it a day.
Almost as soon as we hit the highway, both kids were out. It was such a great day. Hopefully we'll have a chance to visit again before Fall.
