Wandering in Capitola

Whenever we go somewhere new or exciting the plan is to make a blog post about it. I can share my photos, food spots and document our experience. This week's trip to Capitola was all planned out in my head but a few hours into the trip, I put my camera down and kinda just forgot. Ugh! We met up with my parents and friends (some I haven't seen in years) and we kinda just got carried away in conversation. It felt good to catch up, break some bread and just talk in "real life". You know, like what we did before Instagram, Facebook and snapchat ; - )

Our trip to Capitola and New Brighton Beach was to pick up my parents who are visiting for a couple weeks. They moved to Oklahoma earlier this year and this was their first time coming back to California. Before heading back to Sacramento, they met up with friends to camp at New Brighton Beach for a few days. Its the town right next to Capitola, pretty much walking distance. A annual tradition they faithfully kept for many years with friends.

New Brighton Beach and Capitola are small towns just outside Santa Cruz. They are both seaside with cute shops, beautiful beaches and food spots. We started the day off just cruising the town and looking around. This only took about 15-20 minutes because its such a small area. After a short cruise, we parked the car and started to walk. First stop was stepping on the beach, taking a deep breath of that ocean air and just getting in that vitamin SEA. I swear thats the best feeling. At that instant you just FEEL more relaxed. We stayed there for a few minutes to watch the waves, look at the driftwood and snap a few pics. The beach was not crowded at all and it was clean (two thumbs up).

After our beach stroll we hit the streets to check out the shops. Tons of colorful shops with every beach trinket you could think of and a ton of art shops. Nothing stood out in my opinion (I wasn't really looking to buy anything) but it was fun to window shop. The little town has it share of coffee shops, eateries and pizza joints. One of the most popular, if not the MOST popular eatery is Gayles. Its a deli and bakery located in the heart of Capitola with the most delicious food. Every cake you could think of, all the sandwiches and deli favorites. On a side not for you vegans, they had a great selection of food but no desserts for me. AHHHHH they looked so good too! I ended up with a sandwich wrap, potato salad, beet salad, olive bread with cashew dip (SO YUM!) and iced tea. If you plan to stay at the beach most of the day, my advise would be to stop here first and take your goodies to the beach.

Overall the trip was short but sweet. We checked out the campsite my parents and their friends stay at. No wonder they go every year, its beautiful! We were reunited with some friends we haven't seen in years and caught up. But most importantly we picked up the parentals (HAHA!) and brought them back to Sacramento. It was overall a fun and relaxing trip.

Oh wait I left out that we checked out a brewery. My husband always seems to find a brewery wherever we go. (Hmmmm...) But it was a good one. Cute spot with a good selection. Here's a few snaps of the trip. I didn't take as many pictures as planned but you'll get the point.

If you're ever in the Santa Cruz area, I would definitely take the 25 minute detour to Capitola and check out this little town. Its really laid back and relaxing. If you have any questions, leave me a comment.

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