Skip to main content

Our last resort

English is indeed a strange language.  Readers are forgiven for thinking I was about to narrate a rather sordid tale describing our predicament and the last ditch efforts we might have undertaken to escape it.  Far from it.  I mean far from it is the real tale..

That of our weekend spent relaxing at a resort in the hills of Santa Cruz last weekend.  Named by Spaniards as the Heavenly Cross (hence Santa Cruz) it is a 250 year old establishment that came to be as the preachers rode up from Mexico into California spreading the word of the lord.

Today while tourism is a mainstay it also houses one of the UC campuses and remains a easy weekend trip from the bustle of Silicon Valley to relax by the waters and stroll the many boardwalks or beaches.

Bougainvillea accent an archway

The Pacific is at the horizon



The Venetian - colorful motel by the sea

Nice wharf with a view of the town and the ocean

Street Art

Santa Cruz Breakwater Lighthouse on a spit of land sticking out at sea
We found our own spiritual retreat in a remodeled affair amidst Eucalyptus and Oaks with a view of the Pacific beyond.  Some New Orleans style Etouffe with crawfish for dinner at a local joint run by two local boys was a perfect accompaniment to the cold evening.

Sausage Gumbo and Mach Tchou (corn and bean prep with cajun spice) was another item we savored

Morning breakfast was discovered by chatting with the locals.  It was a bakery, next town over which also offered some interesting topography by the sea (and on the table where we dined).



It was a good retreat after a week spent playing catch up with the idiocy of work that piles up when you are away for a week (the prior week plus was spent in Japan so I think I should be excused for not knowing what the time of day was).

Comments

  1. hard work comes easy to the Japs. I predict they'll be the last men standing, come rain or glaciers.

    ReplyDelete

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

Charges attract

It is said that opposites attract meaning people with contrary viewpoint sometimes find chemistry to be together.  But I'm referring to a modern twist where people are merely attracted towards a common place because their uber communication device aka smart phone is about to die.  The charging station. From airports to hotel lobbies or even bathrooms, when in need they are attracted to this power outlet like moths to a flame or a junkie to a needle. A whole new business of supplying these hyper connected folks is now born whose lifesaver product is a backup charge. Asian tourists perpetually carry a phone sized battery pack stuck to their latest Apple phone updating their status to folks in Hong Kong or Shanghai or Bangalore as they pose for selfies with weird facial expressions and fingers pointed out in a letter V. Vain? PS:  I dis'charged' my blogger duties making this insightful observation as my phone is about to breathe it's last and my flight gets call...

Costa Rica

 Our first foray into Central America. That elongated isthmus that forms the geographic boundary between two vast continents of North and South America. Specifically landing for NYE 2026 in San Jose, Costa Rica. Capital city for this region that does not have its own army, instead relying on its big bro the Estados Unidos to the north is a metropolis of approx. 500K people. Largely wilderness and with both a Pacific and Carribean/Atlantic coast the country is rich in bio diversity. In Spanish it means the rich coast so named by Columbus landing in early 16th century and being mesmerized by the local tribes sporting gold jewelry.   Our stay included visiting the foothills of a large strato volcano called Arenal and enjoying the naturally heated thermal baths for a while.  Lunching amidst lush forest and watching indigenous species of avian noise makers fly overhead. Toucans, some sort of pea hens, multiple song bird species completed the spectacle. Iguanas and a lonel...

On the go(zay masta) in Japan again

Cool cat the Japanese are Tokyo at dusk  My second visit to this land of the rising sun after almost a decade. Back then clearly I was wet behind the ears product manager and likely didn’t pay attention to all (efficient) things Japanese. But today I did and of course continue to be impressed. It is as much the obvious stuff like on time travel that is both clean and comfortable and all that which makes it possible. The impressive landmark and landscapes that these humans have put together despite their cramped (or because of it) surroundings and precarious geological conditions could amaze a novice architect among us. But it’s also the little things that someone had to think about which have a phenomenal impact on day to day lives that make the Japanese stand apart. Below are few random examples- 1. Providing a very fine machined wooden toothpick in every packet of wooden chopsticks. The said chapsticks are simply set on the To Go counter of any food vendor/ convenience store wher...