"Santa Cruz - Beaches, Surf ..." a Santa Cruz Travel Page by Ewingjr98

I live in Monterey, so Santa Cruz is only about 25 miles away--straight across the Monterey Bay. Driving is more like 45 miles and takes about an hour along Highway 1. I had driven through town several times, and finally decided to spend a few hours here in November 2006. On our way to San Francisco, we had breakfast at the Santa Cruz Diner, then drove to West Cliffs Drive for a scenic jaunt along the water...this place was full of late morning joggers along the recreation trail! We saw the old lighthouse, then we stopped at Natural Bridges State Beach, which used to have three arches over the water, now just one.

I have made a few return trips to Santa Cruz, visiting downtown, the beaches, and some of the redwood forests around town.

Santa Cruz is Spanish for "Holy Cross" and it has a population of about 56,000 with about 10,000 attending school at UC Santa Cruz. Attractions in town include the very popular boardwalk, beaches and surfing, a thriving downtown, and parks such as Natural Bridges.

The area was "discovered" by Don Gaspar de Portola a Spanish Explorer, in 1769. Santa Cruz Mission was founded in 1791, and a Spanish pueblo called Branciforte was established here, but later disbanded and merged with the mission.

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The city of Santa Cruz has recently made it illegal for the police to arrest adults for smoking, growing, or selling pot on private property unless the person is committing another crime. Funny thing is, it is still illegal, but the CITY police are not allowed to enforce the law. State and feds can still make arrests, but city police can not cooperate. What a mess...and a great example for your kids.

Pack up your bongs, sandals, & tie-died shirts, we're moving to Santa Cruz.