saturday down south

it was such a glorious, sensational, radiant day!
my favourite girls and i went to pt. lobos and santa cruz and strawberry picking in davenport. to celebrate being alive, to soak up the smashing weather, to welcome summer, and to cross some things of my before-birthday list!

we started with brunch with a view at california market just past carmel…

then strolled through the monterey pine forest at pt. lobos…

to the bird island trail. the views were exquisite.

china cove just may have become my favourite place on the peninsula.

it felt like we were on a tropical island! sugar white sand, crystal clear then emerald/teal water…
 
we walked along the coast…
 
and then cut back to highway one through the lace lichen groves (isn’t that moss magical?!).

we stopped at some produce stands along the one…
 
and ate some deep fried artichoke hearts (castroville is the artichoke capital of the world!) – yum!

we went to walton lighthouse in santa cruz (i’ve been wanting to see it!)…

and then laid in the sun on the beach with the crowds.

there were so many sailboats out! and we also saw sea animals jumping in the surf!

we found a total gem in swanton berry farms in davenport just up the coast from santa cruz… 
isn’t it darling? there are games and books and flowers everywhere and i love their “honor till”!
 
we just grabbed a few baskets, and headed out to the field to pick our own strawberries!
 
it was super windy and so beautiful – see the ocean beyond that field of mustard flowers?!

we met steph at pizza my heart in downtown santa cruz and then headed to the beach boardwalk.

too bad the summer hours hadn’t started yet! all the rides were closing right as we got there at 8.
i guess this means there will be another santa cruz trip this summer! it was still fun to walk about.

the world is pretty stinking great. especially this little corner of it. it was such a spectacular saturday along the coast!