KO and the Turk: Cruzin' to Santa Cruz

The strawberries are in season in spring, and we drove past Wastonville, the Plant City of California. Even though we were driving over 70 mph, the strawberries growing in the fields alongside the highway were so large we could see them distinctly. They were as delicious as they were large.
We had a stop in Monterey, first at the wharf where we were assaulted with tastings of clam chowder. Each was worse than the other! But the wharf and marina were interesting for people and boat watching. I was amazing at how clear the water was in a working harbor.
Always searching for excellent chocolate croissants and delicious bread, we found the Paris Bakery in Monterey. We left with french bread and a chocolate almond croissant!! Yes they were wonderful.
Our lunch of french bread, cheese from Carmel and fruit was enjoyed on the Monterey State Beach sand dunes looking at the water and the wharf in the distance.

marina at Monterey Fishermans Wharf

old structure near cannery - likely soon to be removed

Cannery Row

Cannery Row was a must since I'd not been there for 20 years. All of the old warehouses along the water are being removed, likely to be replaced with high end condos and stores. We didn't find many interesting things there, but did find a Turkish Delight store with a very inhospitable Turk behind the counter. It was understandable why the store was empty!

From Monterey, its not too far to Santa Cruz where we stayed the night. Our AirBnB was walking distance from the beach and downtown so we dropped our stuff and started walking. By dusk, the water was cluttered with fishing boats anchored for the night before going out again in the early morning. This surfer and university town is WAY laid back which made it a nice transition from our Big Sur days.

A highlight of this visit was after a wonderful breakfast at Linda's Seabreeze Restaurant. We realized the 'Best' bread in Santa Cruz was around the corner at Beckmann's Bakery. They grind their wheat each morning to make the bread. We marched right around the block and found ourselves in front of a loading dock with Beckmanns trucks lined up. I went up to a guy who was organizing things and asked if we could buy bread. His sad reply was, 'no'. They recently closed their retail shops and only sell through farmers markets and grocery stores. "But wait here for a minute", he told us. Back he came carrying two warm 3 seed bread loaves. "Here you go. These are extra". When I asked what we owed him, he just smiled. He knew bread lovers when we saw them. OR, as the Turk interpreted all of this, we looked homeless. No matter. The bread was delicious!