The other day, a Tuesday, we finally made the drive over to the coast and Santa Cruz. Our Google map and driving instructions indicated that Santa Cruz was 118 miles from Modesto, about a 2-hour drive.
Allow me to back up just a bit and say something about the city in which we reside at this moment in time. We have lived here since 1998, coming up on 14 years as a matter of fact – a long 14 years! For those reading this not familiar with Modesto or the San Joaquin Valley in general, you should know a couple of things. First, there is nothing in Modesto for which to drive to. In other words, unless you are visiting Aunt Sadie and Uncle Billy Bob, Modesto would not be on your bucket list of places to visit before you die. Unless, of course, you are a complete and total Star Wars geek and wish to tread the same hallowed ground on which George Lucas was raised and went to school. Modesto Junior College (one of George’s alma maters) is here, and apparently there is some sort of statue of George, homage if you will, in the student union. And, of course, after all, Modesto was the model for his 1973 break out flick American Graffiti. However, let it be known that not one foot of film was shot in Modesto..not an inch of celluloid was exposed in Modesto for American Graffiti. It was all filmed in Marin County north of San Francisco, Petaluma for the most part. So even though some of the actual location names were used in film, ie, “9th street”, “Paradise Road” (where the finale race took place), even Turlock is mentioned…nothing was filmed here. End of the George Lucas Modesto legacy part of this blog.
Hence, one must venture OUT of Modesto to find something fun to do or nice place to visit. We are in fact about 100 miles from anything interesting. San Francisco is 90 miles west. Monterey and Santa Cruz are about 120 miles southwest. Sacramento is 80 miles north. Tahoe is 150 miles northeast. Yosemite is 100 miles southeast. There’s nothing of note to the south except for Fresno, and that is, well…it’s just another city in the San Joaquin Valley. Don’t make me blather about Fresno, we lived there for a year before we moved to Modesto, partly to get away from Fresno! There is some saying about shooting yourself in the foot here somewhere.
One of the most popular getaway places for San Joaquin Valleyites is Santa Cruz. It’s just a couple of hours over the hills and through the woods…and you’re there. Not! Here’s the conundrum: one must traverse through the complexities of bay area traffic in order to get to, not only the bay area proper, but also Santa Cruz. And herein lies my “Good, Bad, and the Ugly” about our little trip to the ocean the other day.
Let’s get the ugly out of the way first and foremost, since the majority of our visit to Santa Cruz was more than pleasant. The Ugly: the traffic getting there. Normally I would insert a photograph illustrating the heinous traffic conditions, but, alas, neither one of us thought of snapping pictures at that time. Map directions from Modesto to Santa Cruz take you through Tracy, Livermore, then south through places like Milpitas and San Jose – 118 miles and two hours of driving on congested, constantly under construction freeways. Actual driving time for us: three hours. We left Modesto about 7:30 and still managed to get caught up in various backups along the way. Once through San Jose we hit Los Gatos and Highway 17 (a windy, 16-mile, 2-lane road through pine forests) up and over the mountains to the coast. Our journey into Santa Cruz on 17 was clean and fast in our little Mini Cooper S. In fact, Highway 17 was quite a fun drive! The traffic going the other way however (into the bay area) was backed up and crawling at a snail’s pace. We got to Santa Cruz about 10:15 just after The Boardwalk opened.
Our trip home was not quite as bad, but confirmed the quandary of living in Modesto and trying to get out of Modesto if even for day. We drove back the southerly route through Watsonville and Los Banos, about 20 miles further than the bay area route. We figured afternoon traffic in the bay area…? ‘Nuff said. So although we didn’t incur the misery of long, slow moving backups driving back, the traffic was still hideous..mostly from very large trucks. We never had to come to a complete stop, but let’s just say it was another annoying drive, mostly on a 2-lane country road through major agriculture. We kept looking at each other and saying, “You can’t get there from where we live. We’re trapped in Modesto like rats. No matter which route you take, a trip to the coast is gonna be like this!”
A few years ago when we were still doing a lot of Harley riding, we both wore a T-shirt that stated, “It’s not the destination…it’s the journey”. We don’t ride any longer and that saying, at least for us, has flip flopped. “It’s IS the destination, ’cause the journey is screwed up!” Funny. Again, how things change as one gets older.
On to Santa Cruz. Now the Bad: the food on the boardwalk. To be fair (pardon the pun), it’s all fair food! From Deep Fried Twinkies to Corn Dogs to Chili Cheese Garlic Fries…you name the fair food, it’s there. And the worst part of the Bad is that it is all very expensive. For instance, we paid about $7.50 for a Philly Cheese Steak that unlike the photo on the menu board, it was in reality the size of a hot dog bun. “Yea, let’s get one of those. We can split it”. Envisioning a real Philly Cheese Steak as seen on the Food Network, needless to say we were a bit disappointed to discover that it was in fact a miniature version…perhaps one half actual size. The 24 ounce can of Bud Light (again $7.50) helped us to swallow the 3-bite half sandwich in front of us. Oh, one more “bad” thing. They don’t charge to get into the Boardwalk but parking is $12 for a car, $25 for an RV for the day. Really, when you think about it, that’s about half of what they charge at the Embarcadero in S.F.
The Good: the Boardwalk is a well built, colorful, clean, amusement park on the sand that doesn’t charge an admission to get it. There are lots of rides for adults, kids, and thrill seekers alike. Ride tickets are sold separately including all day and season passes that really reduce the cost if you are into that sort of thing. Individual tickets are a buck each and the big rides take 4 or 5 tickets to ride. Again, not cheap. But, we pledged not to partake in any rides, as they just don’t hold the same fascination for us as they once did. Loretta’s eat a linguica on stick then ride the zipper episode a few years ago at the fair kind of ended it for her!
I realize that most Santa Cruz residents will say that the Boardwalk isn’t really Santa Cruz. The hoity-toity purists don’t usually sanction those touristy things in their town anyway. Like Pike Place in Seattle or Pier 39 in San Francisco…The Boardwalk is what it is: a fun place to visit and a good place to start in Santa Cruz.
The wharf is our next destination when we visit Santa Cruz. It’s just up the beach a short way. Evidently you can park on it (metered, of course) and there are some nice shops and restaurants. Next time!
We were there a little over 3 hours. The weather was incredible, a little cool at 10 am, but sunny and warm (70 degrees) as the morning rolled on. We got there just after the park opened, about 10:15. The shops (there are many), the food vendors, and the rides don’t open until 11 am. We had plenty of time early on without the crowds to walk around and just check things out. Will we go to the Boardwalk again? Sure. During the summer, there are free concerts on a large stage on the sand. This summer: Berlin, Blue Oyster Cult, Great White, the Fixx, and Eddie Money to name a few.
Like I said, the Boardwalk is very clean and well maintained. There is a lot to do and see, especially for kids as they have quite an extensive children’s ride section. We were there on a Tuesday, early. It was getting quite busy as we left about 2 pm. I would guess weekends in the summer are really busy. Our next trip will be in the Fall when the crowds subside. The weather will still be nice and we will have room to move.
Whether or not the things on the boardwalk hold any attraction to you, there is always the beach, right there. Pristine sand, well cared for. It’s beautiful. A bit of advice for the beach uninitiated: use sunscreen…even if the air temperature is 65, you will get burned in a short amount of time.
It was short and sweet. We had a blast at the Boardwalk. Note to self: bring more cash and check out all the food booths before committing to buy something like The Curly Deep Fried Potato on a Stick thingy! They always look much better than they taste!
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