Via Oregon - September/October 2021 - 38

Santa Cruz, California
This Left Coast refuge takes the laid-back, inclusive college
vibe to the max. It's as if everyone in town-not just the
University of California, Santa Cruz-has adopted the humble
banana slug, a truly excellent composter, as its mascot.
The school has a reputable coastal science program, naturally,
and visitors to its Seymour Marine Discovery Center
can get a primer on research involving dolphins, seals, and
other sea creatures. Take a self-guided tour of Younger
Lagoon Reserve to learn how scientists are tracking animals
and restoring biodiversity to the regional habitat.
Santa Cruz also preserves habitat for another marine
mammal: surfers. The area is home to one of only 10 World
Surfing Reserves on the planet, and wet suit-clad wave riders
convene here to catch 23 consistent surf breaks. Many
consider Santa Cruz the best surfing city in the continental
United States. Newbies can safely give it a go with support
from the Richard Schmidt Surf School: Its instructors have
been patiently coaching beginners since 1978, and it guarantees
that every student will ride a wave successfully during
the first lesson.
Santa Cruz also earns high marks for the area's scenic
parks. At Natural Bridges State Beach, you can admire
stone arches rising out of the ocean, spot seals and migrating
whales in the distance, and marvel at colorful starfish,
urchins, and anemones in the tide pools. Slightly farther
afield, at serene Wilder Ranch State Park, you can hike
along lush forest trails and scenic bluffs, stroll barefoot
beside shorebirds on the sand, and tour a 19th-century dairy
farm. For more amusement, head to the kitschy Santa Cruz
Beach Boardwalk to play arcade games and indoor miniature
golf or board the Giant Dipper, a wooden roller coaster
that has thrilled riders for nearly a century. If you're in town
November 6-7 this year, check out the Sea Glass and Ocean
Art Festival, which celebrates art made with weathered
shards that often wash up on Northern California's shores.
An alfresco picnic bench awaits at Venus Spirits Cocktails
& Kitchen on High Road, where distiller Sean Venus's gins are
as bold as dishes like the smoky root-vegetable Reuben sandwich.
UCSC students favor Burger for tongue-in-cheek fare
such as the Homer Simpson, a grass-fed beef patty topped
with bacon bits, fries, and beer cheese. For the classic beach
shack experience, grab some salmon poke or a kimchi dog
from Steamer Lane Supply on West Cliff Drive and watch the
surfers ride the city's best-known break.
below: Santa Cruz Beach Boardwalk, California's oldest amusement
park. opposite, clockwise from top left: Capicola pizza at Missoula's
Caffe Dolce; University of Montana campus; a man-made wave in the
Clark Fork River.
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VIA | SEPTEMBER+OCTOBER 2021
EPTEMBER+OCTOBER 2021
COURTESY VSCC/MATTHEW PFEIFER
Via Oregon - September/October 2021

Table of Contents for the Digital Edition of Via Oregon - September/October 2021
