Santa Cruz Anniversary

April 1st 2015 and my second wedding anniversary! Two years ago today I was getting married on the Isle of Angelesy, on North Wales...

Today, we celebrated our second anniversary in the super cool city of Santa Cruz!

But not before one of our more relaxing American mornings. When Anna left early for work, we took to the sofa in our sleeping bags and watched some Apple TV with toast and muffins. It was an hour or so later that we actually got up and got going. We called into one of the Apple offices to say goodbye to Anna, then headed south to Santa Cruz.

It was lunch time when we arrived, so first stop was organic coffee and 'Garden Burgers' at a cool little cafe, which happened to be across the road from the Patagonia Store - in which we spent a bit of time browsing, but managed to resist spending lots of money! 

Downtown Santa Cruz had a very laid back hippy vibe, with most of the shops being independent stores and boutiques. There were also some great surf and skateboard shops to look around. In the afternoon we stopped for tea at a Himmalayan Tea Shop, where we had some pretty specialist tea, in a hidden garden where no technology was allowed!

As an amazing anniversary present, Anna had booked us into a really great Hotel in the centre of Santa Cruz. But not only that, when we walked into the room, we found this:

After a few wedding toasts, we headed out the beach, where the tide was erasing some fantastic beach art!

There is a big pier at Santa Cruz, with plenty of restaurants to eat at. We chose a Mexican near the far end that served gigantic burritos. 

Not only were there great views of the beach and the boardwalk, there was a live jazz band playing, so after eating (a small fraction of) dinner, we adjourned to the bar for cocktails and to watch the band. What a way to celebrate two amazing years!