Tuesday, April 20, 2021

O is for Ocean

    I mentioned in an earlier blog that I live along the coast here in Santa Cruz County. To be precise, I live 10 minutes south of Santa Cruz, in Aptos.  Many people around here call Aptos "paradise." We have a beautiful forest on one side and the ocean on the other; with what I call, perfect weather. Even a foggy day here is gorgeous. 
                                                            

    Our favorite walk at sunset starts out at Rio Del Mar State beach and also covers Seacliff State beach, which is right next door. It's about a 5 minute drive from my house. There lies the "Old Cement Ship," an icon in Aptos history. It used to be the US Palo Alto. It is a concrete ship and what is left of it sits at the end of the Seacliff State Beach Pier. It just had its 100th year birthday. It was built in 1918, designed to refuel other warcraft at sea during World War I. The war ended a few months after it was launched, never being able to be of service in the war, it sat in the U.S. Navy shipyard in Oakland until Seacliff Amusement Corp. bought the ship in 1929. It has weathered some heavy storms over the years and taken the blows of many massive waves, but its remains are still afloat. It is now a haven for marine life.


                                              The old cement ship at the end of the pier
                                             and referred to as the "Guardian of Seacliff"
                        
    Back to our sunset walks - there is a promenade for walking and biking up from the shore. From one end and back is 2 miles. It's a nice walk. I enjoy passing by the campers in their RV's, critiquing them all, like we were in the neighborhood of shopping for one. The joy they're having from their beach experience is transcending. My favorite beach sign reads, "the best part about being at the beach is doing absolutely nothing." Isn't that the truth! 


                             You can see the campers on the left as we are heading back   


                                         The star of the show in all her dramatic flair
                                                                         Sunset


    I'll leave daytime ocean fun for another blog. We're headed for some amazing weather soon and I'll share a day at the beach with ya.'

*photo credits: me

1 comment:

  1. "The best part about being at the beach is doing absolutely nothing."
    Sounds good to me. The Pacific Coast has so many gorgeous spots. YOu're lucky to have some of them right outside your front door :-)

    https://thethreegerbers.blogspot.com/2021/04/a-z-2021-odds-are-one-in-million.html

    ReplyDelete

Zeus

                                                                                                      I'm still not ready to write about...