This weekend, I headed to the beach with some fellow Lantana dormmates!
In Santa Cruz, we rented a house where you can see the ocean from the front porch. While the house had a great ocean view and clear skies to view the stars (plus a hot tub in the back), the real fun was getting to relax on the beach and wander around.
Most of Saturday was spent on the beach, right between the famous Santa Cruz boardwalk and Santa Cruz wharf. We splashed around, relaxed in the sand, got some lunch, and just enjoyed a beautiful day for some time (interspersed with regular applications of sunscreen).
After freshening up at the house, we returned to the area to explore. I went with a group to the Wharf, looking around all the shops, watching seals frolic underneath the pier, and relishing in the ocean breeze. We also made a quick stop at Marini’s for some sweet treats!
The end of the day concluded with a sunset picnic at the picturesque Natural Bridges State Beach, with lots of good food, good company, and amazing views as day turned to dusk. This culminated in a (somewhat risky) climb onto a cliff for some great sunset photos (as well as a perilous half-climb, half-slide descent to return to the beach).
It was really fun to spend some time exploring more of Northern California; the end of my Junior year fast approaches, and there’s still so much that I have yet to explore, both at Stanford and in the surrounding areas. I’m glad I got an opportunity to go beyond my sphere of comfort once more.
Andrew Jabara 