Santa Cruz

For the last weekend of my 13 weeks in Sonora, I went to Santa Cruz with a bunch of co-workers. We rented a big beach house with 4 bedrooms that was within 10 minutes of the beach. It was such a fun weekend! We'd go to the beach during the day, come back to the house and relax for awhile, and go to downtown Sonora at night.

The popular boardwalk/beach in Santa Cruz was not my favorite. It was overcrowded, difficult to find parking, expensive, and the traffic getting to and from the beach was terrible. Also, the actual beach was very windy and the sand kept blowing up in our faces. The next day we went to Capitola Beach, which I preferred a lot more. There were still a lot of people, but not as crowded as Santa Cruz, and it was more of a laid back beach town with cute little shops and restaurants. It had that quaint peaceful vibe which I loved.

Downtown Santa Cruz is a lot of fun, with good restaurants and cafes. It was fun just to walk around and explore. One place we really liked was called Pizza My Heart, where you can get specialty pizza by the slice. They have a Watsonville Apple pizza, which has green apple slices along with pepperoni and bacon. It was different and delicious!

Overall it was a great last weekend with all the new friends I've made in Sonora.

Andddd, I'm extending my contract! After my 3 weeks off, I'm coming back to Sonora for another 13 weeks. There is still so much I want to do and see in the area, and I've met so many fun, cool people here. I just wasn't ready to leave!

I'll be back to NorCal soon!

Wine Tasting in Murphys

Cat and I have been wine tasting in Murphys twice now and had a great day each time. Some of the wineries are better than others, so I thought I'd make a list of the ones we liked best. I'm not a wine connoisseur by any means, so I won't even bother trying to describe the wines. The wineries I liked are based on the overall service and variety of wines offered.

First Trip:
1. Vina Moda - loved this one. Great variety of wine to taste- a white, and a rose, and a few reds I think. A couple of their wines have won awards. The descriptions of the wines are hilarious!

2. Frog's Tooth - It was okay. All the wines were pretty good, but none stood out as amazing.

3. Villa Vallecito - Didn't care for this one as much. A couple of the wines just weren't very good, and we didn't get great service there.

4. Newsome Harlow - This place was average, but they charge $10 instead of the typical $5, and then the lady ripped us off when we went to pay by double charging us. So I'm not a fan.

Second trip:
1. Milliaire - This is one of my favorites: good wine, good variety, liked them all! I really love the Pinot Grigio, the sparkling white, and the Clockspring Zinfadel. They have a deal where you can get two whites for $24.

2. Lavender Ridge - they charge $7.50, but you get cheese samples with 3 of the wines. I loved the cheese and wine pairings! They also have lavender soaps and candles to buy, as well as cheeses.

3. Hatcher - This winery is in a cool old cellar. It was $8, but they had about 9 different wines on their tasting menu, plus a dessert wine, plus a little bread basket. The wines were good, but the bartender there is really grouchy.

4. Tanner - This winery was open until 5:30 (most close at 5pm). they gave us great service!

5. Bunting - This winery was open until 6pm, but they stayed open later for us. Very friendly people. It's a newer winery apparently, but pretty good.

Subsequent trips:
La Folia - I liked a lot of their wines, but I love their Barbera! I tried it at a restaurant in Sonora, and the next time I went back to Murphys, I had to go to La Folia to buy a bottle. It's a little pricier, but so worth it! They have a lot of wine on their tasting menu, but they're kind of stingy with the pours. They charge $8 a tasting, and they're open till 6pm.

Still want to try:
Zucca
Hovey
Renner

Best Four:
1. Milliaire
2. Lavender Ridge
3. La Folia
4. Vina Moda