Spring Training Trip - Day 2

We slept in, ate breakfast and headed out to the Santa Cruz Mission and found it in two locations, separated by one block of residential houses and a school.  Of the 19 missions we have visited in California, this was the only one that is divided by two factions – that of the Catholic Church and that of the State of California.

The church’s location, on part of the original mission grounds, is a small-scale replica of what it is supposed that the original mission church looked like, plus a small side wing containing old vestments, chalices and religious pictures, along with a gift shop and a small courtyard garden.  The chapel is undecorated except for some religious statues and small stations of the cross.

The plaza/park in front of the chapel is wooded and grassy, with a fountain, paths and benches.  At one end of the plaza is a new Catholic church, the Church of the Holy Cross.  It was not open at the time we were there.

The State of California’s location, a State Historic Park, is one block away, also on part of the original mission grounds.  It consists of an original adobe residence building, a gift shop, state park offices and a grassy and shaded courtyard picnic area with a “beehive” oven.  The adobe, built in the 1700’s by Indian labor, was used to house Indian families.  Later, after secularization of the missions, Californio families were housed there, and later, an Irish-American family from Kilkenny lived there.  Nine or ten different rooms were in various stages of restoration and remodeling, a result of all of the different residents’ needs at the time.

The use (and ill use) of the local Indians by the padres was described on several of the informational plaques throughout the adobe in no uncertain terms.  We feel that because of the historical accuracy of this information, at least at this mission, no mention was made at the church’s location of the existence of the state park, just one block away.  Luckily, the Santa Cruz tourist information pamphlet that we had showed both locations on its map.

We went to Natural Bridges State Park on the ocean nearby to see if any Monarch butterflies were still there from the annual migration.  Because of the unseasonably mild weather this winter, most of them were already heading back to Canada for the summer.  Another generation of them will be back in Santa Cruz next October, ready to spend another winter on the coast.  A few Monarchs were still hanging around today (there is always somebody who doesn’t get the message), so Pat got some pictures of them.

We then walked along the coastal cliffs north of the Santa Cruz pier and watched many surfers ignoring the “EXTREMELY HAZARDOUS CONDITIONS!  DO NOT ENTER THE WATER!” signs.  Apparently there were exceptionally high tides today and the waves rolling in from Japan were huge - awesome to us.  The warning signs probably brought out more surfers than usual – there were a lot of them out there.

We had a wonderful late lunch at The Crow’s Nest, a restaurant right next to the East Harbor in Santa Cruz, while we watched the boat traffic in and out of the harbor.  Since there is a large breakwater on both sides of the harbor entrance, the waves were not as large there.

After 4 hours rest back at the RV, we drove south to Moss Landing, CA through a clear and cold moonlit night for dinner at Phil’s Fish Market, a great seafood restaurant we had been to before.  After red and white clam chowder, seafood quesadillas and fried clam strips, we are back at the RV for the evening.

Day 2 Pictures