Capitola Beach
Jul. 8th, 2006 04:16 pm![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
readingredheadSo today's field trip was monstruosly better than the last trip. We went to this little beach town near Santa Cruz that was the awesomest thing ever! I really loved the town, it was adorable. There were definitely awesome things about it. I didn't go there to go to the beach, so I hung out with friends and shopped. Which was amazing. Now, for a homework assignment for class, I will proceed to journal the most interesting portions of my trip.
When we got there we ambled around at first looking for a movie theater because we had a vague desire to see Pirates and we knew there was a movie theater somewhere in town. But when we realized we didn't have much time we decided to just walk and have fun instead, which was (from what I hear) a much better choice.
(Just so ya know, "we" refers to me, Paula, Katherine, and at times Luke, Sam, Saalika, and Katie. Not that any of you know those people, but I do.)
Anyway, having pitched the lunches provided by EPGY since we'd discovered last weekend that they were not really food, and merely masquerading as such, we found a place to eat real food. And it was a good place that we found. It was this little pizza place called "Pizza My Heart," and it was all beach themed -- their cups showed a bunch of surfers silhouetted against the sunset, carrying drinks and pizzas! The restaurant was small but the pizza was really good thin crust that came in giant slices and reminded me of Italian pizza. The environment was cool, too -- they had a little stand-up counter at the back where you could eat and watch them make other pizzas. I wanted to buy a shirt they were selling but I didn't, because I knew I didn't need one. It was close enough to the beach that I could smell the salt in the air and I was almost cold due to the breeze.
After pizza, we went shopping. Yes, the magical word! We wandered for a while without finding anything but then we hit the first jackpot store. It had this really cool designer-ish clothing that was quite unique. I really took a liking to this amazing pair of olive green pants. They were cotton and spandex, with fancy embroidery on the pocket and leg that said "Dream your dreams." I tried on a pair and they fit amazingly, but they were $45 and being the spendthrift that I am, I didn't buy them. I also tried on this cute red shirt with white polka dots that would've looked awesome (and which I would've bought) had it come in the right size. But Katherine found a cute sundress, and Paula got a shirt that makes her look like an anime character.
Then we browsed through a couple more stores and we found one that was unimpressive except for the fact that it sold jewelery which had sea glass in it. I really wanted to buy it, but the chains that the charms were on were really puny and I knew that I was mostly paying for the chains. So I didn't buy them, but still...the sea glass, encased in twined silver, hanging pendant against the air...the sea suspended.
That same shop also had pendulums that would draw in the sand if you nudged them, spinning out patterns that all looked the same until they weren't anymore.
Then we went to a small craft store, where I bought two pins: one, which I'm wearing now, says "will work for world peace" and another which I bought for Rick has a picture of the two Bushes and has the line "Dumb & Dumber" inscribed across it. There were some other good slogans. One that sticks out in my mind is "I found Jesus -- he was under the couch cushion the whole time!"
From there we went to a store called Avalon Visions, which in my head I call Avalon rising for some reason. It was really odd, and it was selling all of these things that were vaguely connected to alternative religions of all sorts. There were Tibetan Singing Bowls, which make an oddly eerie but captivating noise if you hit them and then stroke them in the right way -- I didn't try to use one, but Katherine got it on her first try, and Luke made it work eventually. We asked a lot of questions about what things were and what they did, and the people who ran the store were happy to answer questions. For instance, there was this sign over the door that was two entertwined rings, and we wanted to know what it meant. So Paula asked a lady who worked there and she went off onto this explanation that must've taken into account at least three different religious traditions. But I never felt like she was telling us that any single interpretation was correct, or at least that no one was more correct than any other. I think that was the cool thing -- we didn't have to believe in the alternative religious aspects of any of the things she said but she still respected us and answered our questions.
Katherine and I were talking about what we thought of it, and we both agreed that we didn't believe in the things the woman was talking about...but the store was still really fun to browse, and it was a great place to find little trinkets that I'll save up in my mind for when I need to write a story with that certain touch. I dunno exactly why, but I really liked it.
Oh, I forgot to mention that before that we went and got ice cream, and my ice cream was amazing and came in a waffle cone that I watched them make. How cool is that?
After Avalon Visions, we went to another place suggested by Luke -- this kid is good at picking out interesting stores! It was called Rainbow City something-or-other (can't remember the last word) and it was a hippie haven. I definitely saw a bumper sticker that said "War is not good for small children and other living things," just like Vargish had told us about! I really wanted to buy it, but I didn't, because I'd already gotten my hippie pin for the day. I am seriously considering becoming a green bohemian hippie writer. Not that I'll write about being green, bohemian, or a hippie -- writer is just what I want to be. But the drug aspects of hippie culture and the poverty aspects of bohemian culture are altoghter unappealing. But if I can wear tie-dye, be anti-establishment, and save the trees...I think that wouldn't be the worst way to spend some of my time.
When we were done in there we went to walk back to where the bus was going to pick us up, down by a river that flowed into the ocean at that point. The riverbanks were covered in trees and, along one side, houses. An old railroad bridge ran across it, rusty and unreliable looking, but I hear that trains still run across it. We walked down the path by the river for a while, looking at the sights and waiting for an adventure. In those moments that was what I wanted most: something to happen, something to be interesting, something to make me feel like my life mattered. I know now that it does matter whether or not I've been on an adventure but I still wish sometimes that I could do more things with my life. And being by that river, for one reason or another, brought out that side in me. I don't think I could live there...but I do think I could write a novel there.
Speaking of writing...I have things that I need to do, namely, I have a short story that I have to finish. But that description needed to be done. I had a wonderful time in Capitola, and I really want to someday go back.
When we got there we ambled around at first looking for a movie theater because we had a vague desire to see Pirates and we knew there was a movie theater somewhere in town. But when we realized we didn't have much time we decided to just walk and have fun instead, which was (from what I hear) a much better choice.
(Just so ya know, "we" refers to me, Paula, Katherine, and at times Luke, Sam, Saalika, and Katie. Not that any of you know those people, but I do.)
Anyway, having pitched the lunches provided by EPGY since we'd discovered last weekend that they were not really food, and merely masquerading as such, we found a place to eat real food. And it was a good place that we found. It was this little pizza place called "Pizza My Heart," and it was all beach themed -- their cups showed a bunch of surfers silhouetted against the sunset, carrying drinks and pizzas! The restaurant was small but the pizza was really good thin crust that came in giant slices and reminded me of Italian pizza. The environment was cool, too -- they had a little stand-up counter at the back where you could eat and watch them make other pizzas. I wanted to buy a shirt they were selling but I didn't, because I knew I didn't need one. It was close enough to the beach that I could smell the salt in the air and I was almost cold due to the breeze.
After pizza, we went shopping. Yes, the magical word! We wandered for a while without finding anything but then we hit the first jackpot store. It had this really cool designer-ish clothing that was quite unique. I really took a liking to this amazing pair of olive green pants. They were cotton and spandex, with fancy embroidery on the pocket and leg that said "Dream your dreams." I tried on a pair and they fit amazingly, but they were $45 and being the spendthrift that I am, I didn't buy them. I also tried on this cute red shirt with white polka dots that would've looked awesome (and which I would've bought) had it come in the right size. But Katherine found a cute sundress, and Paula got a shirt that makes her look like an anime character.
Then we browsed through a couple more stores and we found one that was unimpressive except for the fact that it sold jewelery which had sea glass in it. I really wanted to buy it, but the chains that the charms were on were really puny and I knew that I was mostly paying for the chains. So I didn't buy them, but still...the sea glass, encased in twined silver, hanging pendant against the air...the sea suspended.
That same shop also had pendulums that would draw in the sand if you nudged them, spinning out patterns that all looked the same until they weren't anymore.
Then we went to a small craft store, where I bought two pins: one, which I'm wearing now, says "will work for world peace" and another which I bought for Rick has a picture of the two Bushes and has the line "Dumb & Dumber" inscribed across it. There were some other good slogans. One that sticks out in my mind is "I found Jesus -- he was under the couch cushion the whole time!"
From there we went to a store called Avalon Visions, which in my head I call Avalon rising for some reason. It was really odd, and it was selling all of these things that were vaguely connected to alternative religions of all sorts. There were Tibetan Singing Bowls, which make an oddly eerie but captivating noise if you hit them and then stroke them in the right way -- I didn't try to use one, but Katherine got it on her first try, and Luke made it work eventually. We asked a lot of questions about what things were and what they did, and the people who ran the store were happy to answer questions. For instance, there was this sign over the door that was two entertwined rings, and we wanted to know what it meant. So Paula asked a lady who worked there and she went off onto this explanation that must've taken into account at least three different religious traditions. But I never felt like she was telling us that any single interpretation was correct, or at least that no one was more correct than any other. I think that was the cool thing -- we didn't have to believe in the alternative religious aspects of any of the things she said but she still respected us and answered our questions.
Katherine and I were talking about what we thought of it, and we both agreed that we didn't believe in the things the woman was talking about...but the store was still really fun to browse, and it was a great place to find little trinkets that I'll save up in my mind for when I need to write a story with that certain touch. I dunno exactly why, but I really liked it.
Oh, I forgot to mention that before that we went and got ice cream, and my ice cream was amazing and came in a waffle cone that I watched them make. How cool is that?
After Avalon Visions, we went to another place suggested by Luke -- this kid is good at picking out interesting stores! It was called Rainbow City something-or-other (can't remember the last word) and it was a hippie haven. I definitely saw a bumper sticker that said "War is not good for small children and other living things," just like Vargish had told us about! I really wanted to buy it, but I didn't, because I'd already gotten my hippie pin for the day. I am seriously considering becoming a green bohemian hippie writer. Not that I'll write about being green, bohemian, or a hippie -- writer is just what I want to be. But the drug aspects of hippie culture and the poverty aspects of bohemian culture are altoghter unappealing. But if I can wear tie-dye, be anti-establishment, and save the trees...I think that wouldn't be the worst way to spend some of my time.
When we were done in there we went to walk back to where the bus was going to pick us up, down by a river that flowed into the ocean at that point. The riverbanks were covered in trees and, along one side, houses. An old railroad bridge ran across it, rusty and unreliable looking, but I hear that trains still run across it. We walked down the path by the river for a while, looking at the sights and waiting for an adventure. In those moments that was what I wanted most: something to happen, something to be interesting, something to make me feel like my life mattered. I know now that it does matter whether or not I've been on an adventure but I still wish sometimes that I could do more things with my life. And being by that river, for one reason or another, brought out that side in me. I don't think I could live there...but I do think I could write a novel there.
Speaking of writing...I have things that I need to do, namely, I have a short story that I have to finish. But that description needed to be done. I had a wonderful time in Capitola, and I really want to someday go back.
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Date: 2006-07-09 04:08 pm (UTC)Story of my past two years.
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Date: 2006-07-09 04:47 pm (UTC)(no subject)
Date: 2006-07-09 06:25 pm (UTC)