WEEKEND IN SANTA CRUZ, DAY 1

Many of you may know that I haven't really taken any time off since starting my job a year ago. This is due to a number of reasons. First, I run the retail store, so it's pretty much open all the time. Second, we haven't done a lot of traveling - just some weekend trips within CA, that hasn't required me to take days off. Third, I kinda am a work-a-holic. Not so much like my co-worker who works 24/7, but things need to get done and I will work on my days off. I don't know, after owning my own business where I just worked all the time for over 2 years (and you business owners know what I'm talking about), even having 2 days off a week still seems like a luxury, and I haven't even taken advantage of any of my paid vacation days (which I seem to be saving up like it's a precious treasure). But above all else, I need the money.

But all people need a break, and just get away from it all. So even though Slow Food Nation was in town for Labor Day weekend, I skipped all the festivities to spend a quiet weekend in Santa Cruz with Tom, my sister and her boyfriend. We even got to stay there for free, by borrowing the awesome beach house of my aforementioned co-worker.

Tom and I got down to Santa Cruz in the late afternoon. After dropping our stuff off at the house, we decided to grab some lunch and check out the downtown area. I'd read some reviews of NYTimes, and we decided to go to a restaurant called Taqueria Vallarta, well known for its large potions and low prices.

Tom and I both ordered fish tacos. Here they are below. As you can see, they were pretty loaded with stuff. Unlike the fish tacos we're accustomed to, they didn't fry their fish here, but cooked it up in a sort of sauce. It was actually surprisingly tasty and a little spicy. I didn't end up eating most of my, because a had to work through my other jumbo taco.

Now I had ordered two tacos cause I was pretty hungry and I had never expected the tacos to be so large. But I was wrong. I could've just ordered one and been fine. For my second taco, I had ordered a grilled chicken taco, but I ordered it as a special, meaning it came with shredded cabbage, lettuce and more importantly guacamole.

As you can see, it was enormous. And I wasn'te ven able to finish it. We found the tacos at Taqueria Vallarta better than average - and much better than some of the "Mexican" food that we've tried up here in the Bay Area. Wish we had a place like this closer to home.

After lunch, we relaxed at the house while waiting for my little sister to arrive. This meant that I fell asleep in the hammock in the front yard, while Tom did a little work and surfed the internet. But please enjoy the lovely views from the beach directly across the street from the house: