Santa Cruz Itinerary.

Brunch at Cafe Brazil | 1410 Mission Street, Santa Cruz, CA 95060

Order the Avocado a Cavalo and share their famous Acai Bowl for dessert.

Hike at Wilder Ranch State Park | 1401 Coast Road, Santa Cruz, CA 95060

If it's not crowded, park on the main road outside the entrance to the park and save yourself $10. It's just a short walk to the start of the trail. Mostly level trails make for an easy hike and gorgeous ocean views.

Shopping in Downtown Santa Cruz | Pacific Avenue

Hat tip to Sunset Magazine for recommending Penny Ice Creamery. Grab a cone and walk around Pacific Avenue. There are stores like Urban Outfitters and Forever 21, but take the time to look at some of the smaller shops. If you're hungry, grab a slice of pizza at Pizza My Heart. So. Good.

Drinks at Soif Wine Bar and Merchants | 105 Walnut Avenue, Santa Cruz, CA 95060

We stopped by Soif around 5 PM to enjoy some wine before our dinner reservation at 7:30 PM. They have a nice communal table and airy space for you to enjoy your wine in. Next door you can even do $5 wine wastings during their happy hour.

Dinner at Lilian's Italian Kitchen | 1116 Soquel Avenue, Santa Cruz, CA 95062

We weren't terribly hungry by the time dinner rolled around. But if you want great italian food, Lilian's is your sure bet. Make a reservation ahead of time otherwise you might be looking at a two hour wait. Reservations can only be made day of starting at 11 AM so call in early. We shared the Caprese to start and shared the Sunday Gravy with meatballs as our main entree. These were all delicious. The meal was finished with tiramisu for dessert and two coffees. I think the bill came out to be something like $60 for the two of us, so it was a great value too. 

I definitely want to come back another time for a day trip. There are lots of state parks near downtown Santa Cruz that I want to check out. I'm always down for coastal hiking on a gorgeous day.

Santa Cruz.

My brother came up to visit this weekend for his Spring Break, so we decided to spend Friday in Santa Cruz. Fortunately, the forecast was inaccurate once again and we were greeted with a sunshine filled day.

Seriously, who knew Santa Cruz could be this gorgeous? Just a few minutes outside of town lies Wilder Ranch State Park. While the name and the entrance can be slightly misleading, it is a several mile stretch of completely beautiful and primarily level coastal hiking along the ocean. We saw seals, one otter, and several pelicans during our hike. But most of it was spent in awe of how a beautiful hike was just a 5 minute drive away from Brasil Cafe, where we had brunch moments earlier.

This made for a really great opportunity for me to test out my new lens as well! Since purchasing my Canon Rebel T3I in December, I've been using the lens that the camera came with. After some light research, I decided to get the Canon F/ 1.8 lens that retails for about $100 on Amazon. I know a few other bloggers who use this lens and get phenomenal results. And much to my delight, the author of READ THIS IF YOU WANT TO TAKE GREAT PHOTOGRAPHS recommended the same lens to me without knowing I had just purchased it! The lower F stop gets gorgeous images like the one above. It made all of the photographs I took during this trip seem totally ethereal from all the sun-drenched backgrounds.