Santa Cruz May 11 Day 7

May 11, 2021 Tuesday Hot tub

We got up early to go to our 8:00 am hot tub reservation. It was outside at the back of the spa, which was closed, a victim of Covid. However the outdoor hot tub was very nice and in a relaxing setting.

I then went for a swim in the pool. Also very nice. I swam with a woman from Holland. We chatted for a while and she was gushing in her feelings about the diversity of geography in California. Based on my 8 day trip to Holland in 2017, the land was almost uniformly flat differentiated only by canals and lakes, so I could see why she was impressed. 

The step-daughter had work to do and she and my spouse went out to the restaurant for lunch.  I drove into town and expected to park at a charging station. However the charging station at the city administrative building was not working so I parked at a Hotel Paradox's charging station. I did not realize it was going to be an expensive charge since it charged by time not KwH.  

I then walked through the River walk park. It was a nice 2.5 mile walk along the San Lorenzo River. However I was shocked by the many homeless people and their encampments throughout the park.  In a subsequent discussion with a city employee at City Hall I was told that there are almost 10,000 homeless people in the county, most of them in the city. 

Santa Cruz is a very liberal place, fueled in part by the UC Santa Cruz. The city has declared itself a nuclear free zone and was one of the first places in CA and the US to implement medical marijuana. 

The downtown is not historic. Most of the buildings were destroyed in the 1989 Loma Prieta earthquake. So a downtown that was once listed on the National Register of Historic Places, was delisted. There were a lot of street performers. The Santa Cruz Beach Boardwalk is California's oldest amusement park, but I had been there in 2017 so I passed this time. There were lots of charging stations in parking garages throughout the town, but all were fee based plus a parking fee.

I drove back to the Inn and while driving the hotel notified me that the charging station had been repaired, so I plugged in when I returned. After picking up a few miles we all drove back into town, drove around a bit to show them the downtown and the had dinner at Woodstock Pizza. Lots of beer and pizza.

When we returned to the Inn I plugged in again, but later that evening discovered that only one of the 4 charging stations had been repaired, so we did not get a full charge.