The Irascible Chef

I have been to a few vacation towns in my life. Charming little places that I’ll never forget: Montauk, NY (a personal favorite); Hampton Bays, NY—not the snooty Hamptons; Sedona, AZ; Three Arch Bay in Laguna, CA; Cape May, NJ; Cold Springs, NY; Manchester, VT; Mystic, CT; and Pawleys Island, SC to name a few. Ah, the places my parents took our family growing up and some of found on my own. Great shopping, great restaurants, great beach time, great memories…

Capitola California is such a place—Charming, small, quaint, and not commercialized. There are just the right amount of people. You have to drive out of the downtown (about a mile) to get a Pete’s coffee. Relax they have a few of their own cozy, been-there-forever spots to get a cup of coffee.

Part of their charm derives from the fact that these places, for the most part, stay the same—the communities resist commercial change. You can count on the mainstay mom and pop joints as well as the hipsters that have staked their claim—really the originals, startup operations that were copied, mass-produced, and optimized by the commercial establishment—you know the names they’re now familiar to everyone. But in the process sacrificing personalization, quaintness, and that intangible something that you can count on being how you remembered it the last time you were there.

Capitola is small population of 9,500+. There is a small beach front with restaurants up and down the Esplanade—not too many choices, but plenty to choose from. Same is true with shopping, from swimsuits, to antiques, to art to local wine stores, to nick-knacks, to real-estate.

Bring your camera or leave it to the pros and checkout these pictures at Feenx Gallery.
Besides eating and drinking and shopping Capitola offers surfing, boat rentals, live music on the pier, beach volleyball, beach whatever, pier fishing, lounging out on the water, people watching, and really whatever floats your boat in a very relaxed atmosphere.

WARNING! Lets talk about parking and tickets for a minute. Here I could take issue or keep my mouth shut and just accept that there are plenty of parking options at different costs depending on the service or inconvenience. Just heed my warning, I would say without having the facts that a major source of revenue to the city of Capitola is from parking tickets/violations. The police force is a plenty and fully visible everywhere either on foot, bike, car, or even wheelchair—I kid you not! There is almost one cop roaming around for every vehicle that drives through—okay, this is a slight exaggeration.

I love this place! Stay in or around the Esplanade, walk less than 100 yards to everything! Park and pay what you’re comfortable with! Bring your camera or not and relax! ENJOY!

Coming soon: Restaurant review for you and some advice and recommendations for the restaurants…

Technorati Tags: Beach, Capitola

Trackback URI | Comments RSS