Well everyone, believe it or not the big day is almost here. A mere 42 days from now we will celebrate our wedding with those of you who can make the trek. We wanted to provide a little bit more information about where you can stay and what you can do here in Santa Cruz if you are coming from out of town. Our wedding weekend happens to be packed with local activities to keep you busy. Here are a few suggestions:
Open Studios – A huge array of artists from both sides of the county take part in this widely popular annual event. You can purchase a guide from the Cultural Council or just look for the bright green signs that indicate where an artist is showing their work.
Santa Cruz Beach Boardwalk – Needs no introduction. Fun for all and nothing really comes close to the kitchy nostalgic strangeness of one of the only authentic boardwalks left. Oh, and our friend Athena took some great engagement photos for us here (see above), so we like it a little bit more now.
Santa Cruz Mountain Winetasting – Download a map from the Santa Cruz Mountain Winegrowers Association and check out why our area offers such a diverse mix of great wine. We are happy to provide some names of our favorites if you are interested.
The San Lorenzo Valley is the region of town that we live in, and although beautiful and much sunnier than fog dense Santa Cruz, this rural valley does not offer much in the way of lodging. However, we reserved rooms at the following locations:
Best Western Scott’s Valley – Our reservation block is under Stimpson/Turpin, #81
Quality Inn Ben Lomond – Reservation is under Amber Turpin, call direct and specify that you need to transfer the room into your name.
If you are interested in staying in Santa Cruz, which is about 30 minutes from the wedding and reception, we would recommend these spots:
To arrange for a shuttle or rides to and from your hotel to the reception, the following might be your best bet:
Santa Cruz Experience – Offers shuttle service for events and also group wine tours.
Hero Designated Drivers – A great service.
Since you will be enjoying the mountainous nature of our San Lorenzo Valley, you might as well soak up some of the culture in this unique place. Here are some of our, um, recommendations? near Alba Road:
Tyrolean Inn – Authentic German food with a wide array of beer served in their outdoor beer garden. There is often a blow up jump castle that the kids love.
Coffee 9 – Good bran muffins
Henflings – A true biker bar. Cheap drinks, live music, a sunny deck and the thrill of never knowing what might happen.
Redwood Pizzeria – A young hippy couple that actually succeeded in creating an eatery that is semi-decent and good for the community. We like the old Palookaville posters and the Santa Cruz Mountain Brewing on tap. Order extra sauce if you get the pizza.
New Leaf Markets – This is a small chain of natural food stores that we do most of our shopping at. Our favorite is luckily in Felton, about 3 miles from Ben Lomond.
If you havn’t already, please remember to send us your RSVP cards! We need to make sure you all get plenty of yummy food and drink, so let us know as soon as you can if you are planning to come join the party.
We opted out of registering for gifts since we really don’t need more things, however we did set up a special Honeymoon Fund so we can take the trip we have been dreaming about. See below and right to contribute…
We can’t wait to see you all and are so happy this occasion will bring us all together.
Oh yeah, and by the way, if you didn’t know…we are proud to announce our newest coffee shop venture: Filling Station! Visit us online, on Facebook, or in person if you can.
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