Road Trip, Capitola, Shadowbrook Inn, Friends, Awesome Get-Away, the Ocean, Beautiful Weather and of Course, Food...

A friend invited me on a last minute trip to Capitola - a small seaside town south of Santa Cruz. I had been to Santa Cruz many times, but for some reason I'd never been to Capitola - it's definitely a place I'll return to.

The weather was WONDERFUL! We shopped at the quaint shops and had a delightful lunch of fish and chips at the water's edge. OK, I shouldn't have had the chips, but on Weight Watchers you learn to have a treat, but then you know it's time to get back on the wagon - tomorrow's weigh in will tell.

We took a long, brisk walk on the beach in Aptos, a town south of Capitola. We sure got our exercise and I'm glad because we went to the divine Shadowbrook Inn - a most enchanting place to have dinner. You park and then take the cable car down the mountainside to the restaurant. So charming. The redwood accents in the restaurant are sooooo very beautiful - I'm a huge Frank Lloyd Wright fan, so I was mesmerized by the wood and architecture.

We had a light dinner - I HAD to have the Artichoke Heart Soup - yummy! and then the house salad - this was no ordinary salad - select baby spinach tossed in a mango-chutney vinaigrette and garnished with cherry tomatoes, candied pecans and two large flame-broiled Gulf shrimp wrapped with bacon. We HAD to have dessert - I decided on the crepes (I love crepes!) filled with vanilla custard, drizzled with caramel sauce - with whipped cream and a strawberry, of course! OK, so tomorrow won't be a good weigh in...

Our trip was 3 hours each way - we laughed, swapped stories and laughed some more. What a delightful day!

Joan