It's summer, and children cannot have too many outdoor places to explore! Aside from all of the wonderful places I've mentioned in my last blog post , I've come up with a list of our top 3 beaches and more outdoorsy sites! They include the Santa Cruz Beach (by Santa Cruz Beach Boardwalk), Seacliff, Natural Bridges, Gilroy Gardens, and Gizdich Farm. Don't forget to slather on the sunscreen! 😉
The Santa Cruz beach is the most popular. There is a lot do because of the boardwalk, the pier, restaurants, etc. so it can be pretty fun if you don’t mind the crowd.
Seacliff is where my family had huge family gatherings every summer when I was a kid. I remember going to the small museum and walking out onto the shipwrecked boat (which is closed off now but still neat to see).
Natural Bridges is a beach you want to visit a few times throughout the year. The museum is nothing spectacular but if you visit during the right time of year you can take a walk down the trail and see all the monarch butterflies!.. I don’t mean a few butterflies, thousands of them! The beach is not too crowded and there are amazing tidepools to explore!
Gizdich farm is a bit of a drive but it’s well worth it. I recommend that you look at their online schedule before going. We get to pick our own fruit! They have apples and different berries to pick. It’s a great way to teach the kids that food doesn’t magically appear at the grocery store. After we pick our fruit we head to the Gizdich bake shop where we order sandwiches and a freshly baked piece of pie! Yum!
Gilroy Gardens is a beautiful and spacious theme park. There are fun rides for every age but especially good for the younger ones. Although they do have food courts there, it’s the typical theme park junk food such as fries, burgers, nachos, etc. They do have a spot with rice and teriyaki chicken that isn’t too bad but we usually pack a cooler of healthy lunches and snacks to eat. There are some nice shady spots to sit and eat with lots of greenery around. I recommend to pack a swim-suit, extra clothes and a towel for the kids so they can play in the water oasis. My kids spent a couple hours just in this area and they had a blast!
