Seymour Marine Discovery Center

My cousin Angie has spent the last 6 or 7 years getting her PhD at the University of Santa Cruz. During that time, she worked as a docent at the Seymour Marine Discovery Center, and she has been urging us to visit, but for one reason or another, we never got around to going. Wouldn't you know it, now that she has graduated, we finally got our act together and visited for the first time!

A diamond in the rough: Donnelly Chocolates

photo source: localwiki.org

When people visit Santa Cruz, they usually head for the Boardwalk, the Pier, the Wharf, downtown, or one of the many beaches and coves. They don't usually find themselves driving on Mission Street. It's one of the main arteries of Santa Cruz (it eventually becomes Highway 1), and it's full of stop lights and cars. Locals usually take side streets to avoid the traffic, and it's lined with faded-looking storefronts that you wouldn't think to look at.

But there are quite a few gems on Mission Street worth stopping for: Sylvan Music, Vasili's Greek Restaurant, Cafe Brasil, to mention just a few. One real diamond in the rough is Donnellys Chocolates, an artisan chocolate shop located near the corner of Mission and Bay. If you love chocolate, it's definitely worth making a small detour from your regularly scheduled Santa Cruz itinerary.

Top Five Holiday Traditions at the Disneyland Resort

The Disneyland Resort is always crowded during the holidays, and for good reason. No, it's not just because everyone is on holiday. It's because Disneyland has the ability to create special holiday experiences that turn into family traditions. Their imagination and creativity and attention to detail transform park attractions that you can enjoy any time of the year, into completely different. Here are my five favorite Disneyland holiday traditions (I have enjoyed four of them, so I can personally vouch for them, and I've heard so many great things about the fifth one that I've placed it on my bucket list!).

What to do in Bodega Bay

Bodega Bay is one of those places that people know because of the movies -- it was the setting for Alfred Hitchcock's movie The Birds. Don't worry, unlike the movie, Bodega Bay isn't a creepy place at all! It's a great place for Bay Area families to spend the day.

Muir Woods: Best place in the Bay Area for a beginner's hike

Redwood groves are all around Northern California, and they're great places to take family and friends. One of the easiest to get to, is Muir Woods. It's just 12 miles north of San Francisco, but when you get there, it's like entering another world. We spent a couple of hours at Muir Woods over spring break, and it reminded me of how lucky I am to live in this area. The redwoods are truly majestic, amazing, awesome, and every other superlative adjective you can think of.

Bixby Bridge

If you're planning a drive down California's Highway 1, make sure your drive takes you across Bixby Bridge. It's one of the most iconic landmarks of Northern California, Big Sur and the Pacific Coast.  It has been a while since Alfie and I have been to Big Sur, so we took the kids there in November and had a great time enjoying the fresh air, the ocean view, and the sunset.

Ways to save time at the Disneyland Resort

Many Disneyland and Disney World posts are about ways to save money.  That's not surprising -- Disney vacations don't come cheap, and it makes sense to save wherever you can.  That being said, however,  I think the most scarce (and hence, valuable) commodities you have while on vacation is time.  Vacations never last long enough, and vacations at the Disneyland Resort seem to fly by in the blink of an eye.  If you're like me, and want to make the most out of every second you spend at the Disneyland Resort, here are some tips on how to save time while you're there:

The Pea goes to Japantown

I'm proud to introduce my new guest blogger: The Pea!  She went to Japantown with her friend last week, and I bribed asked her to do a write up of her day trip because it has been years since I've been there. After reading her post, I can't wait to go back for sushi and stickers...

Hi! It’s the pea, bonggamom’s daughter, and today I’m going to be doing a guest review/travel document on Japantown, San Francisco. I went with my friend to Japan Center Mall in Japantown, and we had a really great time!

Ghirardelli Square Ice Cream Fountain

Ghirardelli Square is one of those tourist places that you know are touristy but you just have to visit.  After all, Ghirardelli Chocolate is as much as a culinary symbol of San Francisco as sourdough bread and clam chowder. Yes, it's touristy -- but that doesn't mean it isn't good!

Turkeys, Motorcycles, and Running Shoes: The Mazda Raceway Turkey Trot

The idea of running a race on Thanksgiving has always appealed to me -- do something active and healthy before stuffing your face! -- but I've never actually done it until this year.  Alfie found out that one of his favorite motorcycle racetracks, the Mazda Raceway in Laguna Seca, CA, was hosting their second annual Turkey Trot.  It's the ideal race for us, because it's not actually a race; there's no official start time, no one is timed, and there's no pressure to finish at a certain pace.  All you have to do is show up between 7am and 11am, and you can run, walk, skip, crawl, dance, or hop the 2.238-mile circuit.  Wild horses couldn't drag The Pea to an actual race and force her to run, but since everyone could go at their own pace, she willingly came along.   Alfie was beyond excited at the chance to set foot on the actual track where motorcycle legends like Valentino Rossi and Casey Stoner race their bikes.  Even better, the $10 fee (just $10, the cheapest ever!) all went to benefit the Food Bank of Monterey.

Half Moon Bay Pumpkin Festival

I've just realized that this blog is over 8 years old and has absolutely no mention of the Half Moon Bay Pumpkin Festival.  This is a serious omission, because the Half Moon Bay Pumpkin Festival is our favorite festival in the entire region (I did write about why I love the HMB Pumpkin Festival over on Silicon Valley Mamas a couple of years ago).  We've attended the festival every year for almost a decade, and despite the crowds and traffic, we can't wait for the next festival to arrive.

10 Reasons to visit the Disneyland Resort in the fall

The Disneyland Resort is a wonderful place any time of the  year, but if you held a gun to my head, I would have to say that my favorite time to visit is in the Fall.  Yes, you do get all the extended park hours in the summer and you do get all the holiday splendor in the winter and you do get all the excitement during spring break, but autumn at the Disneyland Resort is not to be missed.  Here's why:

Our introduction to Scotch Whisky

Going to Scotland without sampling Scotch whisky (note: in most countries it's spelled "whiskey" but in Scotland it's "whisky" without the "e"!) is like going to Napa without sampling wine.  When we decided to go on a road trip to Scotland this summer, we had visions of hopping from distillery to distillery, savoring different kinds of Scotch.  Alas, it was not to be; our whisky tour is going to have to wait till a future visit, but we did get to learn about whisky production and taste a few great whiskies on this trip.

Changing of the Guard: Is it worth braving the crowds?

Quick, what's the most tourist-y thing you can do in London?  Chances are, you thought of the Tower of London, Big Ben, or Buckingham Palace and the Changing of the Guard. We've done the Tower of London and Big Ben on past visits, so I decided to take the kids to see the Changing of the Guard on our most recent visit to London.

10 things you must do at a Disney Park

No matter how many times you visit a Disney Park, there always seems to be something you haven't done -- a ride you haven't been on, a treat you haven't sampled, a show you haven't watched. I've put together a list of 10 fun experiences that should be on everyone's Disney Park bucket list.  Some are easy to do, others aren't.  We've already done the first five, and we're working on the last five!  Check out the list below and see how many you have done.....

Travel Tuesday: Boomerang Bay waterpark at Great America

When I first visited Great America in 1994, I loved it so much I wanted to go back every year.  That lasted about 3 years -- I could only ride Top Gun (later renamed Flight Deck) and the Drop Tower so many times.  Even when I returned with The Pea in 2002, I wasn't eager to make it an annual ritual.

The arrival of Boomerang Bay changed all that.  Great America added Boomerang Bay in 2004 (it was the first theme park in California to have a water park), and we first visited Boomerang Bay in 2012.  Thanks to Boomerang Bay, I love visiting Great America once again -- we even splurged on season passes this summer so we can visit again and again!   Much as I love roller coasters, I could go four or five years without riding the ones at Great America (the kids will probably disagree with me!), but  Boomerang Bay is like a community pool with the added benefit of a few thrill water rides.

5 Asian cities I simply must visit

I had so much fun writing last week's Travel Tuesday post (5 European cities I simply must visit) that I decided to write out my top 5 list for Asia.  I'm Filipina born and bred, but I'm ashamed to say that I've been to fewer Asian cities (not counting cities in the Philippines) than European cities.  So far, I've been to Hong Kong, Tokyo, Taipei, and Seoul.  That's it.  Even Alfie has been to more Asian cities than me!  I definitely have to rectify this error, and here are the first 5 places I would visit:

5 European cities I simply must visit

Whenever we visit Alfie's parents, we stay for at least 3 weeks.  Alfie's family is small, and there's only so much visiting of relatives you can do for 3 weeks, so we like to use Marlborough as a jumping point for smaller trips. We've done day trips to London, Stonehenge, Birmingham, Maidstone, and many other places around the UK.  We've also gone on longer trips to Wales, Ireland, France, Belgium, and the Netherlands.

There's no shortage of wonderful places to visit, so it's always tough to decide where we want to go next! I could easily list 100 cities I'd love to travel to in Europe -- but as always, time and money are limiting factors, so I've narrowed my list down to five.  Here are 5 cities that I'd really love to visit on a family trip in the near future:

A day trip to Damme

If I had to pick a favorite day out of the seven we spent in Belgium, I would probably pick the day we visited Damme.  Damme is a tiny medieval (13th century) town near the medieval city of Bruges and a few miles from the Belgian coast.  If you're staying in Bruges, Damme is a great place for a day (or half-day) trip; it's also a great place to stay if you plan to visit Bruges but want somewhere a bit more quiet (and inexpensive) to come "home" to at the end of your day!

Lawrence Hall of Science

It's still spring break in many school districts around the US, so I thought I'd spend Travel Tuesday reminiscing about one of the cool places we visited over Spring Break.  The Lawrence Hall of Science is a hands-on science museum on the UC Berkeley campus that draws kids from all over the Bay Area.