Today after checking out of the hotel and dumping the baggage in the car (still residing a block away in the public lot) we walked a pretty good length to find a restaurant recommended by Matt's girlfriend. Roscoe's Chicken & Waffles. Oh yes. And while we weren't the only white people there (there were also a couple hipsters) we were certainly very much the minority. Which was cool, plus the food was unbelievable. Wow. Worth the walk there and back. So now absolutely stuffed, we hop in the car and drive to the Pacific Coast Highway (PCH) and begin heading north.It's a beautiful drive along the ocean past a bunch of little beach communities. We stop about halfway to San Fran at a random little Danish village called Solvang. It's a little tourist spot filled with little shops and windmills and Norwegian style architecture. We pop into a cool little wine store and do a tasting. The girl pouring the wines says we absolutely have to go down the block and try a famous Danish pastry called Aebelskivers. It's like a pancake ball covered in jam and icing sugar. So we share a few over coffee then browse the town a bit more. We go through a cool cuckoo clock shop and a year-round Christmas store. Very eclectic little town.
Back on the road we make another stop a few miles north at a place Nick stopped at when he was here for work earlier in the year called Los Olivos. It's two streets with over 40 wineries/shops. We see an interesting looking one called Alexander & Wayne and stop in for a tasting. Nick and Matt buy bottles so we all get vouchers to go for another tasting at their sister winery next door called Arthur Earl. Here it's moreso Italian and Spanish wines, and we do a tasting here too. Bathroom break then back on the road north again. We hit a place called King City once we are very hungry so stop for pizza and arcade games at a little local pizzeria.The sun sets and it gets very very dark out. The GPS takes us down some single lane back roads to get to Santa Cruz and we finally arrive at our motel around 10. "Hey, is that an Aspirin under the edge of the bed? Nope, looks liiiiike...oh, a hypodermic needle! How fun!" The cap was on and it appeared unused so we maneuvered it into the trash can using tissues. Matt wasn't feeling well (Roscoe's coming back with a vengeance!) so he hung in the room while Nick and I headed out to Pacific Avenue to check out the nightlife. We find only 2 bars on the whole stretch; one of which is a dodgy looking hip hop club and the other is an Irish pub. So we opt for the latter and head in. It's four separate rooms inside; one main one with a long bar playing 80s music and Goonies on the TVs. Next to it is a billiards room with 2 tables. Behind that is an empty room with disco lights playing 80s electro-pop. Across from that is another dance room playing 80s nu wave music. Bizarre. We get beers and go back to the billiards room. End up playing doubles against a couple travelling Brits and play a few games. One we bet on beers (and lose), while another we play for Canada's independence from Britain (which we also lose, so sorry about that folks).There's a random guy in a corner of the billiards room painting watercolour paintings. Mid-game at 1:40 the bar kicks everyone out. Apparently they need the place empty by 2 AM. So we chat a bit more with our British pals then walk back to the motel.
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