Monday in Santa Cruz

Monday, instead of sending the kids to school, Chief and I took them with us for a day trip to Santa Cruz.

The main reason for the trip was to go see Auntie HL (Helen Louise), who is Chief’s mother‘s sister. Her granddaughter Ashley (my second cousin) lives with her, and so we got to visit with her too, which was great.
Auntie HL had not met Oscar or Lucy! For that I felt terrible, but better late than never.

I took a quick snap of this beautiful family heirloom photograph:

This is Helen Knight, the wife of Judge Benjamin K. Knight, District Attorney and Calif. Appellate Court justice.. (Chief’s great grandparents).

Anyways, it was a gorgeous day in Santa Cruz – simply perfect…
Next stop was a visit to Gilda’s on the Pier for Crab Louies.
Evidently, people remain faithful to their favorite pier restaurant, but we have a stronger family tie than most.

Gilda’s is owned by the Stagnaro family, who were very close with Nana’s family (who lived in Santa Cruz for generations before Nana and Poppa). Rumor has it that Gilda Stagnaro wanted to marry Poppa!
There’s more… Chief, if I’ve left out anything important, please add it into the comment section. Take as much room as you like.
Chief couldn’t help but reminisce with super entertaining stories, but I am tragic at logging the details. I make a horrendous reporter. :(

Here’s the view from the other side of the pier:

Next we re-parked the car at a meter across the street from the Boardwalk. The place was empty – due to it being Monday? – which was ~~weird~~ so cool.
First we went down to the water’s edge, and the kids played for a bit.
After, we walked up to the Boardwalk!