A quick trip to the beach

I recently took a day trip to Natural Bridges State Park in Santa Cruz with my son, Jackson, who was visiting from Reno. It was a beautiful day and we explored some excellent tide pools at Natural Bridges State Park in Santa Cruz – it was nice to get out and get some fresh air for a day after being cooped up for so many months.

I had never been there before so I was excited to explore a new area. I loved the natural bridge and tide pools. And in November, this is where the monarch butterflies come and nest. We packed a picnic with my homemade sourdough bread, and, of course, Jackson (who just turned 25) was enjoying his beer…I drove!

There was a side cove on the other side of the bridge that we had to walk through the tide to get to. High tide was coming in quickly so the beach was getting smaller and smaller, but it had some cool rock formations (pictured below). I would have preferred to hang out there, but Jackson was fine on the crowded beach.

At the end of the day, we chose to take a leisurely drive up Highway 1 back through San Francisco. We stopped and got some vegan soup and strawberry shortcake, at Swanton Berry Stand – there was even an honor till system. I just loved the drive as the fog started to roll in off the ocean. There were so many cars parked along the side of the road to explore the various beaches and a large number of kite surfers at Waddle Beach – a sight to be seen. As road trips are becoming the norm for vacations in this year, you might consider exploring our own backyard.

Beach Festivals around the world!

Last week, I listed a few good Northern California music festivals for you to check out this summer! I’m sticking with that theme today, but expanding our horizons and focusing on SUMMER! Here are the best Beach Festivals around the world – if you’re headed to one of these regions for vacation, try to pair your trip with an awesome music festival.

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Revere Beach National Sand Sculpting Festival

From July 26-28, you can watch artists build massive sand sculptures on America’s first public beach in Revere, MA. There will be food trucks, vendors, and other amusements, plus a huge fireworks display! More info.

Boardmasters Festival

This one takes you across the pond to Newquay, Cornwall, UK from August 7-11. It’s called one of the most popular beach festivals in the world because it combines professional surfing and skateboarding with music! Florence and the Machine, Wu-Tang Clan, and Franz Ferdinand are among the musicians performing. Check it out!

The Washington State International Kite Festival

Scurry on up to Long Beach, WA from August 19-25 for the kite festival, which fills the summer sky with kites! This is a super unique spectacle, and, honestly, when else would you go to the beach in Washington? More info.

Curacao North Sea Jazz Festival

Squeeze in one tropical vacation before the kids have to go back to school! (Well, not if your kids are in the Acalanes School District, as this year school starts on August 13th so that finals can happen before Christmas break). From August 29-31, one of the largest Caribbean beach music festivals takes place and offers all sorts of genres to its attendees. Catch The Black Eyed Peas, Earth Wind & Fire, Mariah Carey, or Maroon 5 here. Seriously!

The Hawaii Food & Wine Festival

As if you need an excuse to go to Honolulu, there’s a full weekend (October 5-7) of wine tasting, local cuisine, and beach-bumming available to you. It’s a culinary festival, and proceeds benefit Hawaiian non-profits. See here.

The Airlie Beach Festival of Music

Okay, this is asking a lot. Flying to Airlie Beach in Australia is quite a trip, but if you happen to be there November 8-10, you’ll take part in a huge music experience at the heart of the Great Barrier Reef, right when our friends down under start their beautiful summer! If you haven’t been to Australia, this is a good excuse. Check out more details here.

For next year, you or your college kids may want to consider Barcelona Beach Festival (BFF). My son Jackson went to this when he was studying in San Sebastian and it sounds like they never went to bed, just party’d on the beach all night. BFF is a huge electronic music festival, featuring some of the mainstream’s biggest stars. As the name suggests, BBF takes place on the sands of the world-famous coastal city, transforming the Platja del Fòrum into one of Europe’s wildest party spots for over 12 hours. Mid July is the time frame. Here is the link to join the waiting list for 2020 date and line up

Road Trips: Half Moon Bay

New year, new road trip! I went down to Half Moon Bay (HMB) to grab some pumpkins, eat seafood and have a drink at the Ritz-Carlton while enjoying the sunset. This blog is specifically about happy hour at the Ritz to enjoy the bagpipes. It was a wonderful experience, but pricey – just to park is $40. We ordered a tea, Shirley Temple and a margarita for $35. You are paying for the ambiance and the bagpipes. If you haven’t been to HMB before, it’s such an easy trip down from the East Bay, and I can’t recommend it highly enough.

Obviously, the view is wonderful, but there are also a lot of parks and bars and restaurants to see. There are distilleries, breweries, wineries and of course, golf. Half Moon Bay is also known for its pumpkin festival; we went down a couple of weekends before the big event – fewer crowds.

This was a little “treat yourself” day trip for me and a couple of friends, as we wound down the day with views of the golf course and a cold drink by the outdoor fireplace. Bagpipes serenaded the crowd from the golf course as an incredible sunset descended over the beach. It was just what the soul needed!

Whether you’re doing a day trip like I did, or going to HMB to enjoy the beaches and restaurant scene for a few days, make sure to fully appreciate how great this little slice of California’s central coast is!

Road Trips: Carmel

For all the beautiful, picturesque landscapes in California, it seems like the Central coast can often be overlooked. Everyone knows about the National Parks, Lake Tahoe, San Francisco, the SoCal beaches, etc. But one of the best gems of the entire state is just a couple hours South of the East Bay!

If you’ve never taken a trip down the Pacific Coast Highway to reach the 17-mile drive through Carmel and Monterey, you don’t know what you’re missing! You’ll hit miles of stunning coastline, as well as some of the cutest inland towns you can imagine.

One of my favorite day trips is a jaunt down to Carmel. I love all the little shops, restaurants and the beautiful beach to enjoy the Pacific Ocean at sunset. Carmel is also very dog-friendly – it seems that everybody has a dog and they are free to run on the beach (where most gravitate to the right side). I have even gone to a Weimaraner gathering here. Anybody who has rescued a Weim from NorCal Weim Rescue gets an invite. It is a fun sight to see: a bunch of Weimaraners playing and frolicking in the waves.

Monterey and Carmel also have a great wine scene and amazing golf. It’s such an easy trip, and so close to home. I recently did the 17-mile drive; that was a first for me after all these years and definitely worth the money and scenic stops. Now might be the perfect time to go, too. It is Fall, so the leaves will be brilliant and the weather will be perfectly crisp…a perfect day for a stroll on the beach, as long as you are bundled up and there is no fog!

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Just Be Yoga is my go-to spot in Walnut Creek

About 1 1/2 years ago, I joined Just Be Yoga after I went on a Just Be and Dragon Fly Yoga retreat to Nosara, Costa Rica. I went with my favorite yoga teacher who I originally met at Forma Gym, named Kelli.

The owner of Just Be Yoga, Jenny Wendell, has created an amazing community. The people and the instructors there are incredible. The yoga studio itself has a 2-door glass garage that opens and shuts whenever necessary. They have heated classes, a little courtyard outside of the studio, and multiple yoga retreats per year from Yosemite to Hawaii, among other domestic and international locations. Another of my favorite instructors, Malia Hill, even offers an occasional SUP (stand-up paddleboard) yoga class in Alameda! This summer she is headed to Croatia for a SUP/Yoga retreat.

I think my favorite thing about going to Just Be Yoga and the retreat in Costa Rica, were meeting all the great people and instructors and just feeling like I belong. The benefits of learning to breathe, sweat and get that afterglow/relaxed feeling is a big release from the stress of daily life as a real estate agent.

A big benefit to yoga, in general, is that they really get you in touch with your body. I had no idea how much I lacked in range of motion and flexibility. Kelli’s classes often focus on areas I never knew I could stretch like hips, IT bands and sides. These tend not to be the Deep Yoga class, but they have some great Vinyasa flow and I love the Yin classes. Just Be Yoga is located right behind Wish downtown. Check them out, try them out and come be part of this wonderful community. You can do an introductory trial month for $39.

As for the retreat, we stayed at Blue Spirit and I stayed in the Eco Hut. I thought it meant “eco-friendly hut,” but I was wrong. Oops! It had no A/C, it was a shared room, and it was more than 100 uphill steps to get to the yoga studio and it meant economy hut ;-).

Despite all that, the experience was unforgettable! There was evening meditation, yoga twice a day and plenty of time to enjoy the beach (which was right next to our resort), horseback riding, surfing and more. Check out this slideshow below!