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It’s hard not to fall for a town like Santa Cruz. Its comfortable combination of laid back surfer scene and college town openness gives a reality check that its southern neighbors, the tourist meccas of Carmel and Monterey, seem to lack.

While these glossy hubs provide ample opportunity for fine dining and even finer antique shopping, Santa Cruz offers down-to-earth appeal mixed with a quirky sense of humor. In the recently refurbished downtown main street, amongst laidback cafes, golden era movie theatres, and enticing Mexican and Italian restaurants, are stores stocked with kitsch novelties. The toy aisles display plastic action figures of William Shakespeare and Albert Einstein, as well as literary hero Henry Pole, the grandfather of horror fiction. That gatekeeper to knowledge, “The Librarian”, is immortalized in plastic with its display box proudly boasting its “realistic ssshing action!”.

In the stationary store, the Christmas season sees the “Merry Christmas” and “Happy New Year” greeting cards interspersed with “Happy Solstice” cards for the towns Wickers. While craft fans will want to drop into the wall to wall “bead store” which sells tubes titled “party mix”, it’s Marini’s candy store that is a must visit. A Santa Cruz landmark since 1915, this 4th-generation, family-owned business entices visitors with watermelon, Pina Colada, raspberry and peppermint flavored salt water taffy, just to name a few.

But don’t overdo the candy, as you will miss the dining diversity on offer in this funky town. From Ristorante Italiano for a romantic candlelit dinner, Café Brazil and Chestnut street café for rib sticking breakfasts to local Thai restaurants offering 3 course lunch specials for less than $8.00. The outstanding dinning experience however is the Saturn Café. Nowhere in Santa Cruz is the town’s unique vibe so aptly captured than at this vegetarian heaven. The décor is a happy disarray of eclectic mismatched chairs (which helps explain the upcoming chair painting competition) and collage decorated glass topped tables and booths. These are mini expressions of modern and counter-culture symbols and designs. Everything from movie stubs, concert tickets to a card promoting a Melbourne bands experimental glass bubble recording session are utilized to decorate the tables. For my vote, the “Fakin Bacon Cheese Burger” is the bomb!

But Santa Cruz is not just food and shopping - it also boasts Redwood groves, Nature Reserves and State Parks where you can roam and hike to your heart's content. The ideal seaside hike is along West Cliff Drive, starting from Lighthouse Point and heading south to Natural Bridges State Park. Don't miss the Monarch Butterfly reserve, a grove of eucalyptus trees that is the winter home to these colorful travelers from Western Canada.

A short seven-mile drive from Santa Cruz along Highway 9 is The Henry Cowell Redwood State Park. With gentle grade trails through the groves of Redwood trees and overlooking the San Lorenzo River, the park offers a peaceful haven for an afternoon hike. This route will also take you up to the hillside Santa Cruz campus of the University of California. Built in the 1960s and overlooking Monterey Bay, this sprawling college is set amongst gentle gullys and connected by wooded pathways. The trails up the hills behind the department buildings are worth a hike and an opportunity to spot amongst the moist ground cover the native Banana Slug. But don’t worry if you fail to spot one of these bright yellow creatures - it's the college mascot and the campus stores sell stuffed and chocolate versions.

For an evening in Santa Cruz you can go low key at one of the many late night bookstores/coffee shops and enjoy a chi latte over a discussion of the meaning of life, the size of the galaxy or the state of the surf. If however this is still too intense, checkout the Tea House Spa, a Japanese style onsen that offers a tranquil garden setting to enjoy a private spa or massage while sampling their selection of soothing teas.

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