Hi folks,

If you'd thought that my garden spotting adventures had somehow ceased, think again.

I was out to Santa Cruz yesterday and headed North along the 1, for the trip home. And there was a place I had driven past a kazillion times without stopping, but not this time. This time the light house at Pidgeon Point got a visit from the Bear. And it was well worth the while.

The gardens and yep, they have quite a bit of flowering stuff there, are not very formal. They have endeavored to post some small signs to let visitors know what they were looking at, but not in all cases. This is a nice drive along route 1, with the option for many stops along the way and great ocean vistas. The light house has been being managed by a company that promotes it as a hostile with overnight stays possible. There are several adjacent buildings and one has a remarkable fog horn in it. Harbor seals use the offshore rocks to sun themselves and take refuge from the surf. There are some great photo ops there as well as regards the gardens. Humming birds flit about the colored blooms frequently enough that even their zippy speed won't prevent a good hand a camera from capturing their image.

To the south, Davenport has a great restaurant and art shop for things like greeting cards, pottery, jewelry and other crafts. The food is a nice variety that ranges from close to vegan to continental meat and potatos.

There are places to get down to rocky beaches and get that sun tan, or to investigate numerous tide pools.

Honestly, I don't know how I missed this spot for so many years.

Here is a link that might be useful: Art