44 PUNCHMAGAZINE.COM PHOTOGRAPHY: COURTESY OF GARRICK RAMIREZ / CAT & CLOUD Other spots to grab a cup of joe include Cat & Cloud, a coffee roaster with pink-and-teal décor. Owned by award-winning baristas, it’s grown to three locations in the city, plus one in nearby Aptos. Santa Cruz serves as home base for Verve Coffee Roasters, which also has a popular Palo Alto location. Midtown Surf Shop & Coffee Bar serves cups of Verve to those seeking surfboards and swimsuits. WHAT TO DO Buzzing with caffeine? Walk it off along West Cliff Drive, a beautiful place to bike or stroll. Its scenic promenade above the bay and boardwalk includes tributes to surfers and ocean-lovers, along with the Surfing Museum in a brick lighthouse. Pick up a set of wheels from Santa Cruz BCycle, a new e-bike sharing program with stations scattered throughout the city and the UC Santa Cruz campus. Architecture buffs will enjoy a stroll along a two-block stretch of Walnut Avenue, with its mostly Victorian houses from the late 1800s to early 1900s, and Ocean View Avenue for its Victorian mansions. Keep an eye out for 20 conservation-themed murals around the city, created for the Sea Walls: Artists for Oceans project in 2021. If you feel the call of nature, Wilder Ranch State Park, four miles north of downtown Santa Cruz on Highway 1, offers 34 miles of hiking, biking and horse trails through oak-lined meadows and redwood ravines. Beloved annual festivals include Sailboat Races on Wednesday nights from March to October, the Open Studios Art Tour in October, which features over 300 artists county-wide, the Sea Glass and Ocean Art Festival in November and the Clam Chowder Cook-Off in late February, starring both amateur and professional chefs. {due west}
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