Things to do in Watsonville

Hello. I will be spending a day in Watsonville and I need some ideas on how to occupy myself. Where do people hang out? Is there a good, central café downtown where I can people-watch? Best book store? Any places of architectural interest? And how far away is the nearest beach? I would appreciate any input

Things to do in Watsonville

Sunset State Beach is within a 5-10 minute drive.

http://www.parks.ca.gov/?page_id=544

Its also about 10 miles east of Santa Cruz which would give you lots of great places to hang out....such as the Pier and Santa Cruz Boardwalk area.

Beach Street Cafe is a good place to have coffee/eats/people watch.

Beach Street Cafe

Address 435 W. Beach St., Watsonville

http://www.metroactive.com/restaurants/

Things to do in Watsonville

Santa Cruz, if you will have a car, is only 20 minutes away and its Main street, Pacific Avenue, is a pretty tree lined street with many sidewalk cafes, lots of boutiques, coffee houses. The Bookshop Santa Cruz is an independently owned book store whose owner has served as the president of the Independent Booksellers and was just elected a County Supervisor. People love this book shop so much that when its original building, across the street, was made unsafe by the 1989 earthquake, citizens signed waivers and came out to enter it and hand carry the books to the new location.

The nearest beach is a several block walk, or drive, away. The Beach Boardwalk is on limited hours at this time of year, but walking the Municipal Pier is a fun touristy thing to do. At the end, look down through the openings and see if you can find sea lions, who often nap on the beams below, and also bark.

The architectural interest on Pacific Avenue is how many buildings were replaced....the last vacant lot is being built on now. But the survivors are many. The Cooper House....original courthouse and a Richardson Romanesque beauty on the corner of Pacific Ave. and Cooper Street had to be torn down and has been replaced by an O%26#39;Neill surf equipment store. But the small octagonal Hall of Records survives at the end of the Cooper Street block, most recently as the gift shop of the Museum of Art and History...next door, which used to be the county jail.

If you do not have a car, there is a county bus service between the two towns and the Santa Cruz Metro station in Santa Cruz is near the foot of Pacific Avenue.

I am not knocking Watsonville, I taught there for more years than I want to admit to having. I just think that Santa Cruz would offer you so much that you might want another day.

Oh, I forgot. The architectural interest in Watsonville is the red brick St. Patrick%26#39;s church at the beginning of Main Street, built by my favorite architect, William Weeks, who also built courthouses and schools around the state. He is also responsible for many of the Victorian houses in town.

Thank you for your responses! I will check out the Beach Street Cafe --it sounds perfect for what I would like to do.

I%26#39;m afraid, however, that I will have to stay put in Watsonville for that particular day. I do agree that Santa Cruz has more to offer and have gone there often.

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