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Thisbe Nissen: Tour Diary

Preliminaries - Day 1 - Day 2 - Day 3 - Day 4 - Day 5 - Day 6 -
Day 7 - Day 8 - Day 9 - Day 10 - Day 11 -Day 12 - Day 13 - Day 14 - Day 15 -
Day 16 - Day 17 - Day 18 - Day 19 - Day 20 - Day 21 - Day 22 -
Day 23 - Day 24 - Day 25 - Day 26 - Day 27 - Day 28 - Day 29 - Home Diary - July 25 - July 26

Day 24: Santa Cruz

Champagne brunch at the hotel (I'm stopping the complaining and trying to just go with it. A champagne Sunday brunch helps...) The beach, to watch the surfers and read in the sand ("Franny" of "Franny and Zooey" for me, a new-used Blues history book for Chris). The university (just to show Chris the view from the redwood forest). Late lunch back at the Saturn where there is veggie everything and it is all good. Up to Lilith's folks' house in the mountains, the most beautiful place in Santa Cruz, a place that so affected me when I was here last that I used it in fiction when I was writing "Maud and Drew" -- I made it the place where Maud grew up, an old family estate called "Swooping Elbow." It is still the most magical place, and being up there makes me remember what I loved so much about Santa Cruz. It's a sprawling property, part forested, part meadow, all overlooking Santa Cruz Bay, dotted with tiny bungalow houses. There are two dogs and a cat and Chris and I frolic with them in the sun until it goes down and we navigate our way back down the windy little road to town. Desperate to stay away from the hotel-from-hell for as long as possible, we drive to the Marina and watch the last of the sunset. Fires are allowed on the beach and it looks like a little hobo camp from above. The air is chilly. I'm afraid I'm parked illegally. We drive off into the night.