Beautiful ride down HWY 1 today. Plan was Santa Cruz Pier for some Clam Chowder, Fried Seafood/Chips and Sourdough.
Passed the American Abalone Farms just before the beach town of Santa Cruz, of course, we HAD to stop for a looksee. Its been some time, great to see them again.
Simple humble homey place on a dirt road just off the sea, with several outbuildings growing the abalone.
We made our wish list of the available seafoods of the day, and told the proprietor that we would be back after lunch to pick up dinner. He closes at 4pm (open only on Sat & Sun). Back on the road, headed for the date with our fish/chips lunch. A few miles down the road, the draw of the fresh live shellfish was too strong. Change in Plan!!
Had no difficulty convincing wife to make a u-turn back to the farm.
Picked up a dozen small abalone (only size they had) for sashimi, and two each of the six varieties of oysters.
Next stop, a stand at the edge of a cliff overlooking the Pacific. 5 Avocados for a buck!!! Scored some avocados, white peaches, cherries to our dinner. (peaches will nicely complement the Poke already in the fridge)
Final stop, Half Moon Bay - Johnson Pier. Live Lingcod, Halibut and Rock Cod. Fresh Monterey Squid, Salmon, etc… per score board.
I’ve never paid money for Rock Crab before, since we can pull them out of the water for free since I was a kid. However, this boat had some huge rocks, so we picked three large ones.
A small rock cod for the oven. Life (almost normal) is good!!!
