the Ticket Booth
(View the Written Text) Welcome to the Boardwalk! It is going to be a great day as you are in for a great adventure. The main entrance is located in the center of the Boardwalk. You will be greeted with a sign saying “Santa Cruz, California” and a banner with the Boardwalk labeled on it. Now, look straight across, you will see a ticket booth in order to choose a ride plan and purchase tickets for the amusement rides. (Find Out More) One ticket costs one dollar, while a day’s pass for an unlimited amount of rides is $31.50. The rides are in function from 11am to 6pm. So, it is key to plan accordingly, especially if choosing to purchase the day pass by arriving early and leaving late. A season pass is also available for $72.00. One ride is between three to six tickets. If you may need to buy more, there are ticket booths throughout the Boardwalk.
After purchasing tickets, you have an option of turning to the right or left. In this tour, you should turn to the right. We will focus on the shops to the right. There is a small restaurant called Surf City Grill. In Surf City Grill, assorted food items are sold including garlic fries, cheese fries, chili cheese fries, etc. While waiting in line, you will hear the screams of people from the roller coasters that surround this restaurant. At Surf City Grill, they offer free refill on drinks, soft serve ice creams, French fried artichokes and Texas donuts. Nowhere do they offer fresh fruits or vegetables.
Across from Surf City Grill, there are several food carts. These food carts offer quick snacks for those who do not want to sit down and eat a full meal. The food carts offer snacks such as pretzels and beef jerky along with fountain drinks. There is also a small cart that serves cups of fresh fruits. Note: this is the first location which serves healthy, low calorie content food. I would recommend you take advantage of this healthy option available as there will not be too many of these on the rest of the tour.
Surf City Grill Restaurant
Next to Surf City Grill on the right is a small game called Speed Bumper for kids. In Speed Bumpers, there are a number of cars designed for younger children that move around in circles. Behind Speed Bumpers, there is a bigger arena for adults to play bumper cars. On the right of both of these, there are two restaurants. The first is Senor Ted’s Tacos, Burritos, and Nachos and Pizza Hut Express. While the Pizza Hut Express serves a variety of pizzas, garlic bread, and breadsticks, Ted’s restaurant serves tacos, nachos, churros, burritos, etc. I personally recommend the churros as they are freshly made in front of you. As you take a bite in, the combination of cinnamon and sugar will simply melt in your mouth. Both of these restaurants serve fountain drinks and water. There are no natural juices or less calorie content foods.
Texas donut
Next to these mini restaurants, on the right there are a couple of fun booths including Clown Toss, and my personal favorite, Stinky Feet. In Stinky Feet, you have to aim a water gun at the target and continually shoot at it until time is up. While in Clown Toss, you have to knock clown with balls. Across from the two of these is the ride Double Shot. In Double Shot, you will be taken up and down at random speeds. Note Double Shot costs five tickets. While waiting in line to get on to Double Shot, you can purchase slushies’ from Slush Puppies. In Slush Puppies, slushes of a unique variety of flavors and colors are offered and refills are sold at half price. I would recommend a mix of the cherry and lemon lime slush. Concentrating on the slush while waiting to get on Double Shot will make the line move by so much quicker. On the left of Slush Puppies is a pink house where they sell bags of soft, pink cotton candy with red and blue ICEEs.
Another big roller coaster on the Boardwalk located next to Double Shot is the Pirate Ship. The Pirate Ship oscillates the people aboard from right to left. In order to get on this ride, one must present four tickets. This ride will literally give you a new perspective of the world, as you will be looking at it backwards.
the Pirate Ship
Not only does the Boardwalk include rides and an assortment of food, but it also has many shops for those who need to buy last minute items, souvenirs, and clothing. The store includes t-shirts, disposable cameras, sunglasses, key chains, magnets, etc. Next to this small shop is the Barbary Coast Restaurant. This restaurant has a very similar menu to the ones you toured earlier. It sells fries and burgers. Its specialty is the Buccaneer bacon burger, filled with pieces of bacon, melted cheese, and hints of mustard and ketchup. Yet, it serves one additional item. It serves soft serve ice creams, melting in your mouth immediately. The soft serves on the Boardwalk are extra soft so eat quickly or the ice cream will melt. On the contrary, these restaurants do not offer any healthy options for those who may be trying to lose weight or watch their calories. If craving something healthy, wait a little while as we are almost done with the right side. You can grab a fruit cup from the entrance in a few minutes.
Small Smuggler’s Arcade
Back to the tour, after passing several of these restaurants, you will see another arcade on your right called the Small Smugglers Arcade. This arcade is for small children. It includes a plethora of video games as well as a mini put-put golf course where an entire family may participate. After winning many of the games, the children will receive tickets. These tickets can be put into a ticket collector machine, which counts the tickets for the children. Depending on how many tickets have been collected, the children can choose prizes to take home as a memory from the beach.
Prizes for children
Right next to the Small Smugglers Arcade is a store of O’Neil Surf Shop. This store not only sells t-shirts, but it also sells swim trunks, bikinis, towels, and surfing equipment. Thus far, several shops have been mentioned. This goes on to show that almost anything can be found on the Board Walk. If you do not believe this, just remember we have not even finished touring half of the Boardwalk yet.
Now, we are approaching the end of the Boardwalk on the right side of the entrance. One of the last few shops that are on the right side is Marini’s on the Beach. This place has a variety of sweet treats. It offers green and pink sweet taffies, big, rainbow-colored lollipops, bittersweet caramel apples, colorful gummies, etc. However, like the restaurants you had passed earlier, this, too, does not offer any healthy options such as just an apple.
The final attraction on the furthest right side on the Boardwalk is the Fun Center. This is
Big, colorful lollipops
an adult arcade. As you will enter the Fun Center, you will see a Fisherman’s Galley. This is a small restaurant selling crunchy popcorn chicken, fries sprinkled with salt and pepper, and burgers. A purchase of fountain drinks and ICEEs comes with free refills.
We have completed our tour of half of the Boardwalk. While walking back to the other side, there are several trends that should come to mind. First of all, all the descriptions mentioned above have been on the right side, then what must be on the left? Well, you are walking on the Boardwalk after all; therefore the beach must be located on the other side. Second, another trend that is ongoing is that there are only cloth shops, arcades, and restaurants. Third, none of the restaurants have offered anything healthy on the menu. I understand people go to the beach to relax, and so they want to eat items that are tasty. However, it is important to also think about what may be beneficial to one’s body and what may not. Finally, the Boardwalk has activities and foods to entertain people of all ages.
the Beach!