My mom, 3 sisters and I would go to Santa Cruz every summer for 3 weeks. I got to know the Boardwalk vendors and ride operators because I was pretty friendly. I carried around a stuffed monkey with me so that’s how I got the nickname Monkey.
I remember going to the pool before they closed it, being in the Funhouse for hours at a time. Memories of the friends I made those years when they called me Monkey still make me smile.
When I broke my leg on the Flying Cages ride when I was 12, the crew hung a black flag in my memory. LOL They took the cages out that same year. I still spend at least one week there every year with my kids who are now grown.
I’m 56 now,and to this day, the moment I drive in to Santa Cruz from Castro Valley I feel like a kid again.
Thanks for all the great memories.
Voted the World’s Best Seaside Park
