Starting in the late 1930s, my parents would visit Santa Cruz Boardwalk as teenagers. After my father went off to WWII, my mother and her friends continued to go there for fun. My parents married in 1945 after Dad returned from the war and they started their family soon after. I have such fond memories of riding the carousel with my father. Too small to reach for those brass rings, he would grab one for me and make me feel as if I had done it all by myself! There were many rides down the big slide on the gunny sacks with my mother, it seemed as if we were going 100 mph! I have managed to return for visits over the years and experience such a wave of pleasant nostalgia each and every time!
The Santa Cruz Boardwalk will always hold a special place in my memory and my heart, no matter how much it evolves.