I was born and raised in Santa Cruz and part of that means spending lots of time at the Boardwalk during the summer as a kid. My brother and I, like every other young kid wanted to spend time with our friends at the Boardwalk all summer long. My mom was a single mom and couldn’t afford to buy our $3.00 wrist bands that often, so every morning we would wake up and try to figure out how to raise $3.00 each so we could have enough money to spend the entire day at the park. We washed cars, mowed lawns and pulled weeds for that three-bucks.
Once we got there, the whole focus was the Giant dipper – we just called it the roller coaster. We only wanted to sit in the front seat and forced each other to hold our hands up high going down the big hill.
When that got tiring or the line got too long, we would spend quality time in the Clown House on the spinning wheel or the moving bridge.
I only have good memories of the Boardwalk as a kid. When i got a little older (mid-1970’s) my step dad had a sail boat and the best day of the year was July 4th. We would anchor off the boardwalk beach and watch the annual fireworks show right over our heads as we heard the many screams of joy from those at the Boardwalk watching the show from a very different angle.
I am so appreciative to the Seaside Company for keeping the memories and fun going every day possible. My kids and grandkids now enjoy the Boardwalk and are building their own memories.
