Little Free Library Finds in Santa Cruz, California!!

First LFL Find in Santa Cruz

First LFL Find in Santa Cruz

Second LFL Find in Santa Cruz

Last Saturday, June 29, 2024, my husband and I visited Santa Cruz, California for the day in an effort to beat the inland heat. In fact, we have an excessive heat advisory this entire week with temperature reaching over 100 degrees five of the days this week. Our electricity went out for six hours this past Sunday and almost three hours on Monday.

During our visit to Santa Cruz, we found two Little Free Libraries. I exchanged books at both Little Free Libraries during our visit to Santa Cruz.

I loved finding both Little Free Libraries. However, I must admit that finding the first Little Free Library was most humorous as the LFL stewards had decorated their LFL to look like an outhouse... See middle photograph above.

After finding both Little Free Libraries, my husband and I visited the 135 acre UC Santa Cruz Arboretum & Botanic Garden. All green spaces and gardens are wonderful spaces, BUT I must honestly admit that I was underwhelmed with the UC Santa Cruz Arboretum & Botanic Garden. It's largely left sort of wild  and untamed looking giving the entire garden a mostly unmanicured look with the exception of a few areas that did look sort of more groomed and put together.

I liked the rock garden and the redwood forest areas the most, along with a small area near the staff building to be the most interesting areas to see and explore during our visit.

We'd been to The UC Berkeley Botanical Garden several times in the past and loved it immensely. I was kind of hoping the UC Santa Cruz Arboretum & Botanic Garden would be like the The UC Berkeley Botanical Garden in its own unique way... But alas, no!

Afterwards, we had a late lunch at a barbecue restaurant and a quick pit stop at the beach before returning home.