things to do in Santa Cruz?

I'm heading north to Santa Cruz next Wednesday for a family wedding and will be staying 'til Sunday. That will leave me a few days to wander around and get into trouble. I'm flying into San Jose late Wednesday night and renting a car to get to Santa Cruz (Hertz Shelby GT-H would be nice!...but too expensive). Any hot tips the TC ohana could offer up on cool lounges/eateries, must-see attractions or local events would be greatly appreciated.

Since you'll be in the Bay Area for several days, I suggest a drive north to Alameda to see Forbidden Island. It's about an hour from Santa Cruz if you go up 880. There are also three Trader Vics in the Bay Area, the Conga Lounge in Oakland, and the Tonga Room in San Francisco.

Let us know when/if you plan to visit any of the places mentioned above and we'll try to get the Ohana together.

[ Edited by: JenTiki 2006-10-08 12:39 ]

Heya, Shipwrekjoey!

I had just posted this in the California events section. It'll be great!

The living legend of Hawaiian music/ukulele virtuoso/Hawaiian cultural documentary filmmaker Eddie Kamae will be performing music as well as screening one of his films at the Rio Theatre in Santa Cruz on October 11 at 7PM. Live hula dancing, too! He'll also be doing a book/CD/DVD signing at a store called Sun Jose in San Jose on Friday the 13th at 7PM. For more info on the show, check out this link:

http://www.riotheatre.com/html/eventbot.html

scroll down to October 11 to find the event. I'll certainly be there and hope to see some of you TC'ers at this memorable evening.

-Weird Unc

For more about Eddie:

http://www.hawaiianlegacy.com/

http://www.tikicentral.com/viewtopic.php?topic=16807&forum=17

http://www.tikicentral.com/viewtopic.php?topic=15149&forum=11