I’m not a foodie. There, I said it. I know it’s super-cool to be really into the whole food fascination thing, but honestly, I’d be glad eating a bag of PopSecret popcorn or some frozen yogurt. That said, when I go on adventures (travels), I love to eat at places, not necessarily for the food, but for the other stuff. You know, like the vibe, or the people-watching, or whatever makes that place different than any other spot. During one of my most recent (and might I add most random) road trips, a friend of a friend recommended that I check out this restaurant called Shadowbrook, right outside of Santa Cruz, CA. Here’s why I decided that going to Shadowbrook was going to be a MUST…in order to get to the restaurant, you have to hop into a sky gondola that takes you down several stories into a ravine (not exaggerating), where the restaurant sits on the bank of a small river. Not only that, the restaurant was first built and used as a 5-story home, and, don’t get me wrong, it’s beautiful, but it’s sooooooo creepy. The food was actually pretty splendid in my opinion; I ate enough cheese to sustain a small town. But the best part, by far, was the ambience. It was a summer night, and we’d been at the beach all day, but as the sun set, the fog rolled in and it was freezing (so basically it was below 70-degrees – sorry, I’m a California girl). I felt like I was in a horror movie and someone was coming to chop off my head. Yes, I’m slightly dramatic, but it was really fun. Plus, sidenote, the people-watching was beyond stellar. Most of the people seemed to be locals and know each other and I was definiltey getting a hoot (ha) out of observing them. For example, a dude in the gondola we rode down in (who FYI was with his WIFE) asked us, completely out of no where, if we worked out, and then went on to discuss his love of fitness, with no prompting. Hello, this is the weird stuff I live for.

Pre-Game People Watching

When We Pulled Up…Creepy-ville LOVE IT!

Inside the Restaurant

Gondola at Dusk

So, moral of the story…when you go to Santa Cruz, CA, get rezzies at Shadowbrooke. I 100% promise you won’t regret it.