For Mother’s Day, my husband I decided to leave the city behind for sand and surf. We spent two sand-filled days at Aptos, CA. We were able to get last minute reservations at Rio Sands Hotel located a block from the beach.
Dinner our first evening consisted of fresh grilled fish and a dessert of coconut cheescake co-mingled with a wonderful bottle of wine at Cafe Rio. We lunched at Pixie Delicatessen on Pesto Chicken and Southwestern Sandwiches. The fresh rotissere chicken, melted cheese on a warm toasted french roll was such a treat!
We walked all day through the surf and sand searching for sea glass. Unexpectedly, we found an assortment of sand dollars. We came upon a live purple sand dollar with barnacles on its back. As the tide came in, I tossed it back into the surf. 
I was quite fascinated by the sand sculpture along the beach, and was amazed the respect shown to the sculptor. The sculptures constructed of driftwood were left intack. Of course, the tide may predict otherwise. Searching for sea glass requires a trained eye and one not distracted by all the beautiful rocks along the way. I was so excited to find blue glass, which is a special find, according to a friend of mine that lives in Aptos.
After our final day of beachcombing, we had dinner at Manuel’s, a local Mexican restaurant. There are no words to describe Manuel’s…Fun, atmosphere and good food reside in this world of cultural flavor. Two sangrias later, my husband and I discussed our next adventure to Fort Bragg’s Sea Glass Beach. What a lovely end to a beautiful weekend.
