I’m seeing more and more places setting up makeshift outdoor eating spots to accommodate customers during the Covid-19 crisis where officials are not allowing indoor dining. Today a worker was busy putting up a tarp roof over a new outdoor seating area at Taqueria Tecoman on Union Street, for starters.
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The last few times I came out to Watsonville from Santa Cruz I hooked my bicycle onto the front of the METRO bus 69A and hopped off on Airport Boulevard. Since I have a basket on the front of my bike, I can stash my backpack and camera there for easy access as I roll around town.
I’ll boast: I know Watsonville well, so getting around on my bike and avoiding as much traffic as possible is pretty simple. The slough trail system here is incredible, especially on a bike. You can tie neighborhoods together without dealing with traffic for the most part, as well as take in the bounty of wildlife along the way.
Today I rode from Airport Boulevard to downtown and then over to Pajaro. I threaded my way out to the Pajaro Junction rail yard and out Lewis Road to catch a few photos of field workers. It was so easy and peaceful.
On the way back I swung by the main branch of the Watsonville Public Library and the kind crew there helped my check out “Hymns of the Republic; The Story of the final Year of the American Civil War” by S.C. Gwynne. With all the uproar about Civil Rights, Black Lives Matter, the Confederacy and so on, I’m curious to fill in a few blanks about the Civil War and why some folks still celebrate the days of slavery and name statues, important buildings and places for the leaders in the failed Confederacy.
