Santa Cruz: Fungus Fair & More

We arrived in a blur on Friday. This morning the sun was out after rain in the middle of the night into early morning cleared the clouds into wisps. Off in the distance we could spy our destination next week: Monterey and Big Sur beyond. Had a much better stay this year, thanks to eating healthier food: more leafy greens, less bad carbs, fresh fish, carrot juice, broccoli sprouts and ginger juice.

We discovered this health-oriented grocery this weekend, Staff Of Life.

Picked up supplies for our Chocolate Cleanse.

OK, so here's Robin's booth at the Fungus Faire, where you could see our neighbor Lauren who was selling these amazing silks, some with mushroom designs on them. She also does the Ren Faire circuit.

The neighbor on the other side sold these beautifully rendered glass objects. Cracked up overhearing some other guy bragging about the glass-blowing he does.

The most "Santa Cruz" art there: mushroom ornaments made out of surf boards.

Curt Haney's booth. Those Peruvian pipes sure can't hold much tobacco in them, wtf?!

All joking around aside, there's some serious medicinal work going on in the Mycological world. Will get back to that in a bit.

Not to mention the culinary side.

These folks from Far West Fungi really take propagation to the next level.

Here's the display room. Taxonomy.

Far West Fungi's table.

Amanita Muscaria.

Boletes.

When the fungi gets weird...

OK. Specimen on the left, Jack O Lantern. Only fungus I know of that vaguely resembles Chanterelles that's poisonous. Beware!

Turkey Tail OTOH is used for treating cancer.

And here's some more Medicinal Mushrooms, most of these used in Chinese medicine, stuff like Reichi used for helping improve immune systems.

Death Cap. POISON!

Fly agaric, aka Amanita Muscaria. Big specimens.

Yellow chanterelles.

Food we ate at a local Thai restaurant Saturday night. Pretty good.

And here's a bunch of photos of the beach.