The above right photo above is the old-fashioned candy shop, Marini's, serving everything from ice cream, to chocolates to jawbreakers, to caramel apples to salt water taffy. [Other stores can be found on the Municipal Wharf and Santa Cruz Beach Boardwalk.] There are more places to indulge in a sweet treat; for instance, Chocolate (above middle photo) specializing in its signature product, chocolate. Otherwise, there are tons of cafes, restaurants, and bars all along the main strip and adjacent streets of downtown Santa Cruz. If you enjoy Mexican food than its recommend you try El Palomar Restaurant at the Palomar Inn (below right photo). Of course there is a plentiful amount of boutique shops of all kinds from exotic lights (below middle photo) to soaps to antiques to cards to various styles of clothing.
Music lovers find the time to by Streetlight Records (above photos), a fantastic used music store for CDs, LPs, and DVDs but also sells new ones.
Right next to Streetlight Records is a great Santa Cruz style art gallery called, Felix Kulpa Gallery. Its a small one story gallery that is completely level for a wheelchair user. Once you walk through the courtyard gates follow the path past the large displays in various corners. Inside, the gallery utilizes every inch covering many local artists hand-selected by the owner. The cost is free, so if you are downtown and enjoy art you might as well stop at the Felix Kulpa Gallery and soak in some Santa Cruz modern art.

Just on the outer rim of downtown is the Santa Cruz Mission State Historic Park. This landmark has a lot of history being built in 1791 by the Spanish. Today the museum has been slightly converted into a museum, which is totally flat and wheelchair accessible. Due to budget cuts, hours of operation vary so it's best to call the office 831.425.5849 in advanced. Inside the mission walls is also a native garden and picnic tables. More importantly, the Santa Cruz Mission is also where the State Park office can be found if you want to get a 50% discounted pass for all state parks if permanently disabled. Right across from the mission is a lovely park (below right photo).