Crusin' the Coast

Jeffrey's Bay, South Africa

March 7, 2000

If you're familiar with Maine's coastline or the coastline in Northern California--you'll see the similarities in South Africa. It's beautiful and mostly untouched--unfortunately a developer's dream now that South Africa's currency is devalued.

At least one of the beach towns along the coast has seen a lot of growth in the last few years. Jeffery's Bay or J-bay as the locals call it is THE place to surf the waves and surf fish. Yes, you can still catch large fish off the beach in this part of the world.

As tourism grows so does the number of coffee shops and restaurants. A few in Jeffery's Bay have American themes and even names. There are pictures of Elvis Presley and James Dean--what America means to just about everybody but those who live in America.

Some of us stopped into a place called Santa Fe. We got to talking with the owner who said her last restaurant was named San Francisco but she closed it to open this new breakfast place. We asked her why she chose the name Santa Fe--thinking she had vacationed there and fell in love with the city.

She said "no" she was in Cape Town listening to an "oldies" radio station. She thought the song was "Do you know the way to Santa Fe." Years later she was told the name of her restaurant should have been "San Jose." By then, the paint had long dried on the sign...so if you want to know the way to "Santa Fe"...take a right off the main drag in J-bay hang a right...and it's across the street from the beach.

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