San Francisco Chronicle - (Sunday)
Quirky attractions help ‘keep Santa Cruz weird’ »
Folks don’t take life too seriously in Santa Cruz, a laidback region known for its hippy history, cool surf vibes and, well, often silly and sometimes downright weird attractions.
Who wouldn’t be intrigued by the Fair Avenue Temple on the Santa Cruz westside, as a curious home composed of brick and abalone shells, and fronted by a “Gate of Prophecy,” an elaborate, mosaicadorned archway flanked by two obelisks?
Designed and built during World War II by brothers Kenneth and Raymond Kitchen and inspired by Orthodox Christian architecture, the structure was supposed to be a church and residential property but was never fully realized and is now known by many nicknames, including the “Court of Mysteries.”
And many might wonder about the SS Palo Alto, a massive cement ship marooned off a pier at Seacliff State Beach in Aptos. It was built as an oil tanker in World War I, but languished mainly in storage until 1929, when buyers towed it to the beach.
Enterprising types converted it into a floating amusement park, decked out with a dance hall, casino, restaurant and pool, until the Great Depression closed the party down. The State of California purchased it and abandoned it, and now it is a big, blocky home for fish and seagulls.
Explore some more bizarre delights:
THE MYSTERY SPOT
The name pretty much explains it all. Tucked in the Santa Cruz Redwoods, it is indeed spot-shaped, as a circular area of land about 150 feet in diameter. And why — or even what — it is, remains a mystery, ever since it was discovered in 1939 by a group of surveyors.
Somehow, the laws of gravity and physics don’t apply here, as visitors nearly float through the rustic wood cabin built on-site, their bodies able to bend at crazy slants without them falling over. NASA scientists and Tesla engineers have investigated and leave scratching their heads.
Theories vary, including beliefs that metal cones were buried here by aliens as guidance beacons for their spacecraft or that there is an actual spacecraft already entombed here. Some say it’s a magma vortex, or an area of the world’s most extreme dielectric biocosmic radiation. Others speculate it’s a center of pseudoscientific or occult phenomenon called radiesthesia — that oddity whereby pendulums or divining rods or Ouija boards can discern material and spiritual presences.
Take the guided, 45-minute tour, and leave extra time in your schedule for a leisurely hike over an enchanted forest trail. Then settle in for a relaxed BYO picnic or bites at the casual café with its hamburgers, turkey pesto provolone sandwiches, beef chili dogs, nachos, vegetarian menu soy dogs and veggie burgers. Who knows — your lunch just might levitate across your table.
BIGFOOT DISCOVERY MUSEUM
Is Sasquatch real? Well, the U.S. National Guard dedicates an entire webpage to him, under its “preparedness”
“When you listen to my uncle talk about Bigfoot, you can’t help but become a believer.”
Shelley Rugg, niece of Michael Rugg, founder of the Bigfoot Discovery Museum
section — just in case you should run into the 7-foot-tall hairy man stalking the woods in the mountainous Western regions of North America.
To keep us safe, the Guard’s Western Air Defense Sector, Washington Air National Guard adopted Bigfoot as an official mascot and operates 24 hours a day, seven days a week monitoring the skies of nearly 73 percent of the United States and Canada.
Though worry not. It turns out that he is likely our furry friend, with many Native American tribes believing that he appears in times of danger as a messenger of warning.
Michael Rugg is a believer, down to every beastly detail. He has outfitted his ancient San Lorenzo Valley redwood cabin chock-a-block with all things Bigfoot, opening it to the public in 2004.
Across every inch of the 400-square-foot space there are casts of giant feet, kitschy cartoon lunch boxes and toys, tabloid articles confirming sightings (and occasional love affairs with wandering damsels), books, movies and Rugg’s own recording of a Bigfoot he heard roar in the nearby woods a few years ago.
He’s been collecting the treasures from all over the world since 1952 and has become a newsmaker himself. In November 2020, pranksters stole a squat, chainsaw sculpted redwood sasquatch that had stood by the museum entrance for 16 years. An alert was shared by numerous media outlets, and within days, “Danny” — as the 4-foot-tall guy is named for his resemblance to actor Danny Devito — was returned home.
A highlight of tours is Rugg’s own fascinating narration of his own interactions with the elusive biped. His first glimpse came in 1949, at 4 years old, on a camping trip with his parents, who later told him it was a probably a homeless person.
But Rugg pursued, reading all the research he could find, then studying palaeoanthropology at Stanford University (on full scholarship, no less) to prove the existence of the bipedal primates. And he’s since talked to countless witnesses sincerely claiming their own sightings.
“When you listen to my uncle talk about Big Foot, you can’t help but become a believer,” said Rugg’s niece Shelley Rugg.
As part of the museum’s mission, she noted, he hopes to “seek proof of the existence of Bigfoot through investigatory field research and forensics, and, to keep Santa Cruz weird.”
As for how Bigfoot has lived seemingly happily for so long — it’s said the British explorer David Thompson made the first discovery of a set of Sasquatch footprints in 1811 — Rugg said simply that there are a lot of them, living out of sight in nuclear family groups.
At this moment, Rugg is searching not just for hairy beings in his surrounding Santa Cruz Mountains, but angels to help keep his tribute operating. Admission has always been free with donations greatly appreciated, but these days the museum is open only Friday through Monday from 1 to 5 p.m. He is nearly blind from macular degeneration, and he is on oxygen because of COPD, but notes that his “brain still works great.”
To contribute to the GoFundMe campaign, please log in at www.gf.me/u/x7dvn5. And to be doubly-sure the museum is open for your planned day and hour drop-in, call before you visit.
THE LAST SUPPER WAX SCULPTURE
There are no candles on the table in the 15th century Leonardo da Vinci masterpiece “The Last Supper.” Which is a good thing, since there is a life-size, meticulously detailed version made out of wax on display at the Santa Cruz Memorial Cemetery.
It’s much too beautiful a creation to risk melting.
Sized at about 25 feet long and about 6 to 8 feet deep, the stunning diorama lives at the cemetery’s Hillside Chapel and is available for viewing at no charge by appointment.
Crafted in the late 1930’s by the two Katherine Struberghs, a mother and daughter artist team in Los Angeles, it was based on molds formed with live models. It took eight months to complete details like inserting individual strands of hair, and then it hit the road with its commissioner, showman Harry Liston.
For 40 years, it rode around California on a flatbed truck, stopping at county fairs, carnivals and resorts. After suffering travel damage, it was retired to the Santa Cruz Art League until 1990.
“I read in the local paper that the Art League was attempting to sell it and move it out of Santa Cruz because it no longer fit with their exhibits,” said Santa Cruz Memorial owner and funeral director Randy Krassow. “We reminded the League folks that they didn’t own it, they were simply custodians/trustees of it for the benefit of citizens of Santa Cruz. We then took over the responsibility of caring for this inspirational piece.”
As the work was 50 years old by then, it was in need of a great many repairs, so Joan Krassow repaired the wax, reinserted hair and re-clothed the figures in their original colors. Since then, each figure is deep cleaned at least annually.
And there are no plans to ever move the monument again.
“I don’t know how much it weighs, but each of the figures is a separate piece, probably about 80 pounds each,” Randy Krassow said. “The table is separate, too, as are all the pieces on the table.”
EGG VENDING MACHINE AND CHICKEN DANCE HALL
So you’re a fourth generation family of chicken farmers in business since 1921 in Aptos and now managing some 150,000 cage free and organic hens. That means a lot of eggs to roll around.
So Glaum Egg Ranch owner Doug Glaum and his children, Gunnar, Gavin and Mikayla Glaum love the farm’s marketing amenity as much as the general public does.
“My grandpa created the egg vending machine and dancing chicken show,” Mikayla said. “He was a mechanic and tinkered around a lot. He created the egg vending machine as more of convenience for himself but also to give customers a chance to have farm fresh eggs at any hour of the day. Over the years, it has evolved and changes every season — customers love to come and see what holiday the chickens are dressed up for.”
What a deal, as customers insert four crisp $1 bills into a slot and 18 large, cage free white eggs slide out on a flat. And what a hoot, as the show curtain rolls up and the song comes on while the animatronic chickens shake their feet and boogie.