A Taste of Santa Cruz

Our last day of 2007 was devoted to experiencing the sights, sounds and tastes of the city of Santa Cruz, California. It began with a delightful breakfast of fruit and yogurt, prepared by our hosts for the weekends, Doris and Jen. After spending a few minutes strategizing the day's itinerary, we were on our way.


Entrance to the Mystery Spot. (12/31/2007)

Our first stop was the world famous Mystery Spot. Fittingly located at 465 Mystery Spot Road, the Mystery Spot is what is described as a "gravitational anomaly." It's said that at the Mystery Spot, "the laws of physics and gravity are questioned."


A bargain at $5. (12/31/2007)

While there, our tour guide showed us all sorts of anomalies, like how water and round objects appear to be rolling uphill. We also saw how two people can stand facing each other and appear to be the same height, but when they trade places, they appear different heights. The really cool thing was the way people would appear to be leaning at impossible angles.


Slanted Amy. (12/31/2007)

Some people attribute this phenomena to a magma vortex, a hole in the ozone layer, a carbon dioxide portal, even alien spacecraft. Personally I attribute it as to what happens when you build a cabin at a 25-degree slope, as is explained in this article.


The gang at the El Palomar taco bar. (12/31/2007)

Although I'm not a true believer, I still had fun at the Mystery Spot, which has been a tourist destination since 1940. Despite having lived in the Bay Area for more than half my life, I had never actually been to the Mystery Spot before, so I was quite excited to finally have the chance to check it out. Besides, for only a $5 entrance fee, you can't go wrong.


Three varieties of hot chocolate. (12/31/2007)

Next, at Amy's request, we went to the downtown to do some shopping. In particular, Amy enjoyed the Om Gallery, where she picked up a really cool light fixture for her meditation room. While in the downtown area, we stopped for a bite to eat at the El Palomar Taco Bar nestled inside the historic Palomar Inn.


Amy, Jen & Doris at the Santa Cruz Boardwalk. (12/31/2007)

After stopping at a few more shops, we made a pitstop for hot chocolate at a little restaurant called, what else?, Chocolate. Although it's a full-service restaurant, one of their trademarks is their unique varieties of hot chocolate. You can get a Lena, a Bianca, a Belga or a Victoria. I don't exactly remember which is which, but I do remember ordering the Bianca, which was a white hot chocolate, which was, like, amazing.


It's hard to take pictures on a roller coaster. (12/31/2007)

No trip to Santa Cruz would be complete without at the very least a quick visit to the Santa Cruz Beach Boardwalk, which has been a city landmark since 1915. Although the last day of December is not a typical day of the year to spend at the Boardwalk, we decided to go anyway since Jon and Amy hadn't really experienced it before. She had been once or twice, but not when anything was open (Tim and I were last there in May 2005).


Doris & Jen cooked a fantastic chicken dinner. (12/31/2007)

As it turned out the Giant Dipper roller coaster was in operation. Built in 1924, it's the world's 6th oldest roller coaster in the U.S. that's continually operating in its original location. Jon and Amy had never ridden it before, so we all joined them for their first time.


Doris & James ring in 2008. (01/01/2008)

We ended the day with a beautiful dinner prepared by Doris & Jenn at their home, followed by several rounds of Apples to Apples, a few rounds of Wii baseball and a round of cards. Just before midnight we flipped to ABC to watch the ball fall to ring in 2008. It was a great way to ring in the new year before we drove back home the next morning.