Santa Cruz Beach Boardwalk

Santa Cruz Beach Boardwalk

Ahhhh, the Santa Cruz Beach Boardwalk, full of nostalgia and wonder as it sits iconically on the beach beckoning beach goers and merrimakers. The Big Dipper Roller Coaster dominates the skyline while the sun shines on a perfect stretch of coastline. The allure of warm sand, cold surf, bright lights and the thrill of a roller coaster ride! 

The Boardwalk itself is lined with brightly colored food booths while the sweet smell of cotton candy and funnel cake waifs through the air. It still causes a smile to cross my face and makes my heart quicken as it awakens my inner child. At the far end of the Boardwalk is Neptune’s Arcade, once the site of the “Plunge”, an indoor heated salt water pool. The Coconut Grove, a historic ballroom still sits elegantly along the Boardwalk whispering of a golden age of the past.

But to completely appreciate the awe and sparkle of the modern day Beach Boardwalk, let’s let our minds take a journey into the past glory days of this unique Amusement Park.

Lets start our walk with a little history of California itself. Back in 1769 California was discovered and explored by the Spanish and 22 years later the missions were established. The Missions were the earliest part of the modern day California history. It’s the first project most of us made back in elementary school. We built our “California Mission” models with white sugar cubes to demonstrate the white washed Adobe walls and red tile roofs. These Missions were religious buildings built by the Spanish that still dot the California Coast line from San Francisco down to San Diego.

In 1790 a mission was built in Santa Cruz and later there would be 35 Adobe buildings on Mission Hill (a vibrant district of Santa Cruz City) built by the Spanish. These adobes would form the nucleus of the mission settlement and became the center of the “Pueblo” or town of Santa Cruz. By the 1820’s Mexico had control of the area and people started to flock to the beaches to take in the curative waters as it was believed. This was the fashion of the time as many other “seaside” resorts were popping up like Coney island on the East Coast and popular resorts in England and Europe. It was at this time in history with sea “bathing” being in vogue that Santa Cruz became a destination!  

During this time, California became the 31st state in 1850 after Mexico yeilded properties to the US, including Califirnia. In 1865 a “bathhouse” was in operation on the beach near the mouth of the San Lorenzo river.  The beach was a popular destination for people living in the San Francisco area, easily accessible by railroads and trolleys from 1875. 

Other bathhouses soon followed, catering to those seeking the “natural medicine” of a dip in salt water and needing a place to change. Women in those days swam covered ankles to neck in wool suits that weighed twenty pounds when wet. They modestly emerged from their wooden “bath house” to dip into the “curative” waters.

Around the 1890’s  the adobes on Mission Hill became replaced with Protestant churches with their tall white steeples and white picket fences, ushering in the Victorian era to Santa Cruz. Prominent citizens and the wealthy wanting seaside summer homes started to build the beautiful Victorian homes that are speckled throughout Santa Cruz and especially concentrated on Walnut Ave. 

If you ever find yourself in Santa Cruz, take yourself on a stroll through time by walking on Walnut Ave on Mission Hill, every house is pickled perfect Victorian with garbled roofs, white front porches and bay windows. You can just imagine the residents sweeping down the streets with their long dresses and tiny corseted waists laughing with friends under elaborate hats. 

While beach “bathing” had already been an attraction, In 1904 the Casino was built in Santa Cruz but this quickly burned down in 1906. The new Casino was built on what they called the Santa Cruz Beach Boardwalk, as we know it today. 

The classy Victorians would spend the day bathing at the beach listening to bands playing from the beach bandstand and then change into tuxedos and gowns to go dancing in the ballroom in the evening.

The Casino was host to many gala’s and balls over the years, starting with a big celebration in 1907 to commemorate the burning of the old Casino and the building of the new Casino with the Cocoanut Grove, the new ballroom. Even President Rosevelt sent a telegram to congratulate the completion of the new Ballroom and celebratory event. Dinner on that commemorative night was $1.50 and entrance to the ball was .50 cents. I guess we have had a little inflation since then. In 1911 the famous Carousel was added with it’s beautifully painted horses. Mother’s could sit on benches around the Carousel and watch their small children gleeful go round and round.

Although gambling was never legal, it was generally known that guests could take boats from the “pleasure pier” to a ship in the harbor to play games of chance in the early days. During Prohibition from 1920 to 1933, serving alcoholic drinks was also outlawed and the casino changed its name to Cocoanut Grove. The name includes an old spelling of Coconut, which was used in the popular Marx Brothers movie The Cocoanuts of 1929. In 1923 the Big Dipper Roller Coaster was built adding to the charm of the Boardwalk and providing its iconic look. Today the Big Diooer and the Carousel are National Historic Landmarks. 

From 1927 to 1959, the Southern Pacific Railroad ran “Suntan Special” excursion trains to the beach from San Francisco, Oakland, and San Jose every summer on Sundays and holidays. This added to the easy accessibility and popularity of the Santa Cruz Beach Boardwalk.

Trapeze artists at the Plunge in Santa Cruz…

During this time sea “bathers” could enjoy sea bathing and swimming in the “Plunge” an indoor heated swimming pool that was filled with salt water from the Pacific Ocean and heated to a warm 83 degrees. Much like today, they could grab a snack or a beverage from the many booths along the Boardwalk or participate in the many games that lined the Pleasure Pier. The “Plunge”  indoor bathing continued until 1962.

In the years to follow the Coconut Grove Ballroom became the place to be for ballroom dancing with big venues in the 30’s like Lawrence Welk and Benny Goodman. Can you just see the ladies swirling in flowing gowns with elegant gentleman taking the lead? 

During the 1930s, tourists from the San Francisco Bay Area, ninety, miles north of Santa Cruz, could take the Southern Pacific Railroad’s “Suntan Special” right to the front gate of the boardwalk. They came to hear the greatest names of the Big Band era play at the Cocoanut Grove – Artie Shaw, Benny Goodman, and the Dorsey brothers. The 1920s, 30s and 40s were golden times at the Boardwalk. In 1921, Highway 17 was paved, and more and more people began traveling to Santa Cruz to spend a day at the Boardwalk.

In the 1960’s the Coconut Grove switched to attracting a younger crowd and brought in such famous names as Nat King Cole and Sonny & Cher. In 1977 the Cocoanut Grove reopened to a big band dance series held each spring and fall. Les Brown and His Band of Renown performed to a crowd of 1,400 at the gala opening. Such stars as Count Basie, Lionel Hampton and Woody Herman performed in the Santa Cruz landmark during ensuing years.

1963, the plunge was officially closed, the pool was filled with sand and was made into the indoor mini-golf center. By the 1960’s tastes had changed. People no longer wanted to “take curative waters” or swim indoors. The new fad was surfing and was fueled by Hollywood portrayals of “Gidget” and Annette Funicello and Frankie Avalon singing and falling in love on California Beaches, The Beach Boys were hitting the top of the charts and the young were flocking to the beaches.

Today, the Santa Cruz Beach Boardwalk is California’s oldest surviving Amusement Park, Disneyland is just a young pup in comparison. Even today there is no fee for admission and the beach is public and free to all. The rides are available by wristband or tickets and of course the sweet funnel cakes, fried foods and cotton candy are still available to a happy public.

The Beach Boardwalk still sparkles and delights a new generation but as I stroll through the current Neptune’s Arcade with all of its loud clatter and video games I feel a little nostalgic for days long gone by. I squint my eyes and look past the hackling of the animated Pirates of the Carribean characters and can see in my minds eye the “Plunge” pool of the last turn of the Century. I can still see the blue curved arch ceiling high above the arcade, the same ceiling that watched over swimmers at the “Plunge” in the 1920’s and beyond. The upper level is still there where you can look down from high above. I can still see the trapeze artists that used to perform acrobatic stunts from the ceiling high above. 

I love this morphed picture of the past and future from https://blog.beachboardwalk.com/plunge

I dream of ballroom dancing and elaborate dinners, fancy dresses and respectful gentlemen. How much more elegant they looked than the modern day tourist with sneakers and tshirts. How relaxing it must have been to soak in warm salt water and to ride roller coaster rides when the world was young. To live in Victorian houses and ride trains on the railways. 

Time marches on and tastes change, but the love of the beach and roller coasters, funnel cake and corn dogs lives on. So take a stroll down the Santa Cruz Beach Boardwalk, walk hand-in-hand with your special someone, win a stuffed animal for your girl, ride a roller coaster or just sore high above the crowds on the people mover or Sea Swing. The love of the Santa Cruz Beach Boardwalk and it’s enticing nostalgia lives on….

Enjoying the Santa Cruz Boardwalk today, in 2021…
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Storybook Cottages of Carmel-by-the-Sea

I’ve come to learn that our favorite local places to visit are all about the “culminated” effect, it’s not just one memory that makes us love a place so much, but the culmination of many happy memories of a place. Take for example a trip to one of our California beaches, whether it’s Santa Cruz, Monterey or Carmel. We can bring a visiting friend to these areas and they can take a step onto our beaches and say “what’s so great about it?” But when we stand on the beach and look out over the water we see in our minds eye every good experience we have ever had there.

We see bonfires on the beach with friends, singing songs to a guitar strumming while we toast marshmallows. We see ourselves body boarding in the cold waves, hikes along the bluff, grilling artichokes on the beach and volleyball. We remember roller coaster rides, whales bones on display, picnics on a beach blanket with friends. Charcuterie boards on washed up drift wood, wine with friends, stunning sunsets and long talks. We remember napping with family under the warm sun, toes in the sand and children laughing while they play in the waves. So many memories and so many good times. 

It still amazes me that no matter how many times I have come to these beaches, I always see something new. This time I visited Carmel, the little town near Monterey. Carmel has a wide expanse of soft white beaches studded with gnarled and twisted cypress tress overlooking turquoise water.  I don’t know why the water looks so much more turquoise here in Carmel than it does in neighboring Monterey, is it the white sand? Monterey is stunning on its own merit but the look is different. I love Carmel for it’s tolerance of bonfires on the beach in designated fire rings and it’s beautiful Seaside town, Carmel-by-the-Sea.

This story is about that little Seaside town of Carmel-by-the -Sea and how it especially caught my attention on this October day. I’ve always loved to drive down highway 1 to Ocean avenue, dropping down through the adorable town of Carmel-by-the-Sea, hanging a left onto Scenic Road and hugging that gorgeous sweeping California coastline past the Clinton Walker Frank Lloyd Wright house, curving around the craggy Carmel point, passing the Robinson Jeffers “Thor” house until we arrive at the Carmel River State beach. We usually pile out of the car burdened down with beach blankets and ice chests heading for a day at the beach.

This drive is one of the best parts of a trip to Carmel-by-the-Sea. Blue, blue water rolling and pounding the white beach, always turning and churning under the deep blue sky. The area is full of gnarled and twisted Cyprus trees that have have been bent by the relentless winds, assuring us that everyday in Carmel-by-the-Sea is not always as tranquil and exquisite as it is today, Large purple coastal flowers dot the landscape and provide a beautiful contrast to the blue water amd white sand. But even though the natural beauty is enough to grab your attention and make your jaw drop, I still find myself distracted by the whimsical homes along the shore of Carmel-by-the-Sea.

Everytime I come here,  I gasp and say “look at that house! it’s so cute it makes my heart hurt!” I say that about every fourth house I see! Each home seems to have a story to tell and a garden to gasp at! Even the flowers seem to bloom out of season and in response to the microclimate around it. Hydrangeas, Callalillies, peonies and black eyed Susan’s all winking to the sun. Well, on this particular visit I finally asked the question “why?” And I got my answer, it was a community built and established by artists, writers and dreamers.

California was relinquished to America from Mexico in 1850, and slowly people started to make their way to this rustic, exquisitely beautiful, remote area far from population. In fact it wasnt until the 1906 earthquake and fire in San Francisco that people started to relocate themselves here, many of them were artists and writers. Carmel’s early residents, which included authors George Sterling, Jack London and poet Robinson Jeffers, lived in Carmel in tents, they warmed themselves with camp fires in the woods and picnicked on the beach, much like we like to do today! 

Tent life wouldnt last forever, soon land devepor Frank Devendorf arrived in 1902 with a vision for Carmel. He had purchased land in Carmel and wanted to parcel out the land with affordable houses. He needed a builder and found one in young, 17 year old Michael Murphys who had just arrived in Carmel with his mom and sister. They had sold their farm in Utah to come out west. Michael Murphy was a carpenter but had only ever built one house, a little 800 square foot house for his mom and sister, right next to the tent they had been living in. The house is still here in Carmel and is called “The First Murphy House”, it currently houses the Welcoming Commitee for Carmel. Frank Devenport hired young Murphy and he would later come to build over 300 buildings in Carmel. 

First Murphy House built by 17 year old Michael Murphy

One interesting story of their early development was when Devendorf ordered 100 “portable houses”, but what arrived was 100 doors! These were solid oak doors from Victorian houses that had burned down in San Francisco, part of a larger delivery that would come in shipments but in the meantime what would they do with all of these doors? As the story goes “necessity is the mother of invention”, so John Columbus Stevenson, decided to use the doors and build his family a vacation home.  Using 32 identical solid wood four-panel doors he lined his house inside and out with doors. This “door house” is still in Carmel and is available to tour.

The White House is the “door house” look closely, you can see the doors!

Other than the development of these interesting homes, Devendorf and his associate Frank Powers, planted 100 of the iconic Cyprus trees that now are so characteristic of the region. One other notable building that can be contributed to these men was the “Thor House”, designed and build by Murphy for the famous American writer Robinson Jeffers in 1918.

Famous author Robinson Jeffers “Thor House” as built by Michael Murphy’s

This house and it’s stone tower called “Hawk tower” was built with Jeffers own hand, to the delight of his wife and twin sons. You can also arrange a tour of this beautifully unique stone home along the Scenic Hwy off the Carmel point. 

Hawk Tower, built by author Robinson Jeffers

Murphy and Devendorf may have started the ball rolling but it was Hugh Comstock, from the cornfields of Illinois that brought the real architectural charm to Carmel. Hugh was 31 when he came to Carmel in 1922 to visit his sister, Catherine and her husband, George Seideneck, who were already artists living in Carmel. Hugh Comstock only meant to have a short visit to Carmel but when strolling the early streets of Carmel he saw a lady hanging hand made rag dolls on a line, hand painting their faces. He was immediately struck by the young lady, they married and shortly afterwards her rag doll, the “Otsy-Totsy”, was a success! 

Mayotte Brown and her Otsy-Totsy ragdolls

Not having enough room for her dolls, she asked her new husband, Hugh Comstock,  if he could build her a cottage to display the dolls. Hugh had no prior building knowledge or experience, but he knew that his sister Catherine and her husband had built their home in Carmel, he thought “why not?” and commenced building her a fairy tale dream house to house her dolls. They named this 244 square foot house “Hansel” and later he also built her “Gretel”.

He designed the homes straight from the pages of the Grimm Brothers fairytales illustrated by Arthur Rackham. This English cottages inspired him as he built the whimsical chimneys out of the local Carmel stones and carved the eves and banisters from local wood. 

In the 1920’s many of the buildings in Carmel were irregularly built wood or canvas tent cabins.  There were no building inspectors or codes to deal with so residents built their homes with what was available.  As tourists visited Carmel they were drawn to the newest attraction in this charming town, the enchanting doll houses that seemed to spring from the enchanted surroundings, like the mushrooms and toadstools in the woods.

These “doll houses” with high pitched gable roof and stone fireplace became the local favorite of every Carmel resident. Hugh’s gift to his doll maker wife blossomed into a career, as the orders for more “fairy tale” cottages came rolling in. 

Hugh Comstock & Mayotta Brown in front of their “fairytale cottage”

Many jumped on the idea and soon Carmel was filled with adorable Tudor style “doll houses” instead of the Spanish style that was the current trend everywhere else. Adding to the charm of Carmel was the town ordinance that forbid the cutting down of any tree, rather the streets and homes mingled among the old oak trees and an intertwined symphony. Carmel does not use numbered addresses, rather each home is named, like “Hansel”, “Gretel” and “Tuck Box”, adding to the whimsy.

This artist community added another interesting architectural home when in 1948 Mrs. Clinton Walker commissioned Frank Lloyd Write to design her a home on Scenic Drive, perched on a rocky outcrop. She wanted it to be as sturdy as the rocks but as clear as the water. This Frank Lloyd Wright house now anchors itself to the Carmel Point as it looks out over the magestic water. 

The Frank Lloyd Wright Home built in Carmel-by-the-Sea

Thank you for joining me on this little tour of homes in Carmel. There are so many beautiful things to do and see here in Carmel-by-the-Sea, most of them involve walking on the soft beaches, gazing at a beautiful sunset and watching the waves come rolling in. But now we can also close our eyes and see the artists and writers of another era sitting by their canvas tents warming themselves by a smokey fire in the woods of Carmel dreaming of their own futures. We can imagine young 17 year old Michael Murphy building a house next to his tent to the delight of his mother and sister. We can see Hugh Comstock stumble upon the love of his life as she hung her ragdolls on the line, the dolls that would inspire him to build the fairytale houses of Carmel. A love that would last a lifetime and start the spark of “fairytale” homes in the town that is Carmel-by-the-Sea.

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