My daughter Amira, and I went out to California with my mom and my niece Giselle, to celebrate my other niece Naomi’s 8th grade graduation. My nephew Joshua, Naomi's brother and his wife Taiylor drove from Colorado and my other nephew, David who lives out in Rohnert Park came down for the festivities as well. Since we have been out there before, since my sister Sara has been living there for over five years now, (I think... I asked while typing this but she hasn't text me back yet haha) [**Update: 8 years.] this time we wanted to go to different parts of California than the usual San Francisco, Fisherman’s Wharf, Lombard street etc. that we usually go to when we are out there. We decided we wanted to explore Downtown Napa, and Santa Cruz, (Amira was determined to go to the beach.)
We planned to be there for three and a half days so we wanted to take advantage of it. Our first day there we went to eat in downtown Napa, which was pretty quaint but not much was going on, when we got there the small shops were beginning to close so we were only there to eat sushi and mingle with the family. The following day was my niece’s graduation, we gathered to eat at a Mexican restaurant to celebrate her and also be together on the anniversary of my dad’s passing, (her graduation happened to land on the same day) later that day we lounged and the adults went to a brewery, which was "meh" as we got there just before last call. Friday was our free day for Santa Cruz! Joshua and his wife Taiylor went to visit her family in Rohnert Park and dropped off David home as well. It was just the girls this time!
In Santa Cruz, hidden in the redwood forest there is a place called ‘The Mystery Spot.’ It is a travel attraction where you drive winding two way roads and lose you cell signal and discover a spot hidden in the forest where there’s an unexplainable gravitational anomaly.
In this one spot in the redwood forest there’s a cottage that got moved in a mudslide in or around 1939, I can't remember. One thing about this cottage was that it seemed to have been stopped by an unknown force and since then has continued to stay in that spot. The reason is still a mystery to this day, hence 'The Mystery Spot'. This place defies the laws of physics and perception. And if you ask me, it’s a really cool spot to hit when travelling to or from Santa Cruz.
I first found out about this place while watching my favorite show Destination Fear (now Project Fear on youtube) Although I feel like I may have heard of it prior but the show was what brought it back to my memory. It wasn’t until we started planning out our itinerary that I reminded myself that this place was a place I wanted to see. So, my sister and I added it as a pit stop to our trip to Santa Cruz Boardwalk and Beach.
What struck me as awesome during this pit stop was that it wasn’t just a house in the middle of nowhere. It’s an attraction. But to be totally honest I didn’t know what to expect when we got there. My sister drove winding and curved roads, the GPS' eta stayed at 5 minutes for what we felt like forever, we thought we would never find the place. When we did find it though, there was a small sign creepily set just outside of more winding roads. For a second I was nervous this place was going to be closed down, there didn't seem to be anyone else on the road but us.
Thankfully after four very long minutes, we found it and found that it was quainter that we expected. Or than how I expected at least, my family didn’t know what to expect really, they just went along with my idea for this stop. There was a small eatery selling hot dogs, pizza muffins chips etc. and a small store to buy souvenirs and more snacks and of course designated tours every 30 minutes or so.
Our tour guide, Sage, was great, she was my kind of funny and was very engaging. We had tried to catch some of the other guides and how they delivered their tour and I will say from what we saw and heard. Sage was the best.
We began our tour with a little bit of information about how the area was bought and how it was discovered that this one spot was what was making compass’ go haywire, north was showing south and east was showing west. Giselle was “sacrificed” to be the one to test out theories and be a witness to the phenomenon. She was asked to check levelers and her height was used as an example to show how even though the floor seemed level adding another person who was about the same height still made one seem taller than the other.
Afterwards we began to walk up the path to the small cottage, stopping when we were just outside of it. Sage continued to explain how the house came to be. She asked us all to stand up straight and we watched as everyone straightened up staying still and our eyes immediately widened as we noticed everyone was standing at a slant. Both my mom and my sister had asked if they were slanted, which let me know that even though it didn’t feel like we were standing at a Michael Jackson slant, we were in fact standing that way.
Sage, began to show us how, even though this phenomenon was happening, if we positioned a flat piece of wood onto the window sill and placed a billiard ball on it and rolled it, it would roll in the opposite direction. To prove that there was no tricks to the trade she asked for a chapstick or something cylinder like, it was then that I gave her my lipstick tube. She then took the tube of lipstick and placed it on the flat wood block showing us that it still rolled in the opposite direction that it should have actually been rolling in.
Afterwards she led us into the small house warning us that it may make us feel dizzy or light headed. Once we stepped in it was strange to feel all of the gravity pulling us down. We were babies all over again walking with our hands out in front of us and taking the smallest steps so as not to fall on our faces. If you quickened your pace, as I had tried to, you would feel the gravitational pull which caused a dizziness in your head. Amira being our smallest in our group said it felt like we were in an elevator. Sage, explained more about the mystery spot, the “to do’s” and the “what not to do’s” while inside the house. She stood atop a table and while explaining this telling us that we were free to take pictures atop the same table but to not jump off of it because you will fall on your face.
We had about a good 3-5 minutes to explore the house and take pictures before the next group of people came in. As we made our exit, Sage had two more demonstrations for us to help us all figure out what was really happening in this 46 meters in diameter space among the redwoods. We still haven’t figured it out and to be honest no one has. It’s just a part of nature. There are theories of course, spaceship theories, theories about holes in the ozone, even theories about carbon dioxide filling up the space around the spot and yet it’s all still a mystery.
So, and this is not a sales gimmick, just my own thoughts and opinions on this attraction... if you live in or around Santa Cruz California or are planning a trip there soon be sure to make a pit stop at The Mystery Spot! Ask for Sage (if she's there) and enjoy the tour, it’s only $10 a person, 3 and under are free and parking is $5, take some pictures and video and form your own theories as to how you think this place came to be. If you have been there before what did you guys think of it? Do you have your own theories? Let me know in the comments!
My theory… well, I’m impartial to a possible spaceship buried deep underground causing the gravitational pull but aside from that I’d say that it’s just a sign that we never really know what nature can do/is doing until we find it. After all, more than eighty percent of the ocean is unexplored right? There's gotta be more phenomena on land as well. The Mystery Spot is just one of those wonders of the world!
Again, I gain no profits from writing this, this is just a post about our experience visiting here. If you do want to visit online or in person, the link is below! Check it out!
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xo,
Desi
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