It’s that time of year again. Weather is generally nice and folks head off to their favorite places for a bit of rest and relaxation. Sometimes, it’s a weekend or longer, but most likely is the day trip. Up this way in Northern California, that’s been something of a tradition for a long number of years. As diverse as the population of the area has been, there have also been amusements and attractions that these people found enjoyable.
Some are gone, others are still with us today, and even a few are in the works for the coming years. And there are more than you might suspect that never made it beyond the planning stages. All in all, it’s a series of tales worth telling, so I’ll be sharing them with you every other week for the coming months.
Now, if you have visited Disneyland in the last couple of years, I would guess that you might have visited the Paradise Pier area of Disney’s California Adventure. The Golden State has had it’s fair share of seaside amusements, and those were the inspirations upon which Imagineering drew from. The Bay Area has been lucky enough to have more than a couple of these, but one continues to be a perennial favorite. So that’s where we will begin this journey.
The climate here in the Bay Area during the summer months tends to be fairly straight forward. Well inland, the mercury often climbs above the century mark. Closer to the Bay, it can still get toasty now and then. But it is that glorious coastal fog that manages to be the salvation of the entire area, when it sails in and cools things off from San Francisco to Sacramento and beyond.
I’ve lived in three distinct microclimates here. Out here in Livermore, mid to high Nineties are the rule. Along the Bay in Mountain View, Seventies and Eighties were about as much as we would expect. On the coast in Pacifica, it seemed like there were days when the fog was there permanently. I’ve heard tales of some residents shrieking in fear when a white ball would appear in the sky, as they didn’t know what it was…
But out here in the Tri-Valley, the presence of fog is nothing short of miraculous. When the wind comes from the West instead of the North or East, life simply becomes more bearable. Folks tend to calm down as the temperature drops. Opening the doors and windows, you can even sleep without the air conditioning running all night long. Pacific Gas & Electric (or Pacific Greed & Extortion as some call it) manages to take less out of our wallets when the fog rolls in from the coast.
That has been the case here for a long time. And as long as there have been people in the area, they have looked for relief from the heat. Archeologists have found artifacts from some of the tribal groups that roamed the area along the coast as well as by the bay. The Spaniards built many of their settlements along the coast as well. The Mission Trail from San Diego north managed not to be too far inland. When the Gold Rush drew more people to San Francisco, they also took advantage of cooler temperatures by the Bay, rivers, lakes and the coast.
One enterprise that came out of those days was the South Pacific Coast Railroad. From a ferry slip on the Bay in Alameda, trains carried passengers and freight along the shore of the East Bay to Santa Clara and then over the Coast Range of mountains to Santa Cruz . (And just to keep things interesting, the railroad was begun in 1876 as a project of Bonanza King James Fair, who you might remember from one of my previous tales of San Francisco. He was one of the folks from the Nevada Bank that helped bring down Billy Ralston and the Bank of California. Another great example of how Comstock silver and gold were put to use developing the state of California.)
It was quite the accomplishment as passengers could ride from San Francisco to Santa Cruz in just under four hours and that included a ferry ride from San Francisco to Alameda. Advertisements heralded the facts of the trip including forty miles less than other routes between the two points and that the journey was made without having to change trains or cars. The Santa Cruz Mountains presented their own challenge to cross, but offered benefits to be reaped in the form of timber and agricultural products. Now these could be expedited to market and profits shared.
The Mountains also offered a great location for relaxation. Resorts and vacation communities sprang up along the line. People from all over the Bay Area could make the journey here with relative ease and in moderate comfort, in those pre-automotive days. In 1887, the railroad was purchased by the Southern Pacific but continued operations unchanged. The new century saw plans for the line to be upgraded from the original three-foot gauge (that’s the distance between the two rails) to the standard or four feet, eight and one half inches gauge used by the Espee. A minor event on April 18, 1906 slowed those plans considerably. The San Francisco earthquake did it’s share of damage here including dislocating the railroads summit tunnel (which has the misfortune to cross the San Andreas Fault in it’s middle). Repairs and the conversion to standard gauge were completed in 1909.
During the 1915 Panama Pacific Exposition in San Francisco, the Southern Pacific took advantage of the scenic wonders offered by the route over the mountains and detoured all of it’s mainline passenger trains between Los Angeles and the City through Santa Cruz. A special stop was often made to view the giant coastal redwoods at Big Trees (near Felton). In 1927, the railroad began operation of it’s “Suntan Specials”, putting coaches from commute service between San Francisco and San Jose to work on the Sunday’s. The service proved so popular that it was not uncommon for the train to operate as many as four sections, carrying as many as 5,000 people.
Mother Nature played her own tricks on the railroad over the mountains for much of the existence of the line. The biggest one came January of 1940 as heavy rains (which are actually very common in this part of the California Coast) washed away the railroad through the mountains in many places. By that time, what passenger and freight service remaining on the line had been rerouted from another connection at Watsonville. With the growth in popularity of the automobile and the construction of a highway across the mountains from San Jose, there was no reason to invest in what was sure to be an expensive rebuilding. With the coming of World War II, priorities shifted elsewhere on the Espee system.
Mary Lee Washburn doing her part to entice riders to ride the “Suntan Special” in 1948. From the Santa Cruz Beach Boardwalk Photo Gallery.
1947 saw the return of the “Suntan Specials” but not over the mountain. Trains now ran from San Francisco to San Jose and then to Watsonville and on to Santa Cruz. This link has some views of those trains. The last “Suntan” ran in the mid-Fifties. In the last ten years, occasional excursions have returned to the line in an effort to create support for a resumption of passenger service to Santa Cruz. That’s an attractive alternative at times to the slow and overcrowded Highway 17 from San Jose.
So why have so many folks chosen to make the trek to Santa Cruz? Well, there are a number of reasons. Some of the best beaches for surfing are in the area, and the city is a bit of a haven for some of the counter-culture that California is known for. The University of California at Santa Cruz has the banana slug as its mascot . Now, that’s one item you won’t find at Paradise Pier in Disney’s California Adventure; but it would make a great addition, don’t you think? Get your official slug t-shirt right here!
But, most of those people have chosen the Santa Cruz Beach Boardwalk as their destination. This photo from 1889 shows the railroad (which is still carrying passenger trains in the same location today and the beach as popular place to enjoy the day. The natural sandy beach still attracts visitors.
The turn of the Twentieth Century saw the popularity of the beach grow and the construction of permanent facilities, under the direction of local real estate promoter Fred Swanton. His vision was to create a Coney Island of the west. In 1904, “Neptune’s Casino” opened for visitors. As an ornate “pleasure casino” it was the highlight of a visit. However, twenty-two months later, the structure burned. A new boardwalk facility opened in 1907 and still greets guests today.
For coaster junkies, this is nirvana. The classic wooden “Big Dipper” was built in 1907 – in only seven days! I first saw it on a visit in the mid-Sixties and have enjoyed some great rides in the years since. If you want to see what inspired DCA’s “California Screamin'”, then this is it! With all the motion you would expect from a wooden coaster, and a great ocean view, this is one not to miss if you are in the area. (That means you, Jim – worth the side trip on your VES visit next month!)
The Boardwalk has seen it’s fair share of history over it’s lifetime. The “Cocoanut Grove” Grand Ballroom was a favorite stop for all of the big bands during the Swing Era. The revival of interest in that style of dancing hasn’t hurt either as it now hosts occasional swing dance parties among other events.
A series of free concerts on the beach are a great way to spend a Friday evening during the summer. One of the bands scheduled to appear this year (August 13), Papa Doo Run Run , has a Disneyland connection. They were one of the “Celebrity House Bands” appearing the Park between 1975 and 1990. With their brand of California surfing music, they’ve been a popular attraction all over the place, even in Hawaii. Their concert at Santa Cruz has also been something of a fixture as they have been playing the middle Friday night in August for the last fourteen years. (Heck, I even remember this bunch playing for dances at my high school back in the mid-Seventies!)
There’s plenty more to keep you occupied including an aerial tramway or skyway that travels above the boardwalk from one end to the other. There are 34 rides and attractions in all including a 1911 Looff Carousel — complete with brass (actually now steel) rings and a 342 pipe band organ. Check this link for all the details. Tickets range from individual rides and or attractions to an all day or all season pass.
The usual way to get from San Jose to Santa Cruz is to driver over Highway 17 across the mountains. The Santa Clara Valley Transportation Authority offers a connecting bus service from either Amtrak or Caltrain. The Highway 17 Express or Route 970 travels from the Diridon train station in downtown San Jose to the Santa Cruz Metro Center – a short walk from the Beach.
But, my favorite way – short of direct rail service from San Jose via Watsonville that hasn’t materialized just yet – is to ride the Santa Cruz, Big Trees and Pacific from Felton down to the Boardwalk. While you may have to drive part of the way from San Jose over the mountains to Felton, there are several options, Highway 9 being an interesting diversion. But once in town, you can park at Roaring Camp (a $6 charge regrettably) and ride the train down the hill. Along the way, you travel through the Henry Cowell Redwoods State Park (passing the station of Big Trees – the site of a presidential visit by Theodore Roosevelt) and then along the San Lorenzo River Gorge right down to the station stop of Casino. The “Suntan Specials” used to make the same stop right in front of the Boardwalk. Timing it correctly, you can depart from the Roaring Camp depot at 10:30 a.m. and arrive at the Beach about an hour later. A late afternoon return is possible with a departure from Casino at 4:30 p.m. and be back in Felton an hour later. The railroad occasionally carries carloads of freight as well, offering a rare opportunity to ride on a mixed train (freight and passenger service combined). The roundtrip fare is $20 for adults and $15 for children. Check the railroad’s web pages for details. A three-hour roundtrip between the two points is also available.
So there you have it! The first in the series of amusements in the Bay Area. Coming next week, more scoop on “Rex Steele: Nazi Smasher” and other assorted goodies. And down the road, there are more installments as I’ll show you more of those favorite diversions. Stay tuned!
I’m revising my donation pages and want to thank everyone for their support – personally and for the Jim Hill Media message boards. As long as you keep reading ’em, I’ll keep on writing ’em…
Now over on the Jim Hill Media Message Boards, it sure would be nice if a couple of folks would each kick in a single dollar to help us reach our goal and pay for the boards for a few more months. We’re about two-thirds of the way there, so help make it happen! That’s less than the price of that Starbucks latte…