Day of Mysteries - part 2

Our tour ended at about 3PM, and our next planned activity was not scheduled to take place until 6PM. To relax and kill time, we headed back to Micki's apartment in Mountain View and were formally introduced to her new place. Here, her and Stull revealed one of the treasures they had picked up at the farmer's market prior to meeting us: Fig Balsamic Vinegar. We sat dipping pita bread and carrots in the tasty new dressing until about 4:45 when we figured we should get ready to go. 

The next stop was the Mystery Spot, an extremely well-known tourist trap in Santa Cruz, CA. Micki had heard through the grapevine that occasionally cars get unwillingly saddled with "Mystery Spot" bumper stickers, and was understandably hesitant about driving her brand new car. Since Adam was doing the exact opposite and trying to collect stickers from our different adventures, he volunteered to drive instead. After quickly shoveling out the mounds of particulate that we had accumulated during the trip so that we could offer suitable sitting space for Micki and Stull, we set off for the Mystery Spot.

Due to the heavy traffic that the local attraction receives, the four of us had booked advance tickets for the 6PM tour. We got there more quickly than anticipated, picked up our tickets, and headed into the gift shop to see what curiosities we could scrounge up to add to our mounting pile of souvenirs. Here we debated through purchases including a geode that you could crack open yourself, geodes that were already cracked open, color changing pencils (which we girls were super excited about), and "Mystery Spot" paraphenalia. Adam and I got into a particularly extended discussion about which magnet we should buy, and after having made Micki and Stull sufficiently regretful that they agreed to hang out with us, chose Adam's unneccessarily and comically large lucite magnet and exited with our loot. 

Our tour began at the bottom of a steep hill, and we stood at a slant as the tour guide began his tale about the eerie history of the Mystery Spot. Unlike our Winchester tour guide, he was relaxed, nonchalant, and sarcastic. He pointed out the twisted trees surrounding us, selecting to note ones that seemed extremely gnarled and atypical. After placing a level on the ground to prove that it was flat, he had pairs of people stand facing each other with one person inside the "mystery area" and their partner outside of it. Somehow, the height of the pairs seemed to switch when they swapped places, as if being inside the "Mystery Area" had some sort of shrinking effect. Micki and I went up together, as did Stull and Adam; the trick was powerful. I certainly did feel like I had grown when we switched sides; I was looking down at Micki!

After explaining how the Mystery Spot has baffled scientists and defied explanation with its gravity-scorning quirks, the guide led us up to the entrance of a small crooked shack, the "heart" of the Mystery Spot. Here he took out a wooden board and lay it crookedly on the porch railing. Opening a regular bottle of water, he poured some on the board, waited, and watched us all withdraw as the water seemed to flow up the board to the end and drip towards the ground. The illusion was convincing, and was uneasy to watch even if you understood it. 

CLIP OF WATER TRICK

After the previous group cleared the shack, the guide led us in to play. Everyone seemed to be standing at a very odd angle; we watched little kids climb the walls without difficulty, jutting out from the walls like the buttresses of ships. This was easily the most entertaining part of our day, and we all took turns messing around with the skewed gravity here until both Micki and I had to step outside for a breath of fresh air. The illusions are so potent and so striking that those prone to motion sickness tend to get a little queasy when their minds try to make sense of up and down.

The tour guide led us away from the shack, down another slope, and showed us one last height trick similar to the first one. After the illusions, he opened the floor and asked if we would like to know how the Mystery Spot worked, to which the group agreed. He nodded happily before telling us that it was a mystery and this was the Mystery Spot, not the "Solve Spot". He then thanked us all for coming and handed out bumper stickers, encouraging us to stick them on our cars "or others". Visually satiated, we headed out to Fisherman's Wharf for dinner.

We chose Fisherman's Wharf initially by scanning an aerial view of Santa Cruz on Google Maps and picking the place with the best view of the Pacific Ocean so we could eat and watch the sunset. Fisherman's Wharf was a natural choice being both close to Mystery Spot, and right on the water. When we pulled into the wharf parking lot, we were a little disappointed to find a somewhat generic boardwalk with vaguely questionable clientele. Still, we were hungry and the restaurants had an unarguable view of the water. 

We walked the entire length of the wharf, trying to select a restaurant to appease all of us. Micki and I were the pickiest, noting places with the best ambiance and a solid menu. Adam was so busy taking pictures somewhere in orbit of us that I'm not sure he offered input. Stull on the other hand, ventured into each restaurant, inexplicably set on discovering each individual "Specials" menu with a ferocity normally reserved for hyenas on the prowl. We eventually settled on Old Fisherman's Grotto, and were given a window seat right on the water. 

Dinner was decent, and I became enamored with a large sea gull that decided to keep us company for a good 25 minutes before he flew off to join friends. Once we finished dinner, we walked the boardwalk and Micki stopped to buy a gigantic cozy sweatshirt (it was pretty chilly) and we picked up magnets. Once in the warm car, we headed back to Micki's apartment, where we re-transferred our belongings back into Adam's car and headed into Micki's apartment. Micki unfortunately had work the next day, so we entertained ourselves with passages from Stull's novel before both Micki and I passed out while Stull and Adam watched True Blood. 

In the morning, Micki had to leave early for work so she left the key with the three of us and went in for the day. After we finally got up and moving, we hid the key and parted ways with Stull (who was heading back to New Jersey). After our day of uncovering and exploring human mysteries, we set off to discover those of our aquatic counterparts at the Monterey Bay Aquarium. 

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