Mystery Spot, Santa Cruz

Summer is here and what better way to spend a day than visit Santa Cruz with friends. We started from Sunnyvale at 11am and reached 'The Crepe Place' restaurant in Santa Cruz at 12.15. It is a very cosy restaurant with an old world charm. We chose the outdoor seating in the garden and had a relaxed lunch for over an hour. I was impressed by the vegetarian options. Post lunch, we headed to the Mystery Spot.

History of Mystery Spot

Mystery Spot is a circular region of around 150 feet in which there are anomalies to the normal laws of physics especially gravity. A lot of demonstrations by the guide show these anomalies at work. It was pretty amazing and the actual experience is fun. However, when I got back home and googled about the place, I read that it is merely an optical illusion generated by clever engineering. This does not make the place any less exciting or take away from its fun.

Our Guide Moe-appears slanted even when he is standing straight

We had already booked the 3.36pm tour of the Mystery Spot and bought the tickets online. The entrance had this impressive graffiti.

Mystery Spot Graffiti

On the way to the Mystery Spot house

Inside the Mystery Spot house

There is a small gift store, snack stalls and restrooms near the ticket counter. At 3.36pm, our tour number was announced and we were greeted by our tour guide, Moe. His demonstrations included a ball sliding up a wooden plank against gravity, people standing in slanting position, lead pendulum swings only on one side, height changes in people and others. They were peppered with very clever jokes which made it very entertaining. I absolutely loved the guide's narration. I don't have very good pictures or video that show the phenomenon inside the tilted house which is the epicenter of the Mystery Spot. At the end of the tour, we were given the Mystery Spot bumper stickers that we see on so many cars.

Mystery Spot Bumper Stickers

I highly recommend this place as it is a fun experience on your way to Santa Cruz beach. We did go to the beach, walked around the wharf and had an early dinner before returning home. A day well-spent!

At Santa Cruz Wharf

Santa Cruz beach

Sand Sculpture at Santa Cruz Beach

What: Mystery Spot
Where: 465 Mystery Spot Road, Santa Cruz CA 95065
When: Mon-Fr: 10am-6pm; Sat-Sun: 10am-8pm
Fees: $6

San Jose Flea Market

I haven't been up and about exploring new places after my hectic New York trip. So this Saturday, I decided to check out the San Jose Flea Market. I had heard a lot about it from my neighbors but never really got around to visiting it.

San Jose Flea Market

The San Jose Flea Market is the largest open-air market in the US, spanning 120 acres of land and has around 2000 vendors. Furniture, clothes, vegetables, electronics, household goods-you name it and this market has it all. There are some stalls that sell second hand things too-used machines, music systems and even used cars! There are some fun rides and attractions like mechanical bull, pony rides, petting farm etc for children to enjoy. Live music by bands and lots of food stalls makes the market a perfect entertainment spot. Note that most vendors only accept cash. ATMs and restrooms are available in different areas of the market. 

Live Music performance

Petting Farm

This market reminded me of the exhibitions that we have back in India. The main difference being that the Flea market is better organized, less crowded and the price of goods is cheaper compared to regular stores. 

Judging by the style of clothing and the type of fresh produce being sold, I got the impression that the market caters largely to the Hispanic population. 

Fresh produce stand

The market operates on Wednesdays, Fridays and weekends rain or shine throughout the year. The vendors arrive between 5-6am the market closes at dusk. However, I saw most food stalls and a good number of regular stalls fold up by 5pm on Saturday.

What: San Jose Flea Market

Where: 1590 Berryessa Road, San Jose CA 95133

When: Wed, Fr, Sat and Sun: dawn to dusk

Fee: $3 parking fee on weekdays and $7 on weekends.

Trip To The Big Apple!

6 amazing days in New York city! Loads to explore and experience. After the stunning Niagara falls, we headed to 'The City that never sleeps.' Since there was so much to see and do, we were on the move constantly. This was one of the longest trips I have ever planned and I'm so thrilled that everything went smoothly. I absolutely loved the subways which gave me the freedom to travel to any place without the hassle of worrying about transport.

Honestly, there is just too much to write about each place. For the lack of time and patience, I'm restricting myself to a few lines and pictures for each place.

1. Rockefeller Center:

I highly recommend the one hour guided tour where the guide talks about the art, architecture and history of the place which was pretty fascinating.

Sculpture in Rockefeller Center

Art Work in Rockefeller Center building

2. Top Of The Rock:

A beautiful view of Manhattan from the top of Rockefeller Center.

View from Top of the Rock

3. Grand Central Terminal:

I never knew a train station can look so exquisite. We were late for the audio tour so missed it but it is an excellent spot to marvel at the art work and also sit in a corner and people-watch. Trust me, you will be amazed.

Outside Grand Central Terminal

Grand Central Terminal

4. Statue of Liberty

A ferry from Battery Park took us to the Statue. We only went up to the pedestal but I did not find it fascinating at all. What I really enjoyed was the museum below it which had quite a lot of interesting facts about the statue, replicas of various parts, history and engineering details.

Replica of Statue of Liberty's foot

Statue of Liberty

5. Wall Street, Times Square, Central Park, Brooklyn Bridge:

All these places required us to walk leisurely at our own pace soaking in the beauty and energy that is so unique to this city.

Brooklyn Bridge

The Charging Bull at Bowling Green

At Times Square

Central Park

6. Empire State Building:

Since we went to Top of the Rock during the day, I planned this visit in the evening so we could get a view of Manhattan at night. I was not disappointed at all. It was a dazzling view. It was freezing so most of the time I stood instead the glass door. They also have an audio tour which I found interesting.

The Empire State Building

View from The Empire State Building

7. Museums:

Metropolitan Museum of Art, Museum of Modern Art and American Natural History Museum were the three we visited. They are very big museums each with several large galleries. My favorite was the Metropolitan Museum of Art especially the 16-17th Century painting and sculptures. There is no way you can cover everything in any of these museums in one day. It is best to choose a few exhibits that you're interested in beforehand and focus on those.

8. Broadway:

We did manage to catch one Broadway show called 'The Cripple of Innishman' starring Daniel Radcliffe. It was quite an engaging play.

Outside Cort Theater

Inside Cort Theater

Spectacular Niagara Falls

Two days in Niagara and my mind is blown away by the sheer beauty of the falls. All the time, effort, money and hardships (yes, loads of them but don't want to dwell on those for now) we endured to reach the place were absolutely justified.

I booked a tour on Viator that took us to all the important places. It picked us up at 1.30 pm from our hotel on Rainbow Blvd and took us to Goat Island. This is a small island in the Niagara River between the Horseshoe falls and the Bridal Veil falls. Our first stop was Cave of the Winds behind the Bridal Veil Falls. We were given sandals to change into and made to stand in line waiting for our turn. After a 45 minute wait, we got into the elevator that took us down the cave which had access to the Bridal Veil and American Falls. Ponchos were handed out to us as protection from the water. I will not be able to do justice in describing the magnificence of the falls. Take a look at the pictures to see for yourself.

We then walked over to see the Horseshoe falls photographed below. Again not much to describe but to visualize and soak in the sight.

Our tour guide then led us to the Maid of the Mist falls. It being a Memorial Day weekend, there was almost an hour and a half wait time. After a tiring wait and what seemed like eternity, our turn finally came. The elevators took us down towards the boats. 600 people on board at a time! The moment we started getting close to the falls, I was speechless. The stunning view, double rainbow and the cool water spraying on my face made for a moment that I will forever cherish. I was so grateful to have been given a chance to be at that scene made me incredibly happy.

Our last stop was the whirlpool located in the Niagara Gorge. This whirlpools flows anti clockwise during normal flow but during the winter months changes direction.

This was one of the most tiring but truly satisfying trips I have ever taken. If you do not care much about the history and can manage transportation on your own, then you don't really need to take the tour. It is much cheaper if you go on your own. 

Walking Tour in San Francisco

Union Square

It's quite funny that despite this blog theme being San Francisco Bay Area, I have not posted anything about San Francisco! Time to change that now. Last week, I decided to explore some of the popular neighborhoods in SF through a walking tour. Similar to the one I took in Seattle, this one was very informative, fun and gave me an insight into the history and culture of San Francisco.

The tour was called 'The Whole Shebang tour' and was conducted by Foot! I discovered it through an offer on Goldstar.com which helped me save money. The tour started at Huntington Park in Nob Hill at 11.15am. My friend Anu and I took the Caltrain from Santa Clara station at 8.45am and reached SF station at 10am. Right outside the station, there is a bus stop for Bus 30 which dropped us two blocks away from our destination.

Kurt, our tour guide was very funny, knowledgeable and friendly. He told us about the important personalities that shaped and influenced the city, cable cars, rail roads, Gold rush, the devastating earthquakes and ensuing fires in 1906, eccentric characters like Emperor Norton, buildings that survived the fires and those that were rebuilt. We also saw some spots where scenes of the movie 'Vertigo' were shot. He took us through the Fairmont Hotel and The Westin St Francis Hotel to see the architecture and relayed some interesting stories.

From Nob hill, we walked to Chinatown and saw the main entrance of Chinatown, old temples, Fortune cookie factory and also got to taste some yummy dimsums in one of the local restaurants. From there, we continued towards Union Square followed by a walk through North beach-the Italian neighborhood.

In front of Chinatown entrance

The tour ended at Washington park after 3 hours and walking 30 blocks. Apart from all the information, the tour also had trivia quizzes with prizes which added to the fun. Overall it was time well spent! I highly recommend this to anyone who wants to get a taste of SF's uniqueness and rich culture.

Church near Washington Park

Pinnacles National Park

Our most recent day trip lead us to the Pinnacles National Park in Soledad. Until last year, it was known as the Pinnacles National Monument and it is now the newest National Park in the US. Ancient volcanic field led to the formation of the famous rock spires, talus caves and canyons. Popular activities are rock climbing, hiking, camping and bird watching (we did spot some condors).  The Bear Gulch caves are home for the Big eared bats which rest there in the winter and raise their young ones during late spring and summer. We did not go to that side of the park so didn't have a chance to see them. Always a good idea to check the status of the caves here before making plans to visit.

We left Sunnyvale at about 11am on Sunday and it took us 1 hour 45 minutes to get to the West entrance of the park. Note that there are two entrances to the park namely the West and the East-they are not connected to each other through the park. This means that one has to drive outside the park to get from one entrance to the other. So it is important to know beforehand which entrance you need to take depending on the activity you plan on doing. The East entrance is about 85 miles from Sunnyvale while the West Entrance is at a distance of 105 miles.

We took Highway 101 S followed by Highway 146 E which took us right to the Park entrance. It is quite a windy road with several one lane stretches which makes for challenging and interesting driving.

There are some Ranger led hikes at specific times and I was keen on attending one such walk that was being conducted at the Balconies cave accessible through the West entrance. Hence, we decided on driving there. It being a 'Free National Park Entrance Weekend' the parking lot was crowded and so the Rangers were following a 'one car out and one in' method. This resulted in us missing the Ranger led hike.  After a brief 15 minute wait, we were allowed to the parking lot. The main parking lot near the picnic area was full so we had to park at the overflow parking area. A short ten minute walk took us to Chaparral.

The easiest hiking trail is the Balconies Cave trail. It is a 2.4 miles loop with an elevation of 100 feet. We covered it in 3 hours as I had to slow down considerably for the ascent. We walked through the Balconies Caves which was a thrilling experience. The caves are dark and one needs a flashlight to find your way through it. There are parts of the caves through which we had to crawl, crouch and even squeeze our way. At one point, there was a small trickle of water flowing through the rocks. It was refreshing to wash our faces in the small waterfall after walking in the sun for so long. Once out of the cave, the incline begins and there is very little tree cover to keep out the sun.

Walking through the Balconies Caves

By 5.30pm, we reached back to the parking spot tired, exhausted but satisfied after a good days workout. We stopped for coffee and some frozen yoghurt on the way to recoup our energy. We made it back to Sunnyvale by 8.30 pm with sore muscles and great memories.

What: Pinnacles National Park
Where: Please use the following coordinates in the GPS or online map for directions.
For the East Side of Park (Pinnacles Visitor Center): 36.493545, -121.146646.
For the West Side of Park (Pinnacles Visitor Contact Station): 36.477352, -121.226114
When: East Entrance is open 24 hours and the West Entrance is open between 7.30am-8pm

Fees: $5 per vehicle