As autumn arrives this weekend, I feel a bit bummed I didn’t go
to the Santa Cruz Beach and Boardwalk this past summer. The year
2007 marked the centennial anniversary of California’s version of
Coney Island, and that’s why I wanted to visit the amusement park
set along the Pacific coast.
As autumn arrives this weekend, I feel a bit bummed I didn’t go to the Santa Cruz Beach and Boardwalk this past summer. The year 2007 marked the centennial anniversary of California’s version of Coney Island, and that’s why I wanted to visit the amusement park set along the Pacific coast.
Ever since Memorial Day, a friend and I have talked about taking his kids over to the coast to Santa Cruz’s most popular tourist attraction. As a teenager in the 1970s, he worked as a boardwalk ride attendant, so he nostalgically wanted to roam with his kids once again around his old stomping grounds. Unfortunately, the everyday stuff of life always managed to crop up and postpone our Santa Cruz summer get-away.
I have a lot of fond memories of childhood days spent at the amusement park. I still recall the smell of Coppertone to protect me from the sun while roasting on the sand, dodging surfwaves breaking on the beach, facing my fears on all the scary rides – the Logger’s Revenge watercoaster was my favorite – and filling my stomach with saltwater taffy and red candy apples. I’m sure plenty of South Valley folks have similar happy memories from summer days spent at the West Coast’s oldest surviving oceanside amusement park.
The boardwalk got its start when Santa Cruz businessman Fred Swanton began the project by constructing a large entertainment center called the Casino overlooking the northern end of Monterey Bay. He finished it in 1904, but 22 months later, a kitchen fire unfortunately destroyed the building.
Undaunted in pursuing his dream, Swanton rebuilt the Casino – along with an accompanying boardwalk and a pier. The leisure center opened to the public on July 22, 1907. One by one over the next century, a variety of amusement rides were added.
Among the most beloved attractions was an ornate carousel made by Charles Looff in 1911. The park’s first thrill ride was a gentle rollercoaster called the L.A. Thompson Scenic Railway that opened in 1908. Billed as the nation’s longest rollercoaster at that time, it shot passengers a staggering 25 miles per hour down its gently-curving tracks. (The speed limit in Santa Cruz at that time was 10 mph, so that velocity must have been breath-taking.) By 1924, the railroad ride was replaced by a twisting-turning wooden rollercoaster called the Giant Dipper. Both the Looff Carousel and the Giant Dipper are now National Historic Landmarks.
Over the years, many well-known performers have entertained crowds in the Casino’s Cocoanut Grove ballroom or the beachside. Among them were big band stars Benny Goodman, Lawrence Welk and Art Shaw. The entertainment tradition has been kept up over the years as frequently free concerts are given on the beach stage.
During the years following World War II, “Baby Boomer” families often came to Santa Cruz on their vacation to experience the many rides and attractions. The most comical ride was the Cave Train to the Lost World, opened in June 1961. It carried passengers on a kitschy time trip back to see animatronics Stone Age denizens encountering ditzy dinosaurs. Next to it was the Autorama, a pint-sized freeway where kids could safely drive mini-sized Corvettes. Walt Disney visited the boardwalk in 1962 to study the center-rail guidance system for Disneyland’s own kiddie-car ride.
Over the last century, many of the West Coast’s amusement parks have closed down as modern parks gave them stiff competition. San Francisco’s Playland-at-the-Beach shut its gates on Labor Day in 1972. And Long Beach’s The Pike and its accompanying Rainbow Pier ended its run in 1979. Somehow, the Santa Cruz Beach and Boardwalk evolved to keep up with the times. Its seashore setting has helped it gracefully withstand rivalry from modern “theme parks” such as Paramount’s Great America.
I’m not sure why I really disappointed missing the boardwalk’s centennial celebration this summer. Maybe I’m missing the sense of nostalgia in visiting a place where people have escaped from the everyday stuff of life to enjoyed themselves in a seaside adventure. Or maybe the kid in me just wanted to relive one more day of sun and fun at California’s Coney Island.
Then again, there’s always next summer. With its old-fashioned charm attracting folks, I’m sure Santa Cruz’s oceanside amusement park will be giving guests the time of their lives for at least another 100 years.
