Cruz

[Dr. Ivor Yeti]

I knew Chris Hahn who worked at Antelope. When I got my first fencing gear bag, I got Chris to attach Two small tool bags to the outside with snaps.

[thatguy]

I think Antelope was owned by Bill Purcell, Sr. (If not, he worked there anyways...). Bill Jr. was in our troop and I remember Bill Sr. had an artificial leg, but would go on backpacking/hiking trips with us. The Antelope building is now the "Furniture Library" and no one ever goes in or out. Very suspicious...

--tg

---

On the Moe's sale:

https://goodtimes.sc/santa-cruz-arts-ent...oes-alley/

Live music has been hit hard during the pandemic.

Here in Santa Cruz, several venues have stayed open by operating as restaurants and throwing socially distant outdoor shows. But that hasn’t been an option for spots that run primarily as bars and nightclubs.

Take Moe’s Alley, a legacy venue, one that has meant a lot to many people in this community and the countless touring bands that play the stage every year. Since last March, owner Bill Welch has had to keep the bills paid with zero revenue. But now some of his stress is lifting. Just after the first of the year, he sold it to Lisa Norelli, 41, and Brian Ziel, 53, who have talked about owning a venue since they became friends 12 years ago.

“This is something I’ve been wanting to do for a very long time,” says Ziel. “What Bill was going through over the last 10 months was trying to keep Moe’s from closing forever. Literally, it was survival. I feel like we’re at a place now where Lisa and I are focused on, ‘How are we going to reopen?’”

The pandemic’s effects aside, Welch had actually been in talks with Norelli and Ziel for years about buying the club. Ziel has been involved in various aspects of music for the past 30 years. His career has primarily been in the tech PR industry. Norelli has worked at Moe’s for 15 years, first as a bartender. For the past 11 years, she’s been the club’s general manager.

“He [Welch] has always wanted to groom me to do this. I always wanted to do it with Brian. We’ve been working toward this for a long time. I’m thrilled that it’s finally happening,” Norelli says. “We’re not just two yahoos walking off the street that are going to change Moe’s. The soul of Moe’s will remain as it always has been, we just want to grow it.”

“I couldn’t think of two better people to pass the torch to than Brian and Lisa,” says Welch, who opened the club in 1992. “They’re both music lovers. I’ve been working with Lisa for 15 years.”

The two point out that once upon a time, Moe’s was strictly a blues club. Over the years, Welch broadened the acts he booked to include funk, reggae, Americana, and country.

Ziel and Norelli want to do the same thing: Keep those same genres, and book the same local and national acts that people have come to associate with Moe’s over the years, but to broaden the boundaries a bit, with an eye toward drawing a younger audience.

“I think there’s some indie rock, there’s some EDM, that would definitely bring in younger fans,” says Norelli. “There are a lot of people that still don’t know about us. We’re going to change that.”

Buying a nightclub with no revenue during a global pandemic is a risky move, but Norelli and Ziel are cautiously optimistic. For now, they have some remodel work they want to take on. They plan to expand Moe’s patio area and turn it into a space that can have outdoor acoustic socially distant shows. They say there will be food trucks and other fun stuff.

As soon as they feel it’s safe, they’ll throw outdoor, socially distant concerts. They are hoping it’ll be in the spring or early summer, but are not making any commitments. As for when they’ll be reopening the inside space, that will be further down the road when the Covid-19 situation has drastically improved.

“It’s a matter of when, not if. There is pent up demand for audiences and bands. The big question is, how comfortable are people gonna feel? Lisa and I are making safety our top priority at Moe’s,” Ziel says. “We don’t have a date. But we have a ton of energy. I’ve been to hundreds of shows at Moe’s. It’s a special place. We want to keep the legacy that Bill built.”

“I know that Moe’s is going to be in good hands,” says Welch. “They’ve got diverse music tastes, and they’re from the community.”

--tg

[Drunk Monk]

Did you know about this tg?

Uncategorized 

THE GHOST TRAIN AND HIDDEN TUNNELS IN THE SANTA CRUZ MOUNTAINS
[/url] [url=https://slvpost.com/author/marylmandersen/]SLVPOST.COM
By Sarah Brewer
Chances are, if you live in the Santa Cruz Mountains, you are no stranger to navigating the harrowing curves and steep mountain drops of Highway 17. But the highway was not always the way to travel around here. Years ago, the best way to get “over the hill” was to actually go “through the hill” by way of the railroad.
The story of the South Pacific Railroad is a tale of a colossal feat doomed to fail. The portion of the short-lived narrow-gauge railroad that connected Los Gatos to Felton had its share of disasters, from earthquakes to epic storms to fatal accidents. But in the end, not any specific one of these tragedies killed the railroad. It was the culmination of all of them, combined with the shiny new invention of the automobile, and with it, the very same highway we all use to get, well, anywhere.
Before the railroad, the best way to travel through the mountains was by stagecoach. This was a long and treacherous journey that might take a couple days. The roads were allegedly so steep, you would need to disassemble your carriage and carry it by hand in some parts. Steeper than the roads were the tolls, and if you were a merchant, it would cost a pretty penny to get your goods over the mountain, especially since you could only take half a load at a time.
So, in the 1860s and 70s, when populations were exploding throughout California after the Gold Rush, the construction of the railroads was seen as a godsend, facilitating California’s exponential growth. To the deep pockets of the railroad tycoons, there was nothing that would stand in the way of the railroad’s progress, not even the relentless topography of the region. 
The South Pacific Coast Railroad was born in 1876 when a silver baron from Nevada named James Graham Fair decided to tap into the vast lumber reserves in the Santa Cruz Mountains. The rail line was to run from Alameda to Santa Cruz in its entirety. The Peninsula section was easy, Fair merely purchased the existing Santa Clara Valley Railroad. The southern section was also a takeover of the Santa Cruz and Felton Railroad. The section from Los Gatos to Felton, however, was another story. The rail line would either have to climb at an impossible grade or burrow miles of tunnels through the mountain range, bisecting major earthquake faults, gas and petroleum reserves, and unstable slopes. What could go wrong?
South Pacific Coast Railroad final route 1886. Los Gatos Local History Research Collection.
By 1877, the rail line had been extended through the Los Gatos Creek drainage to the location of the first mile-long tunnel. As it would take at least two years to excavate, a small town called Wright’s (also known as Wrights) developed at the tunnel portal to house the laborers, who were predominantly of Chinese ethnicity. During this time, Wright’s became an important trade center and vacation destination, as industry from the mountain communities used the train to ship out goods and lumber and ship in tourists from San Francisco who fancied a picnic at Sunset Park, just up the way.
Little did the laborers of the Wright’s tunnel know their gruesome fate ahead. By a strike of bad luck, the excavation tapped into a vein of natural gas reserves, which slowly filled the tunnel. The gas ignited sending a giant fireball through the tunnel killing more than 30 men. This devastating accident had a profound effect on the surviving laborers, who both mourned the loss of their colleagues and feared for their lives on the project. In the end, the remaining laborers walked off the jobsite, refusing to return to the tunnel of death. With a new crew, the narrow-gauge railroad was finally completed in 1880. But it was only open a week before tragedy struck again and a train crashed, killing 14 passengers.

The Town of Wrights 1893. Los Gatos Local History Research Collection.

The rail line had its share of natural disasters too. In 1893, after it was integrated into the Southern Pacific system, a particularly heavy winter storm caused a landslide, damaging the tracks and requiring major reconstruction. In 1906, Southern Pacific chose an unfortunate time to convert the narrow-gauge tracks to standard gauge, as the infamous earthquake of 1906 wreaked havoc on the line and halted progress. This quake caused a five-foot break where the rail line crossed the San Andreas Fault in Wright’s tunnel! Eventually, work on the railroad continued and the conversion to standard gauge was finally completed in 1909.
The railroad was only in operation for 60 tumultuous years. Fate threw a double punch in 1940 from which the railroad simply could not recover. In February that year, a storm of epic proportions erupted, and the tracks once again suffered major damage. Adding insult to injury, the construction of Highway 17 was completed providing a much more efficient way over the hill. The popularity of the automobile had been steering the population upslope to the new communities of Redwood Estates and Chemeketa Park along – what we now call the Old Santa Cruz Highway – for a couple decades by that point. During this time, the use of the railroad dwindled, and in the end, it simply could not compete with the automobile.
The last train to pass through the mountain ran on February 26, 1940. After which, all railroad ties and tracks were salvaged and removed. The tunnels were all dynamited, putting to rest years of arduous labor and the memory of dozens of lives lost. Wright’s Station burned down and is now a ghost town with almost nothing left to tell the story. Much of the rail line is now invisible under the waters of reservoirs or behind locked gates. All that survives of the railroad now are the ruins of tunnel portals which appear as unexpected scars against the mountainside, the eroding railroad grades, and the memories of times long past.      
Wrights Tunnel North
Wrights Tunnel NorthWrights Tunnel South
Many thanks to two major sources of information: California Central Coast Railways by Rick Hamman (1980) and Chinese Gold: The Chinese in the Monterey Bay Region by Sandy Lydon (1985)
Sarah Brewer
Bio: [b]Sarah Brewer[/b] is a California archaeologist and a lover of local history. She has spent much of the quarantine mapping railroad features and searching for tunnel portals.
Photos by Sarah Brewer

[Greg]

Great story.

[thatguy]

Did you know about this tg?

Oh yeah...for ages. My old boss at the SJSU library used to tell me stories of taking the Suntan special from SJ to the boardwalk. I shared a house in Lompico when I first moved to SC. My housemate was a train buff. We often poked around Roaring Camp and the Zayante line. Once, we snuck on to the SJ Water property to visit the Laurel ghost town train depot site. I've also been to the Glenwood tunnel off Old San Jose Rd. It's behind a home and closed off (dynamited). I bookmarked this a long time ago: 

http://coursetrained.blogspot.com/2008/0...-cruz.html

More pictures here:
https://flickr.com/photos/15749958@N03/s...790558038/

It's a tragedy that Standard Oil et all forced the death of that rail line. Imagine if it was maintained as a viable transportation option? I would have used it daily.



--tg
PS: when I lived up in Zayante/Lompico, the neighbors' teens told stories of riding their bikes across the trestles and if you road fast enough, it looked like you were flying when you looked down....Mountain folks!

[Dr. Ivor Yeti]

Very cool story and very cool info from TG.

[thatguy]

https://goodtimes.sc/santa-cruz-arts-ent...er-season/

Surprise Announcement of Santa Cruz Shakespeare Summer Season

Plan is to perform at the Grove in Santa Cruz with Covid-19 safety precautions

Steve Palopoli
April 1, 2021

In a surprise announcement, Santa Cruz Shakespeare revealed it is planning a summer season this year made up of two plays: The Agitators by Mat Smart, and RII, an adaptation of Shakespeare’s Richard II, by Jessica Kubzansky. The plays will open in late July and run through August.

In his announcement, Santa Cruz Shakespeare Artistic Director Mike Ryan admits that the company had been weighing their options for this year “quietly,” after cancelling its 2020 season.

He says that as of now, Santa Cruz Shakespeare’s plan is to perform the plays for an in-person audience at the Grove in Santa Cruz, under full Covid-19 protocols and with a reduced-capacity audience. The Grove’s capacity is normally 425, but will be limited to 175 per performance. Masks will be required for audience members.

The company will continue to monitor the changes in Santa Cruz County’s pandemic status, Ryan says.

“If it seems at any point that the Covid situation for July and August will not be significantly better than is currently, we will pivot to an entirely virtual season with the same line-up of play,” he says.

Ryan says the company focused on small-scale plays that would be financially viable given the reduced capacities. The Agitators is a two-person play that tells the story of the turbulent friendship between Susan B. Anthony and Frederick Douglass. RII is a three-person adaptation of Shakespeare’s Richard II.

Ryan also says the company will continue its “Undiscovered Shakespeare” series will a virtual Zoom reading of Troilus and Cressida.

Watch the full announcement:


Go to santacruzshakespeare.org for more info.

About the author Related posts

--tg

[Drunk Monk]

FOOD & DRINK
Saturn Cafe Closes Its Downtown Santa Cruz Location
Owners say they are looking for a new Santa Cruz location

SATURN CAFE IS LEAVING ITS LOCATION AT LAUREL STREET AND PACIFIC AVENUE IN SANTA CRUZ. PHOTO: TARMO HANNULA

BY[b]MAT WEIR
POSTED ON APRIL 16, 2021[/b]
If you’ve felt like the Covid-19 pandemic has done a number on businesses in downtown Santa Cruz, then prepare to see stars, because the latest casualty is out of this world. 
Saturn Cafe, known for its all-vegetarian and vegan comfort food, announced on its Facebook page it will close its doors at the Laurel Street and Pacific Avenue location for good. 
“Sadly, we will not be reopening our 145 Laurel Street location, which has been our home for over twenty years,” the post reads. “We will be relocating to our new neighborhood in Los Angeles.”
Once a bastion for late-night burgers, nacho fries, non-dairy shakes and maybe a nightcap beer or two, the Santa Cruz Saturn Cafe was the chain’s original location, opened in 1979 by Don Lane—who would later become mayor and a prominent local politician. Over the years it went from its hippie-vibe roots to an eclectic space theme in the late 1990s to early 2000s to its latest, more mellow incarnation.
But throughout it all, it was always known as a staple in town, gaining love and notoriety from locals, tourists and college students alike, as well as national publications like the Washington Post. 
However, in more recent times, the downtown restaurant was closing earlier and earlier, even before the pandemic hit. While it continued to stay open and serve food throughout 2020, Santa Cruzans paying attention may have noticed the lights have been dark for several months. 
According to the restaurant’s Facebook page, food was served at least until Nov. 28. It was its last remaining location in the Bay Area, having closed its Berkeley restaurant in July 2019 after almost a decade. Their Los Angeles location, in the Eagle Rock district, opened last July 25—in what many took as a sign of hope for the business. 
But for anyone needing their Diablo Burger fix, don’t despair! The closure announcement comes with a hope tastier than their tomato soup. Owners say they are currently looking for a new Santa Cruz location, although no details on when or where they will open have been given as of yet.
“We are also in search of a local partner or two who will help guide Saturn Santa Cruz through this next era,” the announcement says. 
So while we anxiously wait to dig our teeth into our next Space Cowboy Burger—with shoestring fries, the best fries—we find comfort in knowing this won’t be the end of Saturn in Santa Cruz, just another period of adjustment in a long line of Covid-19 torment. 
“Saturn without Santa Cruz has been so hard for us to take in,” the announcement says. “And after over forty years, who wants to think about Santa Cruz without Saturn?”

Major bum out. Saturn was always a tad overpriced, but their shakes rocked and given my and my families dietary practices, we have to support veg joints. I did like Saturn's color, very Cruz. And some of their burgers were good.

[thatguy]

I saw that and was going to post. So Santa Cruz. I hadn’t been there in forever. IIRC their fries were good. 

—tg

[Drunk Monk]

Stacy & Yuki spotted another coyote on our street this morning. The fire damage is still sending them down. Yuki was perturbed.

[Dr. Ivor Yeti]

I see coyotes in GGP a couple times/month. Last week one got out on Sunset Blvd (three lanes either way, with a central divider with grass and some flowers, maybe 4 ft across). It was late, just me heading towards the park and it did that cross halfway then pause and start second-guessing. I hit my highbeams, which only confused it a bit more, then I honked while I slowed down and it scampered onto the grassy median. I went by at about 20 mph and leaned over and shook my fist at it in classic “old man” style and the poor little thing cowered away from me. It was small, and I think young.

Now I feel bad for menacing a youngster.

[Greg]

Isn't 'Menacing a youngster' pretty much on brand for you?

We get quite the coyote chorus pretty much every night. We don't see them all that often. I see wild turkeys more frequently.

[Dr. Ivor Yeti]

I've only heard the choir a couple of times out here, most recently as a counterpoint to an ambulance siren.

[Drunk Monk]

Isn't 'Menacing a youngster' pretty much on brand for you?

So tempting to bring up talking dirty to minors, but was admonished for that elsewhere (and rightly so...thank you sir, may I have another?)

BTW, a 16 year old gal probably knows more swear words than you do. Remember, I lived with one for a year.

We've seen coyotes on our street before. It's striking because, well, some of you have seen my street. It's a few blocks to open fields. I imagine they come down Ariana Grande. Nevertheless, it's always unsettling. 

I'll be more amused when I see a roadrunner.

[King Bob]

The coyotes like Ariana Grande?