MEMORIES:
Rooney remembers...When I was a kid I loved to stop and see the U.S.S. Alabama on our way to Florida. I ... More »
Posted on 02/16/07
PHOTOS:
After hours on the open road, nestled in between siblings-- and perhaps, cruising down the middle of nowhere-- a travelin' kid got a little weary. Once you'd finished your copy of Mad Magazine and played Tetris until little squares floated downward even when your eyes were closed, there was little left to do but poke your sister when she leaned into "your side" of the seat, or resort to the repetition of "are we there yet?" every two minutes or so. Until the signs appeared. Those tantalizing, brightly-colored signs. "You will be amazed," they said. "Defy gravity," they said, "break all the laws of physics!" The magic hit you as you witnessed your "there-yets" suddenly transformed into "can we go to the Mystery Spot? Can we? Can we? Can we?" And if you were lucky... if your parents were benevolent (or needed to stretch their legs) you could.
The phenomenon started in 1940 in Santa Cruz, California, when the very first Mystery Spot opened to dazzle, disorient, and just plain confuse tired travelers on the road between northern and southern California. According to the first owner of the original Spot, the 150 feet of gravity-defying wonder was first discovered because mechanical and magnet devices did not work there. After they built a house on the grounds, it became even clearer that something kooky was going on.
Visitors to that very house are privy to that very same kooky something during the tour, witnessing an array of shocking occurrences that, by all right, shouldn't be possible. Poured water flows up a slanted trough. A ball rolls up a ledge. A man walks up the wall. And, unlike The Haunted Mansion, you're not confined to a doom buggy-- you're able to touch the flowing water with your bare hands, roll the ball up the ledge, even use your own level to check that the walls are straight.
Soon after the original California attraction welcomed its first visitors, other versions popped up across the country. The second version (in Saint Ignace, Michigan,) like the first, still welcomes visitors today. Others--sometimes masquerading with other names, like Haunted Hill, Mystery House, or the Vortex House of Mystery-- have operated in Florida, New Hampshire, North Carolina, Ohio, and Wyoming. Even Knott's Berry Farm got in on the action with their Haunted Shack.
The Mystery Spot has been a part of pop culture since its inception, explored and referenced in a wide array of media, from Life Magazine to Ripley's Believe It or Not, from Dennis the Menace to Ren and Stimpy. Though we won't reveal any angle on the scientific explanation; we know for every eager child (or dragged-in parent) who is guest of the roadside stop, the Mystery Spot remains kooky-- and mysterious.
