Student Lookout: The Mystery Spot, Santa Cruz museums and a midnight movie

Well, folks, it appears we meet again,

The spine-chilling realization that we’re in the midst of the final quarter of 2022 hit me like a DeLorean this past week. I was still over here talking about the stomach bug I had in February like it was a number of weeks ago. Everyone older than you always claims that time zooms by faster and faster as you age, but you never really get it until it begins happening to you.

Anyways, that got me curious. Did this year feel as fast to you as it did to me? Also, did 2020 — or in other words, “the year that the simulation broke” — feel like an entire decade or five minutes to you? To me, it somehow felt like both. Text me and give me your thoughts.

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Onward, friends …

Deals Download

Check out some highlighted discounts for some great deal downtown:

• Pizza My Heart slice cards: Pick up a Frequent Muncher card and earn free slices.
• Santa Cruz Cinema: $5 tickets on Tuesdays.
• Kianti’s: BOGO signature cocktail with the purchase of any entree.
• Del Mar Theatre: $7 tickets on Tuesdays.

Deal of the Month: SCG Fitness

SCG Fitness Santa Cruz is offering a free month of yoga this October. Yoga classes are Sundays at 10:30 a.m.

➤ Want to share these deals with your friends? Have them sign up for Student Lookout texts with this link.

Eats on a budget

I’ve recommended breakfast burritos before, but I didn’t recommend the breakfast burritos from Taqueria Santa Cruz. And personally, I think they very well might be the best in town. The flavors are much more in line with traditional Mexican cuisine than those offered by the (also very good) Point Market, and feature basically everything you’d want in a breakfast burrito. Eggs, beans, cheese, rice, salsa and your choice of meat (or potatoes if you’d prefer) wrapped up in a huge flour tortilla. It’s big, but I think you’ll find it difficult to stop eating.

If you love eating, cooking and reading about food, be sure to check out the work from our local food expert, Lily Belli. She recently shared that Ivéta — which I’m sure you Slugs are familiar with — has opened up a full restaurant on the southernmost part of Pacific Avenue, just down the street from the Warriors’ home court. If you’re a fan of the small spot on campus or the Westside café nestled between Delaware Avenue and Derby Park, give this a try.

Inside Santa Cruz: Santa Cruz museums to visit

Recommended by former Lookout intern Riley Engel

Want to learn more about the Santa Cruz area in a more interactive way? There are plenty of museums to visit with more information about the coastline, forested mountains, human history and community art.

1. Santa Cruz Museum of Art & History (MAH), downtown Santa Cruz: Learn more about the artistic history of Santa Cruz as you walk through the museum seeing the Santa Cruz history exhibit as well as changing specialty artist exhibits. The first Friday of every month is the best time to visit, with discounts on memberships and additional events.
2. Museum of Natural History, Seabright Santa Cruz: Get to know Santa Cruz’s natural environment by visiting this museum and getting to understand the history behind this beautiful city. Highlighting the area’s diverse plant, animal and human communities from the coast and mountains.
3. Seymour Marine Discovery Center, Westside Santa Cruz: Learn more about marine life off of the Santa Cruz coast with the UCSC center’s many exhibits, including one of the largest blue whale skeletons on display in the world. It is free for UC students, and you might even get the chance to touch a sea animal.
4. Surfing Museum, West Cliff Drive Santa Cruz: The surfing museum inside Mark Abbott Memorial Lighthouse overlooks renowned surf spot Steamer Lane, and features Santa Cruz surfing artifacts from over 100 years ago as well as a gift shop with surfing books and related items. After learning about surfing’s past in Santa Cruz, you can see its present a few feet away.
5. Bigfoot Discovery Museum, Felton: For anyone interested in expanding their knowledge on this purported sasquatch, look no further than the Bigfoot Discovery Museum. Located in the San Lorenzo Valley, the Bigfoot Discovery Museum combines local Bigfoot sightings with local history and includes a detailed exhibit of the Patterson-Gimlin Film. Check out Max Chun’s Q&A with curator Michael Rugg here.
6. Pajaro Valley Arts, Watsonville: Featuring changing exhibits, primarily from the Watsonville area, get to know another part of your community and this region’s culture. In addition, PVA has online galleries to view members’ exhibits, and make sure to check out its outdoor sculpture exhibition.

Puzzle Center

This week, test your knowledge of natural disasters.

Around Town - Events

Did you know that we have an events calendar? BOLO, which stands for Be On the Lookout, is our hub for the best events in the county. See all the listings here.

Here are upcoming events we think students need to know about:

Friday, 4-8 p.m.
Bites and Brews at the Boardwalk
Starting this week and happening on Thursdays and Fridays through October then Thursdays through Saturdays until Nov. 19, the Santa Cruz Beach Boardwalk will be chef Ryan Yates’ stomping grounds, as he cooks up different styles of themed food pairings including Oktoberfest, Italian, BBQ and more. The featured pairing comes with a $30 price tag, so you might want to take a look at the menus and decide which week to attend.

Friday and Saturday, 11:55 p.m. - 1:30 a.m.
Del Mar Midnight Movie: “The Texas Chain Saw Massacre” (1974)
The genesis of one of horror’s longest-running franchises featuring one of horror’s most infamous villains, Tobe Hooper’s “The Texas Chain Saw Massacre’’ left a major mark on American horror cinema immediately upon release. The film has spawned quite a few dreadful sequels (I’m looking at you, 2022’s “Texas Chainsaw Massacre”) that have totally lost the grimy, grungy aesthetic that made the original setting feel so oppressive. Still, that shouldn’t deter you from checking out the classic that started it all.

Monday, 6-8 p.m.
Santa Cruz general election Forum: Measures N and O
The November election is coming up fast and it’s time to learn about the issues and candidates, if you haven’t already. Lookout is hosting a free forum Monday on a pair of ballot measures, where you’ll hear from representatives from both support and opposition groups for Measure N, the City of Santa Cruz empty home tax, and Measure O, the City of Santa Cruz Our Downtown, Our Future Initiative. This forum will be moderated by Lookout City Life Correspondent Wallace Baine at Hotel Paradox on Ocean Street; the following Monday, Oct. 24, the spotlight will shift to candidates for Santa Cruz City Council and state Assembly District 28. Find more information and save your seat here.

➤ Want more? If you’re still looking for great things to do, check out Wallace Baine’s Weekender here.

➤ More local jobs: Browse more open positions on the Lookout Job Board.

Santa Cruz news you need to know about

One last thing …

Did you know? ...that the Mystery Spot is over 80 years old? It was discovered in 1939 by a group of surveyors and opened to the public in 1940 by George Prather. According to its website, the Mystery Spot is a gravitational anomaly affecting an area 150 feet in diameter. Theories as to the Mystery Spot’s secret include alien technology, a hole in the ozone layer, a magma vortex, and radiesthesia (also known as dowsing or divining).

That’s gonna do it for this week, everybody.

Thanks as always, and I’ll catch y’all later!

— Max

If you have recommendations on places we should feature next week, pass them along and we’ll send you a free Lookout T-shirt. Email your ideas to student@lookoutlocal.com.