Santa Cruz Beach and Boardwalk

📍 Santa Cruz, California

I grew up spending the summers in Santa Cruz visiting my grandpa. There are no amusement parks or rollercoasters in Alaska so we always had to make a stop at The Santa Cruz Beach and Boardwalk . That’s my mom and my sister in the first photo the last time we visited. The park was closed for the day but we decided to take a walk around.

Listen… this place isn’t officially haunted but it definitely knows how to feel like it is.

The Giant Dipper Rollercoaster has been standing since 1924, and some say you can feel it—cold spots, strange sounds, that uneasy feeling you can’t quite explain. Maybe it’s just the old wood… or maybe it’s something else.

And then there is Laughing Sal who was originally at Playland in San Francisco until the park closed in 1972. Even though she was meant to draw people into funhouses, Laughing Sal moves just a little too human…..grinning, laughing louder than she should.

Now that Playland is long gone, she feels like something left behind… still laughing like nothing ever ended.

Creaking rides. Flickering lights. Distant laughter. You’re definitely not as alone as you might think.