It’s been a few years since Zaira and I explored one of Santa Cruz’ funkiest tourist traps: The Mystery Spot, so we decided to head up there yesterday. We’re trying to save money for my big 40th birthday trip at the end of the month and since the Mystery Spot charges only $5 admission and a $5 parking fee it seemed to be the perfect choice for a lovely August afternoon.

Alas, we arrived only to discover that the Mystery Spot was closed to “walk ins” and reservations were required. Reservations? For a tourist trap?!?  I’ve never heard of such a thing!  So, we were turned away and exploring The Mystery will have to wait for a future date.  We did, however, manage to see the Mystery Spot Car (pictured above) which is entirely covered with the (in)famous Mystery Spot stickers.

While discussing the car (and the amount of stickers it takes to cover such a thing) I realized just how much of a bargain the Mystery Spot truly is.  After all, we’ve paid $5 for bumper stickers in the past and they’re included with the $5 tour.  So, in a way it’s “Buy a bumper sticker, get a free tour”.  A very excellent deal, indeed.  Of course, that realization led me to another….

If The Mystery Spot is booked solid by 2pm in the afternoon they clearly aren’t charging enough for a tour.  Have these guys never taken a basic economics course?  Is the law of supply and demand somehow mutated at this locale as well?  In the brief few minutes we were at the foot of the driveway we saw two other cars turned away for want of reservations.  It seems reasonable to me to double the price for the tours (at least on historically busy days).  After all, if they’re turning people away now, they could dramatically increase revenue while possibly cutting expenses at the same time (two employees were required to “guard” the driveway against “walk ins”).  Even if they gave half as many tours due to the increased prices they’d still come out even.

Post from: Philaahzophy

Mystery Spot Reservations – Who knew?

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When I got married some 13 years ago we were beyond broke. The wedding had to be in Las Vegas because the bride’s family was unwilling to travel to the Bay Area, but at least they got us our hotel stay for free. Still, we were unable to afford much in the way of souvenirs or luxuries while were there. That was, until I saw a penny press in the lobby of the Excalibur. You know the ones – you put in two quarters and a penny, some wheels spin around and out pops your penny now looking as if its been run over by a train but with the logo of the tourist trap you’re visiting now emblazoned on its side. The marriage lasted less than 18 months, but my obsession with elongated coins (the proper term for smashed pennies) continued on for about four years.

I collected literally thousands of these things, compiled hundreds of pages of research on their history and the location of modern machines, was the first to catalog the entire Disney pressed penny collection, and was even looking at buying my own penny machine.

My favorite squished coins, though, weren’t the 100+ year old originals from the 1893 Columbian Exposition, but those that I was able to create myself. Not just buy, but create. Because the best souvenir penny machines are those that allow you to hand crank the gears around instead of just watching while the machine does all the work.

Back in the day the only hand crank machines available were those without adornment of any kind (like the one pictured above). But thanks to companies like Global Impressions you can now hand squish your own pennies out of adorable machines like the one pictured to the right. I may have broken out of the obsession I once had for elongated coins, but Z and I still pick them up whenever possible while out adventuring, and it’s wonderful to see such loving care being put into these century old souvenirs.

Post from: Philaahzophy

Small Souvenirs – Big Obsession

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