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News Demystifying San Diego's oldest tales By Greg Fogg March 27, 2006 San Diego--Outsiders often refer to California as “the land of fruits, nuts and flakes,” and a new book proves San Diego is just one of the bunch. The new travel guide “Weird California” (Sterling) showcases paranormal hot spots and local oddballs around the Golden State, and if you thought the only myths that existed in San Diego were affordable housing and a fiscally solvent city government, you’d be wrong. Take, for example, Lakeside’s “screaming tree.” Local legend says it’s a lone tree at the end of a dirt road somewhere near a feedlot and/or slaughterhouse. According to the travel guide, “Honk three times and the ghost of a murdered girl will scream at the top of her disembodied lungs, replaying the last moments of her life at the foot of this gnarled trunk.” Sound like a blood curdling tale or sappy story?
Speaking of trees, check out the “world famous Shoe Tree” on the Morley Field Disc Golf Course (www.morleyfield.com) in Balboa Park. Hundreds of old sneakers hang from the tree. Rumor has it locals enjoy taking a toke at the tree. Perhaps throwing your shoes into a tree while high is funny, but where’s the fun in going barefoot the rest of the day? Now most everyone has heard of the Heaven’s Gate (www.heavensgate.com) suicide in Rancho Santa Fe back in 1997. Who could forget the TV images of purple death shrouds, Nike sneakers and the stories of its self-castrated members? The group believed that after committing suicide, their souls would be whisked away on a space ship hiding behind the Hale-Bopp comet. But you may not have heard about the Universal Articulate Interdimensional Understanding of Science Academy, or Unarius (www.unarius.org) for short. Unarius is like Heaven’s Gate’s redheaded stepsister that never gets asked to the dance. I asked a San Diego native if they had heard of Unarius before, and he said no. Come on, who do you have to castrate to get noticed in this town? Unarius was founded in 1954, and its followers, or Unarians, believe, like Heaven’s Gate, that a spaceship of space brothers will come for them and take them to a new planet. The group has several acres of land in El Cajon that they’ve turned into UFO landing pads. They hold open houses, and if you plan on visiting, wear your best Mylar outfit. They love flashy clothes. Even their now deceased co-founder, Uriel, short for Universal Radiant Infinite Eternal Light, had a love for bling back then. Bishop describes her wardrobe as “Elvis meets Liberace in drag – on acid.” In all fairness though, Bishop says, “They may be weirdoes, but at least they're compassionate.” San Diego is home to two of the world’s most haunted locations: The Hotel Del Coronado (www.hoteldel.com) where the ghost of Kate Morgan has been trolling around since 1892 and The Whaley House (www.whaleyhouse.org) in Old Town, which the U.S. Commerce Department officially recognizes as the “Most Haunted House in California.” Bishop claims that when he paid a visit to the Whaley House he smelled perfume wafting through an empty room. Every employee who works there has seen curtains move inexplicably, heard spooky noises or smelled odors materialize from nowhere. I asked Bishop if he thinks some clever land developers with designs to gain control of the house and convert it into luxury condos are behind the haunting. He says too many people have seen things there, and the house has too long of a history for that to be the explanation. Meanwhile, here’s another reason rich people are better than you. Their gravity is more interesting. That’s the case in La Jolla on West Muirlands Drive between Nautilus Street and Fay Avenue. If you stop your car and put it in neutral at the telephone pole just after the sharp curve to the left, it seemingly defies gravity and rolls uphill. Residents may say it’s just an optical illusion that makes it look like a car can go uphill, but we poor people know better. As Cyndi Lauper put it: “Money changes everything.” There’s also a similar spot at the Sorrento Drive exit off of Interstate 5. Stop at the traffic light and your car will move backwards up the hill. Lastly, we all know that land is a premium in San Diego, but developers of Munchkin-sized houses in La Jolla are taking it too far. At least one of three remaining pint-sized houses on Mount Soledad can attest to this. The rumor is that several Munchkins from “The Wizard of Oz” took the money they made from the film and built themselves scaled-down domiciles. Rumor also has it that the male Munchkins were perverts who got their jollies by goosing Judy Garland on the yellow brick road. But that’s a story for another time. Bishop says what’s more likely is that the California ranch-style houses were built by an architect as model homes in the 1940s. He says a land developer demolished two of the houses, but one still remains. Now the only mystery left unsolved is how to teach San Diegans how to drive in the rain. -------------------- Greg Fogg is a freelance writer in San Diego. Suggested Vyuz reading... What it's like to be straight in Hillcrest | By Leopard J. Ferry San Diego Mayor talks corruption and the Strong Mayor form of government | By Larry Knowles Steve York, UCSD pornographer, chooses law over porn | By Larry Knowles The bare facts about Brazilian waxing | By Romina Cleary A look inside Imperial Beach border patrol | By Larry Knowles A serial networker walks among us | By April Labine-Katko |
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