By John Murphy
Back in the early 1980s rents were low and you could find incredible places to live for not very much money.
So it was around 1981 that I wound up in Capitola, a quaint little seaside community nestled between Santa Cruz to the north and Aptos to the south.
I lived in this ideal spot near the beach and within walking distance of the Esplanade. The Esplanade was a row of restaurants and bars that was popular throughout the region. The Venetian Court — a famous row of brightly colored cottages — was just across the street from me.
My roommate was this guy named Donovan. Unfortunately, he was not the Donovan who sang “Jennifer Juniper” and “Hurdy Gurdy Man” but rather a perpetually broke, older Cabrillo College student from New Jersey who wore V-neck white T-shirts and liked to call me and my friends “dumb rookie punk kids.” Donovan was a trip.
Our rent was only $450, split two ways. I had a decent job so I had all the dough I needed and every afternoon off — plenty of time to go running and hang out at the beach or in our fave watering hole on the Esplanade, the River’s End.
Near the River’s End was a new pizza joint called Pizza My Heart, a nod to the title of the old Janis Joplin song. The owner was a little Italian guy from New York who would serve us slices of pepperoni for $1 and tell us how bad California pizza was. And he was right. His authentic New York pizza was thin and greasy and delicious. The place took off like a 747 and spread to Santa Cruz and over the hill into San Jose and beyond. Dude sold the franchise for a fortune, but we knew him way back when.
Back in 1981 all I knew about Capitola was that it was Heaven on Earth and inexpensive. But through research (Wikipedia, actually) I also learned this morning it was the home for many years to baseball Hall of Famer Harry Hooper. Hooper was a lifetime .281 lifetime hitter who played on four world series champions with the Boston Red Sox and was a teammate of Babe Ruth. He owned peach orchards in the area and served as the postmaster in Capitola for 24 years. Fascinating stuff!
Me? I didn’t last nearly that long. Donovan ran out of money and had to move. Since his name was on the lease, I had to move too.
So then it was off to Aptos — to another dirt cheap, magnificent pad where a whole new set of adventures awaited. Ah, the memories.
Main Street Dog 