DoUKnowWhoIAm‪?‬ Patty Lane

The historic Brookdale Lodge sits along Hwy 9 in the Santa Cruz Mountains between Ben Lomand and Boulder Creek among massive Redwood trees.  As a matter of fact many people pass the lodge on their way to Big Basin Redwoods State Park.  Mystery and intrigue have shrouded the lodge with whispers of ghosts, paranormal activity and strange happenings. Its rumored to be a hub for paranormal activity. But it’s been closed for years.

The motel recently reopened and renovation will soon get underway on the lodge built around the 1920s. When the lodge reopens Maryanne Porter will lead “ghost tours” as part of her business, Santa Cruz Ghost Hunters. She is also the author of Haunted, Santa Cruz, California. She plans on giving participants hands-on experience in paranormal investigation, like the tours she currently leads around San Lorenzo Valley.

In its heyday the Brookdale Lodge hosted the rich, famous, and infamous. It’s rumored gangsters used the lodge for illegal activity while other city dwellers came to get away from the hustle and bustle of city life. It’s the Brookroom that attracted the most attention, a dining hall with an actual creek running from outside the lodge to inside the hall and down the center of the dining area. You can just imagine what it was when tables lined the creekside with guests dining on elaborate meals and fancy coctails.  That’s if you could be heard over the sound of the creeks rushing water.

It was a favorite spot for celebrities including Clark Gable and even a very young Shirley Temple.

Until renovation is complete the room remains, dark and dusty with a balcony in need of repair and stained glass windows that need repair. But it’s clear to see how this once was a grand dining area.

The lodge may also hold some secrets, and Maryanne says, she believes one guest never left, a young girl by the name of Sara Logan.

There are a couple versions of what happened to the young girl, Maryanne said, ” She had visited with her family and was running around the Brookroom area by the brook.” She said it’s believed the girl fell into the brook, hit her head and drowned. “I did find a death certificate of a Sara Logan who died in 1890 out of Alemeda.” Maryanne says there’s no way to know if it was the same 10-year-old but the Logan family did have ties to Alemeda.

Maryanne says she’s seen Sara Logan herself when she was visting the lodge with some friends yeas ago. She remembers sitting around a table when a young girl starting walking around to where her friends were. Maryanne said she couldn’t understand why peole were ignoring the child. When she asked the young girl if she was lost, the child got a terrifed look on her face and ran into the Brookroom. Maryanne alerted the lodge staff that a child was running around. But when they tried to get into the hall they found locked doors – inside and out.

Maryanne tells us more about paranormal activity at the Lodge and around Santa Cruz in the podcast.

If you’re heading to the Santa Cruz Mountains you may want to check out the Brookdale lodge. It’s expected to be renovated sometime next year, the hotel is open now for guests.

 

EPISODE: 12

An 84-year old San Diego grandmother has become a role model– proving it’s never too late to follow your dreams. Sharon Hawes self-published two novels in her 70s. But what’s more interersting is what she writes about. This 84 year old loves reading and writing thriller/horror novels…but she says she didn’t always admit her genre of choice to others.

” I thought it would be considered strange for a woman to be turned on by this sort of fiction. Now, I’m not embarassed,” she says from her San Diego home.

Her novel, “The Sitter“, is a thriller about a murderous babysitter and was selected as a finalist in the 2012 San Diego Book Awards. Her follow up

novel “The Matriarch” is set in a quite southern California ranch town where the women go on a murderous rampage.

“When I read scarey stories, it gave me physical chills across my body like you’re in danger,” Hawes said. ”

“But it wasn’t painful or uncomfortable, more like a shudder of pleasure.”

Hawes encourages others to write – at any age – whether they plan on seeking publishing or  just for the enjoyment. She says to get started don’t worry about punctuation or grammer, just get the words on paper!

Find more information on Sharon Hawes books on Amazon.com

Music by David Mumford under Attribution License

All Media property of Patty Lane / Do U Know Who I Am podcast Patty@DoUKnowWhoIAm.com

EPISODE: 11

When we first introduced you to Lori Brookes back in April she was attempting to finish her year-long goal of 60 hikes by her 60th birthday. She completed that goal in just three months. So, she decided her new goal would be to finish 180 hikes by her 60th birthday!

 

Lori’s final hike was in Peru – and it was no easy feat. She climbed elevations reaching over 14,000 feet.  On her 60th birthday she made her final ascent to a mountaintop overlooking the striated-colored Rainbow Mountains. The view was breathtaking and the moment overwhelming as Lori realized her trek to 180 hikes – was not just a journey to health – but also a healing journey.

 



“The realization that I had healed from the loss of someone, I’m pretty sure it was from being out on the trail.”



Recently I met up with Lori to findout what she took away from her experience and what’s next. We chatted while hiking through the Los Penesquitos Canyon Preserve.

Since April 2016 Lori has hiked in 10 National Parks, four National Monuments, five states and New Zealand and she’ll finish her sixty/60journey on a mountaintop in Peru’s Rainbow Mountains. She’ll be joined by one of her sons and his husband making the trek which reaches elevations over 14,000 feet taking them to geological formations that form striated colors including red, blue and turquoise causing the mountains to resemble rainbows.

Lori Brooks is a photographer, traveler, and in marketing. You can follow her adventures at Amusing Traveller and on Instagram at @LoriBrookes.

 

Music by David Mumford under Attribution License

Photos all courtesy of Lori Brookes



All Media property of Patty Lane / Do U Know Who I Am podcast Patty@DoUKnowWhoIAm.com

EPISODE: 10

A San Diego woman is wrapping up a year-long hiking journey of 60 hikes — by her 60th birthday.

Lori Brookes says she didn’t want to just  “show up” for her 60th , so she came up with the idea which she calls her sixty/60journey.  But along the way to reach 60 hikes she found the trail not only pushed her to become her physical best – it also helped heal her emotionally and spiritually.

“I feel great when I’m in nature,” she said. “Natures such a great healer – she expects nothing from you and is always giving – and all we have to do is go out into it and receive.”

 

Recent years had taken its toll. In addition to seeing her parents’ health decline, she was grieving the loss of a dear friend. On the trail, “it became clear I was in the last phase of the grieving cycle”, she said. But that’s when she saw a shift.

“When his birthday rolled around…I was more in joy of having known him versus the last few years of how his birthday felt – which was just immense sadness.”

Just four months into her journey Lori reached her 60th hike atop Tahquitz Peak. That’s when she made a new goal of reaching 180 hikes by her 60th. She’s just a few hikes away from reaching it.

Since April 2016 Lori has hiked in ten National Parks, four National Monuments, five states and New Zealand and she’ll finish her sixty/60journey on a mountaintop in Peru’s Rainbow Mountains. She’ll be joined by one of her sons and his husband on the trek reaching elevations over 14,000 feet taking to reach the geological formations of striated colors causing the mountains to resemble rainbows.

Lori Brooks is a photographer, traveler, and does marketing. You can follow her adventures at Amusing Traveller and on Instagram

Lori has also listed what she calls her “unintended consequences” and hopes to compile them for a book.

EPISODE: 009

“Some of the costumes could weigh as much as a small child,” recalls Mary Ellen Hopkins about her days as a dancer with the Radio City Rockettes.  Hopkins, who is now a journalist for CNN,  performed with the famous chorus line known for their high kicks and precision steps in the late 1960s to 1970s. Costumes were a big part of their performance and Hopkins says the “girls” were always excited and anxious to see what they’d be wearing next.

“Some (costumes) were stunning and some were so heavy and cumbersome…but you still had to dance like you were light as a feather”

Hopkins grew up in a small town in Florida and auditioned for the Rockettes while still in high school at the suggestion of her dance teacher.

“The Rockettes were a big thing in New York City,” she says, “but I wasn’t aware of them.”

That all changed when she joined the group performing in the Macy’s Thanksgiving Day Parade.

“…once I got there and got to be part of the Macy’s parade – it was awesome,” she says.

While in New York City Hopkins also danced on Broadway in the musical Irene starring Debbie Reynolds and later returned to the Rockettes.

“I’m proud to say – I was a Radio City Rockette”.

In the latest DoUKnowWhoiAm podcast Hopkins shares her experience as a Rockette – and some funny behind-the-scene stories. One vivid memory she has is performing precision high kicks with the group as it started to snow during the Thanksgiving Day Parade.

“The first time we got a look at each other our makeup was streaking and eyelashes were falling off.”

Hopkins returned to college after sustaining an ankle injury and is now a journalist at CNN.

Music by David Mumford under Attribution License

All Media property of Patty Lane / Do U Know Who I Am podcast Patty@DoUKnowWhoIAm.com

EPISODE: 008

This time last weekend hundreds of thousands of people took part in the Women’s March in Washington D.C. , the day after President Trump was sworn into office. Thousands more took part in demonstrations across the nation and the world. Some of their concerns are women’s rights, access to health care and how immigrants, the LGBTQ community, and some faiths might be treated as the new administration sets its agenda.

In San Diego a reported 30,000 marched from downtown to the county administration building on the waterfront.

Do you wonder why so many marched? In this episode San Diegans who participated in the local march explain why they took to the streets in solidarity with so many others around the nation and the world. Some were first-time protestors – while others have been protesting since the 1970s.



Women’s March San Diego from Patty Lane on Vimeo.

 

Music by David Mumford under Attribution License

All Media property of Patty Lane / Do U Know Who I Am podcast Patty@DoUKnowWhoIAm.com /Photos by Patty Lane