Michael C.
Yelp
Swung by here during a road trip down to Capitola with my girlfriend. When we walked in, we were greeted by the theme song to the 70's children's show "Bigfoot and Wildboy"; I knew at that moment I made a good call.
The entire museum is two fairly small rooms and an outdoor diorama. The first room contains historical photographs and writeups about the area, building, as well as some cultural artifacts of bigfoot in the media. The second had the good stuff. An entire area devoted to the Patterson-Gimlin film. Casts of big foot prints (see what I did there?). A case of skulls and bones supposedly from the beast's ancestors. A wall sized map of bigfoot sightings from around the area. And last but not least, an entire wall of shelves filled with books and movies about not only bigfoot, but other supernatural occurrences as well.
Initially was let down by the setup. Most of the stuff on display I had already read about, and the text didn't really add to what I had known. I needed some context and further elaboration to my burning bigfoot questions. Enter Mike Rugg, bigfoot knowologist, and sighter of the beast himself.
Over the course of an hour and a half, he enlightened me on such topics as bigfoot theories, supposed bigfoot and alien connections, his own stunning encounter with the beast's child, teeth from the mouth of bigfoot, DNA testing on said teeth, bigfoot immigration theories, multinational bigfootism, hoax costume debunking courtesy of "Harry and the Hendersons", bigfoot sounds and smells, bigfoot hunting lodges (with photographic proof), the recent Palo Alto news conference hoax, and so much more. Each single sentence question I said was greeted by a ten to fifteen minute explanation and tangential story that was more interesting than the answer. My girlfriend didn't see it that way, and began to wander off after only 5 minutes.
So to really enjoy this place, come with questions, theories, stories, and your own bigfoot concerns, and let Mike drop some knowledge on you. Don't be afraid to ask, and you'll be glad you did. I'm still sorta skeptical, but it was great to have somebody finally answer all of those bigfooted questions that I have been accruing over the years.