Brookdale, Brookdale, CA

Brookdale is the short stretch of Highway 9 between Ben Lomond and Boulder Creek, where the road runs through redwoods and a historic lodge anchors the center. There is no real downtown, only a post office, a few roadside businesses and the lodge itself, and every address sits within about a mile and a half of that post office. Homes are mostly cabins, cottages and single-family houses, with smaller lots close to the highway and larger wooded ones farther back along the creek and up the slopes. Homes here do not get mail delivery to the door, so residents collect it at the post office. Brookdale Lodge, at 11570 Highway 9, was a famous resort in its day and is best known for the Brook Room, a dining room with a stream running right through it. The lodge has been through three fires since the 1950s and now operates as a hotel with a bar. Highlands County Park and Ben Lomond County Park are close by in the next town, and Loch Lomond Recreation Area, with its boat rentals and trails, is a short drive away. Brookdale Diner, at the lodge, goes for a 1950s look with all-day breakfast, burgers and hand-spun milkshakes. Aroma, along Highway 9 toward the Ben Lomond end, serves Italian dinners and is the dressier choice. For morning coffee, Coffee Nine in Ben Lomond is a short drive down the highway. The closest full markets are Ben Lomond Market and Johnnie's Super Market in Boulder Creek, each a short drive in opposite directions. The highway is the only through road, and Santa Cruz is a canyon drive away. With so little in the center, nearly every errand starts with a car, and a trip to anything larger than a corner store runs through one of the neighboring towns. The lodge and the diner are what mark the place on the map.