Route 66 Day 35 Nov 12, 2019
I woke up chilly in Holbrook, AZ. This was obviously a big Route 66 town and the evidence was everywhere. Some businesses survived and some were barely surviving and some were doing well. I had to do a little backtracking on the expressway to jump off on a weird little exit with some tacky tourist shops, they were list items, so I felt obligated to go get photos. The first one was The Painted Desert Indian Center, which sounds like a cultural experience with an outdated name, but in reality is a souvenir shop with a bunch of fake teepee's and dinosaurs out front. The 12 year old in my head loved it. Across the highway from this tacky tourist shop was another tacky tourist shop called Stewart's Rock Shop. There was lots of advertising and an old school bus on the top of the hill next to him. Signs offering opportunities to feed a ostrich (I highly recommend you don't pursue this) and an open sign in the window. But the whole place felt closed and abandoned. There were old broken down cars in the yard along with weird metal art and somethings that just looked like trash. Its possible that its not really being maintained due to being off season or perhaps the trashy weird look is part of their charm. I didn't go in, I found it scary. I checked the internet while writing this, and they still have an up to date website, so I guess it isn't abandoned.
Back to Holbrook and taking photos of lots of old motels and such. There were plenty and many looked to be Route 66 era motels and many use Route 66 in their name or advertising, but I have no idea if they were built in the 30's or the 70's. I took photos anyway.
Eventually found myself at the Navajo County Historical Museum. It was free and I'm trying to patronize all the free stuff I can, cause its free and I'm on a budget. I'm also finding lots of these little town museums are basically a place for people to give stuff they found in Grandmas attic. Its a mishmash of original town properties, from old bank vaults to old dresses. Its still fairly interesting, especially as the towns out west have significantly different backgrounds than the Midwest. I especially enjoyed the old jail that looked horrible with an even more horrible toilet and lots of art on the walls that was drawn there by bored inmates. I spent a good hour here and before I left studied a board out front that provided other interesting things to do in town. I was debating going to the historic Roxy Theater, but it only has one show on weekdays and it was at 6pm. It was still early in the morning and I had some time to blow. So I added some things to do, such as the Old West Cemetery (which Google didn't even know was there) and the Buckets of Blood district and possibly a park to hike. I drove the rest of the Route 66 intown section, than tried to find the cemetery. Didn't work, since Google wasn't familiar with it, went back to the museum and looked at the map and headed out.
The Old West Cemetery was pretty interesting. It had been abandoned for a very long time and the local historical group and been working to preserve it. There are lots of wooden "Unknown" markers for people that are there but names are lost to history. There are also some markers for people that are known to be there, but no one knows where exactly. Many of the old homemade markers are made from sandstone and are very creatively carved or decorated. It was an interesting walk through the graves.
The old Buckets of Blood Saloon is conveniently located on Buckets of Blood Street. It was located right next to the historic train depot. The saloon has had a number of names over the years and at one point, quite the reputation, but it exists and is an official historic landmark, so it will probably exist for a good long time.
It was still early in the day and I was getting antsy. I tried to find the park, but it's also part of a golf course and I didn't want to accidently get hit in the head with a golf ball while I was looking for pretty birds. Plus, its cold and I'm not finding many birds except ravens and these little manic things that hide in the grass and sometimes hold still long enough for me to get a photo. I scratched the park idea.
I headed over to the famous Wigwam Motel and decided I would get a room. I was told to skip the one in AZ and stay at the one in CA, because its better. But I was bored, needed to get caught up on computer work (which is never caught up) and I still wanted to go inside the Roxy Theater. The Wigwam Motel was closed until 3pm. It was only noon and I was already bored. I thought about going to the library, but I was antsy and wanted to move on. I skipped the movie and the motel stay and headed to Joseph City AZ.
Joseph City AZ has two list items for Route 66: Worlds Largest Chunk of Petrified Wood & The Jack Rabbit Trading Post. The petrified wood sits outside a tourist souvenir shop, and I wandered around a bit, but seriously...they all pretty much have the same thing, and I'm homeless, so no need to buy more stuff. Even thinking that, I was still excited to head over to the famous Jack Rabbit Trading Post...another souvenir shop. But this was one is famous, so that's different, lol. I took lots of photos from the outside and then wandered the shop some. There is a little museum type room with old antiques and old Route 66 stuff. I was alone with the owner so we got to chatting and had a nice convo. His inlaws owned the store for years and when they were ready to retire and see a little bit of the world, they sold the shop to this gentleman and his wife. So, its stays in the family, which is awesome. When new customers came in, I left so he could attend to them. And I headed to Winslow Arizona.
Winslow is another Route 66 town with lots of old motels and at least one very famous historically relevant hotel. It is also home to the famous corner that the Eagles sang about in their song "Take It Easy". Winslow has embraced their little touch of fame and there is a "Standing on the Corner" Park complete with a flatbed Ford sitting right out front. It was super sweet and a lovely little nod to the famous song. I took my photos and then I helped a number of other people out with there photos and they helped me with mine. Kitty corner from the park there was a guy with a guitar singing old songs. He was really good.
I glanced over to see if there was a hat or open guitar case for him to collect tips, but there was nothing. He was just there to be part of the atmosphere and he was. It added to the experience and I loved it.
One other thing I did this day was visit the La Posada Hotel & Tina Mion Gallery. The Posada Hotel is fairly famous as a historical hotel and one designed by architect Mary Colter, who designed the it from top to bottom and it was financed and owned by hotelier Fred Harvey, who became famous for civilizing the west by building up a hospitality empire along the railway (and much of Route 66 where it combined). It opened in 1930 and with the decline of rail travel closed it's doors as a hotel in 1957. The Santa Fe Railway used it as offices until 1994. There were many discussions to demolish it but over the years but in 1997 Allan Affeldt and his wife Tina Mion bought it and spent $12 million on restoring it to its previous glory. Tina Mion, an artist, uses many of the public floors to display her work and there is a gallery and museum. The restoration went beautifully and it is a fantastic building.
I'd done enough for the day and headed over to the library to get some work done. They closed at 6pm and had internet that was insanely slow. I tried to upload photos and I was somewhat successful, but it took hours to do very little.
Winslow also has an old theater, built in 1927...I'm not sure that Roxy theater has a valid claim on the only Route 66 theater still running...but to be fair the Winslow Theater is half a block off Route 66, so maybe the truth is in the details. Anyway, this theater was playing Zombieland Double Tap and I was up for that, but it was closed Tuesdays and Wednesday. I was irked, I could have caught it Monday night had I checked, but I was tired after a day in the National Park, so I missed it.
After the library kicked me out, I headed over to the Flying J for a little sleep. Close to the railroad tracks, I could here the clickity clack of the trains going by all night, I liked it.
Back to Holbrook and taking photos of lots of old motels and such. There were plenty and many looked to be Route 66 era motels and many use Route 66 in their name or advertising, but I have no idea if they were built in the 30's or the 70's. I took photos anyway.
Eventually found myself at the Navajo County Historical Museum. It was free and I'm trying to patronize all the free stuff I can, cause its free and I'm on a budget. I'm also finding lots of these little town museums are basically a place for people to give stuff they found in Grandmas attic. Its a mishmash of original town properties, from old bank vaults to old dresses. Its still fairly interesting, especially as the towns out west have significantly different backgrounds than the Midwest. I especially enjoyed the old jail that looked horrible with an even more horrible toilet and lots of art on the walls that was drawn there by bored inmates. I spent a good hour here and before I left studied a board out front that provided other interesting things to do in town. I was debating going to the historic Roxy Theater, but it only has one show on weekdays and it was at 6pm. It was still early in the morning and I had some time to blow. So I added some things to do, such as the Old West Cemetery (which Google didn't even know was there) and the Buckets of Blood district and possibly a park to hike. I drove the rest of the Route 66 intown section, than tried to find the cemetery. Didn't work, since Google wasn't familiar with it, went back to the museum and looked at the map and headed out. The Old West Cemetery was pretty interesting. It had been abandoned for a very long time and the local historical group and been working to preserve it. There are lots of wooden "Unknown" markers for people that are there but names are lost to history. There are also some markers for people that are known to be there, but no one knows where exactly. Many of the old homemade markers are made from sandstone and are very creatively carved or decorated. It was an interesting walk through the graves.
The old Buckets of Blood Saloon is conveniently located on Buckets of Blood Street. It was located right next to the historic train depot. The saloon has had a number of names over the years and at one point, quite the reputation, but it exists and is an official historic landmark, so it will probably exist for a good long time.
It was still early in the day and I was getting antsy. I tried to find the park, but it's also part of a golf course and I didn't want to accidently get hit in the head with a golf ball while I was looking for pretty birds. Plus, its cold and I'm not finding many birds except ravens and these little manic things that hide in the grass and sometimes hold still long enough for me to get a photo. I scratched the park idea.
I headed over to the famous Wigwam Motel and decided I would get a room. I was told to skip the one in AZ and stay at the one in CA, because its better. But I was bored, needed to get caught up on computer work (which is never caught up) and I still wanted to go inside the Roxy Theater. The Wigwam Motel was closed until 3pm. It was only noon and I was already bored. I thought about going to the library, but I was antsy and wanted to move on. I skipped the movie and the motel stay and headed to Joseph City AZ.
Joseph City AZ has two list items for Route 66: Worlds Largest Chunk of Petrified Wood & The Jack Rabbit Trading Post. The petrified wood sits outside a tourist souvenir shop, and I wandered around a bit, but seriously...they all pretty much have the same thing, and I'm homeless, so no need to buy more stuff. Even thinking that, I was still excited to head over to the famous Jack Rabbit Trading Post...another souvenir shop. But this was one is famous, so that's different, lol. I took lots of photos from the outside and then wandered the shop some. There is a little museum type room with old antiques and old Route 66 stuff. I was alone with the owner so we got to chatting and had a nice convo. His inlaws owned the store for years and when they were ready to retire and see a little bit of the world, they sold the shop to this gentleman and his wife. So, its stays in the family, which is awesome. When new customers came in, I left so he could attend to them. And I headed to Winslow Arizona.
Winslow is another Route 66 town with lots of old motels and at least one very famous historically relevant hotel. It is also home to the famous corner that the Eagles sang about in their song "Take It Easy". Winslow has embraced their little touch of fame and there is a "Standing on the Corner" Park complete with a flatbed Ford sitting right out front. It was super sweet and a lovely little nod to the famous song. I took my photos and then I helped a number of other people out with there photos and they helped me with mine. Kitty corner from the park there was a guy with a guitar singing old songs. He was really good.
I glanced over to see if there was a hat or open guitar case for him to collect tips, but there was nothing. He was just there to be part of the atmosphere and he was. It added to the experience and I loved it.One other thing I did this day was visit the La Posada Hotel & Tina Mion Gallery. The Posada Hotel is fairly famous as a historical hotel and one designed by architect Mary Colter, who designed the it from top to bottom and it was financed and owned by hotelier Fred Harvey, who became famous for civilizing the west by building up a hospitality empire along the railway (and much of Route 66 where it combined). It opened in 1930 and with the decline of rail travel closed it's doors as a hotel in 1957. The Santa Fe Railway used it as offices until 1994. There were many discussions to demolish it but over the years but in 1997 Allan Affeldt and his wife Tina Mion bought it and spent $12 million on restoring it to its previous glory. Tina Mion, an artist, uses many of the public floors to display her work and there is a gallery and museum. The restoration went beautifully and it is a fantastic building.
I'd done enough for the day and headed over to the library to get some work done. They closed at 6pm and had internet that was insanely slow. I tried to upload photos and I was somewhat successful, but it took hours to do very little.
Winslow also has an old theater, built in 1927...I'm not sure that Roxy theater has a valid claim on the only Route 66 theater still running...but to be fair the Winslow Theater is half a block off Route 66, so maybe the truth is in the details. Anyway, this theater was playing Zombieland Double Tap and I was up for that, but it was closed Tuesdays and Wednesday. I was irked, I could have caught it Monday night had I checked, but I was tired after a day in the National Park, so I missed it.
After the library kicked me out, I headed over to the Flying J for a little sleep. Close to the railroad tracks, I could here the clickity clack of the trains going by all night, I liked it.
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