Yes, There Is A Song About This Place

You all know that Eagles song, so sing along...........

Well, I'm a standing on a corner
in Winslow, Arizona
and such a fine sight to see
It's a girl, my Lord, in a flatbed
Ford slowin' down to take a look at me
Come on, baby, don't say maybe
I gotta know if your sweet love is
gonna save me
We may lose and we may win though
we will never be here again
so open up, I'm climbin' in,
so take it easy...............

So, here we are. In Winslow, Arizona. We left Santa Fe and drove west on Hwy 40 along Old Route 66. What a blast from the past. I have been traveling this road since I was a kid back in the 60's, when it was really the old two lane 66. All the funky hotels and Indian tee pee trading posts were operating back then. Today, we passed many of the 'ruins' of those places along the new Hwy 40. Sad. There are a few of those old places still in operation, and we have found a real jewel to stay in at Winslow.

First, as we left Santa Fe, we needed breakfast. Our friend Josh recommended we eat at Tecolote (it means owl in Spanish). http://tecolotecafe.com/

My Breakfast

  Shirred Eggs Tecolote - Fried chicken livers with salsa fresca, fried eggs and fried potatoes. I will say it slowly....H-E-A-V-E-N! How many times can you find chicken livers on any menu for breakfast? I am in love and will continue to eat here when I pass through Santa Fe in the future.

Rowan's meal

 Huevos Yucatecos -

Corn tortilla layered with black beans, two scrambled eggs, green chile, swiss and feta cheese, pico de gallo, surrounded with fried bananas and pinto beans. Holy Mole!

This gave us the strength to carry on down the road.....

If you have never been down hwy 40, the landscape begins to change almost the minute you cross the border from New Mexico going west into Arizona. You can really feel the high desert changing as you cross through the Colorado Plateau and the Navajo Nation.

Geronimo's Trading Post, Holbrook, AZ

 I remember stopping here many times as we traveled back and forth from California to Kansas during summer vacations to see my cousins when I was just a kid. Luckily, this place has survived time. The tee pees are still here, and so is Geronimo and all of his pertrified wood (we are sitting on a stump of it) and the trading post. The petrified forest national park is just down the road from here.

 La Posada Historic Hotel, Winslow, AZ - A Masterpiece

I can only touch the surface of the long history of this stunning place in this post. I cannot express enough to anyone reading this how much you need to come here to experience its magnificence. 

La Posada is the masterpiece and favorite building of Mary Elizabeth Jane Colter, the greatest of all Southwestern architects. Today, it is a fully restored hotel, residence and private museum. 

A little history: Mary Coulter was hired by Fred Harvey Company in 1903 to design fine hotels, restaurants, and gift shops along the Santa Fe railway in the southwest: She became America's most influential designer. She blended Spanish Colonial Revival, Mission Revival and Native American motifs and Rustic elements in her architecture throughout the southwest.

La Posada came on hard times during the depression in 1930 and never prospered. It closed to the public in 1957. In 1959 its museum-quality furnishings were auctioned off. It became offices for the Santa Fe railway (railway lines still pass just behind the hotel today). In 1993 the railway announced plans to dispose of the hotel. In 1994 the National Trust for Historic Preservation put La Posada on its endangered list.

Luckily, Allan Affeldt purchased the hotel in 1997. Restoration began immediately and continues today under daily care with a talented team of artisans and craftsmen.

Many famous people visited here during the early days. Rooms are named after them. Everyone from Einstein to Frank Sinatra, FDR to Jimmy Stewart, Jane Russel, Clark Gable, Amelia Earhart. We stayed in the Mary Pickford room.

Each room in the hotel has a plaque with photo and background info on the famous person the room is dedicated to. We learned so much about lots of people as we walked around the hotel.

  
Mary Pickford (1892-1979) was a Canadian-American motion picture actress, co-founder of the film studio United Artists and one of the original 36 founders of the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences. Known as "America's Sweetheart", "Little Mary" and "The girl with the curls", she was one of the Canadian pioneers in early Hollywood and a significant figure in the development of film acting.

Our room was spectacular. Everything in there was high quality and thoughtfully done.

The tiled bathroom was fabulous too.

More history: La Posada was never for sale. Allen Affeldt purchased it from the Santa Fe Railway after learning through the National Trust that the property was in danger of being torn down. He first visited Winslow in 1994 and decided to help the local preservationists.

Allan and his artist wife Tina Mion took on the enormous risk and complexity of the $12 million project. They moved into the hotel in 1997 and still live in the east wing today. They have transformed the place into a living museum, and revived the legacy of Mary Colter.

A photo tour of this magnificent place

There is a large eclectic collection of art, furniture, tapestries, lamps and antiques throughout the hotel

The sculpture hall

Sculptor Shing Yin Khor

I just loved this little creature below made from a gourd. 

Shing Yin's statement regarding her art:

I sculpt awkward, charming, and awkwardly charming creatures trapped in a world of human fallibility. My themes are inspired by historical hoaxes, old museums, cabinets of curiosities, cryptozoology, early scientific illustration, medieval monster design and pre-Linnaean taxonomy; my palettes are inspired by the more obnoxiously colorful parts of nature, especially invertebrates.

 If this were a real creature, I would have one :o)

Lots of American Indian art everywhere

Tina Mion-Artist

 Tina is a renowned artist who paints in her studio at the hotel. La Posada has become her principal gallery, and her art is now an integral part of the experience at the hotel. Tina's work has shown in museums around the country and is in the permanent collection at The Smithsonian. 

She has a large collection of paintings here all about the old route 66. Here are just a few.  

You can learn more about Tina at http://www.tinamion.com

Here is the gallery in the hotel where Tina shows her art.

She currently has her Ladies First exhibit showing in the gallery. This is a study of the lives of the American Presidents' wives. You can learn more about these paintings if you go to her website: http://www.tinamion.com/ladies_first.htmlI  I will show you only my favorite 4 paintings here: 

Stop-Action Reaction - Jackie Kennedy, King of Hearts (that is Jack's face on the king of hearts.)

 Fishbowl - Hillary Clinton, Seven Of Diamonds. This one, painted in 2000, really nails what has just happened!

Eyes Only For You -Nancy Reagan, Ten of Diamonds.

 Of course her eyes are portraits of Ronnie

Leaving The Emerald City. We thought this one was just inspired! I have included the description below.

Here is the ballroom filled with beautiful art and collectibles.

My favorite rusty metal sculpture out in the Well Garden

You can just hear the loud Heeeeee-Hawwwwww!

There are no photos of the exterior gardens at the hotel as it was raining cats and dogs the whole time we were there. Good thing there was so much to look at and take in inside the hotel. We will make this a destination again when we come through Winslow. What a gem!

Go here for more information on the hotel: http://www.laposada.org/

  Hoover Dam and Las Vegas are next!