After our disappointing visit to the (guess I’m not so clever after all) corner in Winslow, we noticed there was a local museum down the road. Small town museums are usually a hoot, filled with ridiculous stuff only the locals care about… and we try never to miss one.
But first, lunch.
Because otherwise Martin will unfriend me.
There weren’t a lot of choices in dear old Winslow, so we picked the one that said beer.
Not that I could drink since my no alcohol order was still in place…but it was probably a good thing, because the beer list was annoying.
Instead of… what?
The beer gets… what?
Fresh orchard like … what?
Open ended sentences do not make me want to order your beer, they make me want to bounce your menu writer’s face off the bar a few times and then force him to finish his description.
And don’t get me started on naming the beers piehole and sex panther. There’s such a thing as trying too hard.
The decor? Early junkyard.
Our hightop table was an upended road sign.
Chipping paint no extra charge.
The menu?
It had the required Eagle references, and some truly awful sounding food.
Armadillo eggs?
Thank you…. No.
The southwest burger I ordered rare was a well done hockey puck… and just about as tender.
The husband’s Caesar salad? A giant bowl of husks.
Thankfully the museum turned out to be much more palatable.
We were greeted by a local woman who gave us the entire history of the town, whether we wanted it or not.
Once a booming Santa Fe railroad stop, and then a profitable Route 66 destination… the town fell on hard times when families stopped piling the kids in station wagons and hitting the road in search of the World’s Largest Ball of Twine. If it weren’t for the Eagles and their silly song, the place would have dried up and blown away long ago.
Mammoth bone.
Because I promised.
Native American beaded shoes.
Because… shoes!
There was a still.
And a box.
I told you this would be fascinating stuff….
Have you ever heard of the Harvey Girls?
I admit I hadn’t, and my mind is full of perfectly useless nonsense trivia so that’s saying something.
(Pay attention… tomorrow’s post will include an actual Harvey House.)
Naturally, there was a locally famous Harvey girl.
And some of her dresses.
There was also an advertisement that pretty much says all you need to know about Winslow, Arizona.
What’s not to love?
River's world..... 
I have heard about Harvey Girls . . . but not Cecil Cresswell. Imagine stealing a bull, and then dying it with henna! That’s bullsy!
Your husband’s lunch looks like they forgot to plate it!
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Cecil sounds like my kind of gal.
As for the husband’s salad, what it really looked like was a big bowl of the parts you should throw away…
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Eating out can be a real hit or miss proposition!
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That was definitely a miss.
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*Checks Winslow off the bucket list*
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Wise choice.
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Wow! A box!
Also, they have bars like that in the UK where all the beers have stupid names! The only people that go to them are ‘hipsters’ and lots of ‘trendy’ people go…I haven’t been.
Thanks for the mammoth bone too, it was really educational
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Well, I’m not a hipster…. but I was almost a hippie back in the day. And now? I’m hippy, so that should count for something.
A box?
I know!
You don’t get that kind of quality content on other blog sites.
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The content of your blog is why I just sit around waiting for your next update! I also have hippy tendencies but I’d be bad at it as my facial hair just looks weird.
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My current reference to hippy is about measurement not style….
But in my hippie heyday, which was second generation… I’m not THAT old! …. I rocked a lot of tie dye.
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My family traversed Rt66 a zillion time back in the good old days when cars didn’t have air-conditioning. Westbound, Winslow marked “endless desert ahead!” so you stopped at one of the many motor courts and listened to the Santa Fe Railroad rumble by all night long. Eastbound, it simply marked “push on to Flagstaff where it is cooler, if you can”
“Museums” aka curio shops aka tourist traps had stuffed jackalopes, cactus candy, drunk indians and the obligatory glass rattlesnake cage. Harvey Houses were too expensive for motorists, but the poor train riders had little choice but to pay up. They weren’t known for their fine cuisine.
All in all, Winslow was the place you tried to hie on past as you traveled what was easily the most boring drive in the US.
The Burma-Shave signs were the only relief from the tedium.
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Yes!! That’s it exactly….
Please tell me you have pictures of the World’s Largest Ball of Twine, or something equally as interesting!
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Ha! Well, somewhere lost in the family archives are lots of grainy, fuzzy B&W pictures taken with a Kodac Brownie. Family standing by car at the Painted Desert overlook. Family standing by car at the Petrified Forest. Family standing by the car at a Stuckies. Family standing by the car at the Colorado River bridge.
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Well, when you find the one of the family standing by the car at the giant twine ball?
Let me know!
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Most interesting review of somewhere that might not be all that interesting in reality. Looking forward to Harvey Girls tomorrow. And yes I’ve heard of them, years ago even watched a documentary about them.
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Wow, I’m impressed!
Tomorrow’s post is more about the old Harvey House than the girls…
They’re dead ya know.
But it’s still pretty cool.
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I enjoyed the documentary because it had all sorts of old photos and menus that made me realize that not all of the Old West was rough and ragged.
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I saw some menus at the museum as well. Talk about a 7 course meal! Those dining rooms didn’t mess around.
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There was a movie about the Harvey Girls titled (oddly enough) THE HARVEY GIRLS starring Judy Garland and Ray Bolger, both of whom starred seven years earlier (1939) in THE WIZARD OF OZ. Here’s a short scene from the film:
P.S. What I’d give to see that LIAR woman in your post as a White House reporter interviewing The Donald!
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How fun! It seems everyone knew about the Harvey Girls except me.
As to the lying old hag… yes. Let’s start a GoFundMe to send her to Washington. She’ll be quite busy.
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I have so much info about Winslow I don’t feel the need to ever go there, lol. The only thing I’ve ever heard about the Harvey House is the former building one occupied and is now haunted. I found that out on the show Ghost Adventures. You should be a food blogger, your really good at describing all your culinary adventures.
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Happy to serve as Winslow’s virtual Chamber of Commerce. Although I doubt anyone will be booking after a trip after these posts.
As for food blogger… if someone would pay me to travel and eat? I would die a happy (not to mention fat) woman!
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Love the shot of Kristen Ritter. I get that look at least three times a day.
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You’re in good company. So does my husband…
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“Have you ever heard of the Harvey Girls?” Are you kidding?!?!/ Anyone who has heard of Judy Garland has heard of the Harvey Girls!!
You made us wait so long a hockey puck topped with Armadillo eggs would have been delicious!!
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I think you’re the only one who was waiting (not so patiently) for food.
And yes… I hang my head in shame at never having seen that Judy Garland movie.
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You’re not into Judy Garland musicals, then? You’ve led a sheltered life, my friend.
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I didn’t think so…. but perhaps you’re right.
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Mammoth bone FTW, Obvs!
The drink menu does seem over the top, and that’s coming from a person who enjoys a martini called Sex on the Ave and makes a dessert called Sex in a Pan.
Shoes and dresses tho, yeah. 🙂
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Sex in a pan?
Are we talking brownie or bundt… because that could be uncomfortable.
😈
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13×9 😉
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