Tuesday, November 08, 2005
Alphabet Soup
We've made it to the "H's" and that takes us to Holbrook, Arizona. Holbrook isn't quite what she used to be, but she's pretty interesting. It was one of those town that grew up and existed pretty much as a way stop on Route 66 from Chicago to LA, and like so manyof those towns, it has sort of petered away with the advent of Interstate 40.
There has been a bit of a resurgence though as Holbrook has been active to reclaim some of i's roadside attraction kitsch which is pulling them in off the freeway -- it did us. See the dinosaurs?
This, well, this is pratically famous. That's a motel room. Part of the "true western experience" back in the '50's you pulled in and rented yourself your very own teepee - with air conditioning and indoor plumbing. Ignorant, of course, of that fact that most Indians in this region lived in mud huts of some variety. The motel has been repainted and externally restored and had these vintage cars parked in the lot. It's mostly an art project now, just there for you to take picture of, but it's cool.Holbrook's real claim to fame; however, is as the gateway to the Petrified Forest. This national park is home to the greatest concentration of petrified wood anywhere it the world. Way cool. Outside of the park, there is still plenty of the stuff and there is the industry to capitalize on it, cutting, polishing and making object d'art from petrified wood is big business in Holbrook.
The roadside is not completely dead as long as there are great places like Holbrook Arizona to drop off the highway into.
