Tuesday, November 29, 2005
Alphabet Soup
This week we come to the "K's" which means one of the very favs of the Blogotionals -- Kanab, UT. You see it on this map -- nestled north of the Grand Canyon, South of Zion and Bryce -- This is our gateway to the southern Colorado Plateau.It's not much of a town. A main drag with the usual assortment of gift stores, gas stattions and motels, but it is beautiful and its location cannot be beaten.
We have visited several times, but by far our favorite is in fall. We were snowed on one October which made everything astonishingly lovely.Aside from the national parks there are some quirky little attractions in or near Kanab. One of our favorites is Moqui Cave. The cave is in private hands -- has been since white men showed up. It was originally developed more than a century ago as a dance hall, with, to the shame of local Mormon officials, a bar, for the locals. The bar is still in there though not operating.
Now as a tourist attraction one of the things that makes it unique is that they sell the art of the last generation that owned it. Some of it quite lovely. This is just one of those kitschy, fun local things to do.
Kanab is also unique because of it's extreme cultural polarization. It's a hearty frontier kind of place in its roots and much of that remains. The same October visit with the snow also marked deer hunting season. This was met with enormous enthusiasm by many of the locals. It got television news coverage and everything. Such people are as about as down-to-earth and conservative as a soul could imagine.
But then, on the ourskirts of Kanab is an orphaned animal shelter -- it's huge. And it has attracted every new-age, animals-are-more-important-than-man, left-wing nut job for miles around. There are people in town that left good paying gigs to come pet dogs and cats. On the block long main drag you can find a good old coffee shop with chicken-fired steak and mashed potatoes and a vegan join that'll sort of make your toes curl.Kanab is a town of extreme cultural contrasts in one of the most lovely settings a soul can imagine. It is also isolated enough not to be overrun. You can enjoy the parks, and their enormous crowds, but get away at the end of the day. Well worth the visit.
