Back to the Fifties

In late July, on the return portion of our trip to OR and CA, we entered the Mojave Desert heat, and focused on driving with little time allotted for side trips.  However, I did want to see a bit of the old Route 66. So we stopped just east of Barstow, staying in a park on this famous route.  Unfortunately, Route 66, in that area, didn’t have many old buildings or museums for a “tourist” to visit. 

And then we decided to drive a bit further up the road and have a meal at Peggy Sue’s 50’s Diner located just off I-15 E of Barstow.

What a trip down memory lane (for those of us who remember the diners along the 2-lane roads before the days of “fast food”). The owners, with careers in LA at Knotts Berry Farm and in the movie world, designed the diner as a fun stop reflecting a past era of travel.

We were greeted at the entrance by Betty Boop (a little before my memories), 

and THE KING  - - ELVIS. 

Many others characters were featured throughout the LARGE dining area

I don’t think original roadside diners had that much space, but they seem to stay busy with travelers from the interstate and locals.  

The food was typical of that time – roast beef and mashed potatoes, meatloaf, hamburgers, other sandwiches and even some salads and soups for lighter fare.  I stayed busy just reading all the info on and around the table.  Remember when we used to READ rather than surf the internet to entertain ourselves?

After our meal, we went to the gift shop, which was full of vintage candies and bottled soft drinks for sale, plus many, many other items.

Some inventory was probably not from the original Route 66 days, but might appeal to a shopper not interested in that Elvis mug.

Another memory from the 50’s and 60’s is the roadside “zoo” parks.  And, of course, Peggy Sue’s owners also developed their version of this, called the “Diner Saur Park”.

This “zoo” did have a few live animals, 

but mostly featured examples of creatures from the distant past.

And for a touch of Hollywood, there was King Kong !

The bandstand was set for a concert, but no bands present during our time there.

Since our return to southern AZ, time for blogging has been a bit scarce.  Seems that my “next horizon” since getting back has been the backyard – lots of cleanup after almost 3 months of no maintenance.

I also had to get back to some of my volunteer activities, but Gary and I have plans to get back out, perhaps on short trips, in the near future and continue with our blog posts.  So, we should have more Next Horizons to share soon!