Winslow, Arizona
La Posada (Winslow) |
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Winslow could have been just another stop - gotta sleep sometimes! - but it was made special because of the hotel La Posada. Just like Santa Rosa, NM, Winslow's heyday was during the days of Route 66. But Winslow was important also as a major railroad stopping point. In the 1940's 12 passenger trains and 8 TWA flights stopped in Winslow each day and passengers were fed at La Posada, a Harvey House. La Posada is considered the masterpiece of architect Mary Colter, who designed many of the Harvey House hotels and other famous structures in the Southwest.
In each town along this very important rail line (Chicago to Los Angeles) Fred Harvey in co-operation with the Santa Fe Railroad began building hotels along the railline beginning in the 1870's. As car travel became fashionable, the hotels expanded into providing rooms and travel packages for sightseeing trips in the Southwest. Harvey Houses were famous not only for good food (pretty hard to come by then!) but also for the "Harvey girls" the uniformed waitresses that staffed all Harvey Houses. Like all other Harvey Houses, La Posada was closed, taken over by the railroad for offices and eventually slated for demolition.However, luckily for us, it was restored and now is not only a lovely hotel, but it also has excellent food in the Turquoise Room below. (foodies: check out the menu at the link).
I highly reccommend the Piki bread - you not only get good food, but a history lesson as well.
Our room: It gives a good idea of the Southwest decor used throughout the hotel. We even had our own garden. Very lovely, I would have liked to stay longer, but - wagons Ho! We must go on.
A picture of the hall - I am standing next to an old Route 66 traffic light. Too bad it is so dark, but the best I have. A night the light is turned on.
Below are some pictures of the inside of the hotel with some of the very interesting art works by local painters and sculptors.
Above I am watching a video about the artist - Tina Mion - and the stories behind the pictures one can see - Presidents and/or their wives in a historical context and interpretation by the artist. Very good!
Below, in case one forgets - we are in the desert and the grounds are landscaped in accordance with the environment.
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