Leaving Sedona was bittersweet for us – we were anxious to see more of the kitschy Americana ahead that we had planned for the trip, but Sedona ended up being so majestic that it was hard to tear away from the laid-back vibe there! But it was time to go, and this day it was back to Route 66 for awhile, where we’d end up in the furthest eastern destination of the trip – Holbrook, AZ – where we’d finally sleep in a teepee at The Wigwam Motel!
Route 66 Roadside Town #5: WINSLOW
First things first, we had to make a brief stop to pay homage to the town mentioned in The Eagles’ song, Take It Easy …
“Well, I’m a standing on a corner, in Winslow, Arizona
And such a fine sight to see …”
So as you can see in the photo, we aren’t the only ones to go to Winslow for this specific reason … :) Unfortunately, this is about it for Winslow. Aside from the eagle cleverly perched from the painted window sill above, and the reflection of the flatbed truck painted on the wall … that’s about all there is to do there!
PAINTED DESERT/PETRIFIED FOREST
We kept driving on east to get to the Painted Desert & Petrified Forest. When we arrived, it was apparent that this was quite the stop back in the late 50s/early 60s … Neutra-esque buildings in the National Park and the visitor center made of brick just oozed the boom and enthusiasm of the road-trippers during the middle of the century. It was definitely something we had trouble capturing ourselves, being novice photographers – but we sure did try, though! Eventually, we told ourselves that we won’t obsess about trying to capture the moment, and instead just absorb it. Here are a few shots:
Route 66 Roadside Town #6: HOLBROOK
So, there was a lot of hype when it came to Holbrook – afterall, this was where we’d be staying at The Wigwam Motel! You can’t get more road trip kitsch than sleeping in a cement teepee, so we were pretty excited. So what if all the Yelp reviews said the guy running things these days is a weird Norman Bates type, or that one guest had a drunk Navajo indian knock on their door in the middle of the night asking for change – it didn’t really matter to us, as long as we could get a reservation! So off we went to see what was in store for us!
Things looked pretty good at the beginning – they had old cars parked outside to make it look like the old days, and the teepees looked really fun and cartoonish in person! (This was ours, #10)
Even though the hotel manager was just as weird as expected, we were still a little creeped out, but we decided to have a look inside to see what it looked like. We know you have been waiting, so here is the completely UN-authentic, average and extremely drab interior in all its glory!
No matter, we weren’t there for the interior, just the experience, so we kept our spirits high. However, as sad as we are to say these words out loud – Holbrook is one freaky town!!! Unfortunately, Holbrook is the prime example of how these Route 66 towns completely died after the freeways were built. This sad little town, which was once bustling with activity and enthusiasm due to The Mother Road, has been forgotten. Modern times are harsh in Holbrook – things are so dreary and unkempt that the deterioration is unforgiving on these huge pockets of kitsch. The people of the town are clearly struggling. We won’t go into too much detail, but we’ll just say we have a number of stories about various individuals we saw in town. Strange Rangers! The only way I can even describe it is that being in Holbrook was like being in a David Lynch movie.
We walked down to Butterfield, a SUPER kitschy looking restaurant next door to the Wigwam that looked promising, but despite the RAD windows with fake people silhouettes (see below!), it was 100% weird. We’ll chalk it up to yet ANOTHER EXPERIENCE!!!
We want to leave our last memories of Holbrook on a positive note, so here are a few pics in honor of the real kitschy gems in town. Holbrook – we know you must’ve been quite something back in the day!
(The Twin Arrows Trading Post was just outside of Holbrook – on your way into town from the west. We passed by it several times, and it was just too cool not to post!)