Back to Balloon Fest?  Well, yes!  It's one of the most spectacular events we've ever seen, and we jumped at the chance to do it again with Carolina Tours.  The trip back and forth across the country included stops at many places we'd never been, and the 2019 Balloon Fest was even better than our previous trip.  Hope you enjoy it!

MISSOURI

The Gateway Arch in St. Louis is the landmark that announces that we are leaving the “east” and heading west.  This monument to the vision of President Thomas Jefferson is the tallest man-made arch in the world, visible from great distances – including the freeway by-passing the city on its northern side. 

The Pioneer Trails Wagon Ride Adventure in Independence MO gave us the chance to explore the history of Independence and its residents, from the comfort of a hand-built covered wagon pulled by mule teams.  Three great routes to the west converge here:  the Santa Fe, Oregon, and California.

The Bingham Waggoner Mansion is a 19th-century home located on land that became part of the Santa Fe Trail; its owners made a good living outfitting covered wagon trains heading west.

The Harry S. Truman National Historic Site preserves the longtime home of the 33rd President, who lived and worked here. The Visitor Center is in the old fire station.

The Old Jackson County Jail and Marshal’s House is the 1859 building that housed guerrilla raider William Clark Quantrill and the infamous Frank James; it was also where the marshal and his family lived.

The Old Jackson County Courthouse is an 1827 log structure that was the area’s first government building; at one time was the only courthouse between St. Louis and the Pacific Ocean.

The Truman Courthouse is the 1836 building where Harry S. Truman served as presiding judge for Jackson County; following several restorations, it still functions today.  There are two statues on the ground:  Harry Truman and Andrew Jackson.

Bess Truman's Birthplace - the place where Harry Truman's wife, Bess Wallace Truman was born. 

Leaving Independence, we were in farming country.  Many miles of hayfields, ready for harvesting.

KANSAS

The Tallgrass Prairie National Preserve is near Strong City, KS.  Tallgrass prairie once covered more than 170 million acres of the U.S. from Indiana to Kansas and from Canada to Texas. Nearly all of it is gone, plowed under for agriculture or urban development. An irreplaceable ancient past survives in the Flint Hills of Kansas, where 10,894 acres of tallgrass prairie are protected by the National Park Service and the Nature Conservancy. 

 

Much of the preserve was once part of the Springhill Ranch; the Flint Hills were too rocky to plow but were perfectly suited to ranching. The ranch has been declared a National Historic Landmark; the ranch house, barn and other buildings represent a continuous ranching legacy from 1878 to 1986.

 

The phrase "Tall in the Fall" is significant here: it takes all season for the grasses to reach their maximum heights.  By late September, early October the grasses have reached their limits and have turned a golden brown. There are grand views in every direction …

 

 

The natural prairie cycle of weather, fires, and animal grazing sustains the tallgrass prairie and its diverse plant and animal species.  Over 500 species of plants, including 70 species of grass, nearly 150 species of birds, 39 species of reptiles and amphibians, and 31 species of mammals can be found here.  Pictured:  blue sage, prairie chicken, Monarch butterfly, and American bison.  

 

Wind turbines are a common sight across the flat Kansas landscape.  It appears that the wind here never stops blowing …

The Dwight D. Eisenhower Presidential Library, Museum & Boyhood Home includes a library, museum, visitor center, his boyhood home, and his burial site.  Eisenhower was the 34th President of the United States and never forgot his hometown of Abilene, KS. 

Ike’s boyhood home was a fairly typical 19th-century home.  It was occupied by the Eisenhower family from 1898 to 1946.  Ike’s mother, Ida, was the last person to ever live in the house.

The museum recognizes Eisenhower’s life and his achievements as President.  It contains many fine art objects collected by and given to Eisenhower, as well as exhibits and murals illustrating his life and times as a military man and as President.

 

The Presidential Library is primarily a place for researchers to work in the historical materials housed there.  The lobby features many symbols of another Kansas native, the American Bison, as well as a cross-section of the Eisenhower Tree from the Augusta National Golf Course. 

The Chapel, or Place of Meditation, is the final resting place of President Eisenhower, First Lady Mamie Eisenhower, and their first-born son. 

In the center of the campus, an 11-foot-tall bronze statue depicts Eisenhower in the familiar World War II "Eisenhower Jacket.” 

COLORADO

Denver, the capital of Colorado, dates back to the days of the Old West.  It is nicknamed the Mile-High City because its official elevation is exactly one mile above sea level.  Denver is the jumping-off place for ski resorts in the nearby Rocky Mountains. 

The Colorado State Capitol is a Corinthian-style, gold-domed building at one mile above sea level.  One side features a large sculpture of an Indian slaying a buffalo, while the other side overlooks a greenway leading to the Denver County offices.

 

Union Station is a 100-year old landmark in the heart of downtown Denver.  It still serves as a major transportation hub, but now also features a hotel, shops and dining. 

 

Coors Field is the home of the Colorado Rockies, the city’s professional baseball team.  It is located downtown, near Union Station.  Outside the stadium, there is a statue honoring Branch Rickey, known to millions of fans as “Mr. Baseball.”  As president and general manager of the Brooklyn Dodgers in 1945, he signed Jackie Robinson, the first Black player in Major League Baseball. 

 

The Platte River runs through Denver, and its junction with Cherry Creek is a popular spot for bikers, walkers, kayaks and dogs.  It’s always nice to see a city making rivers more accessible. 

It’s also nice to see a city committed to public art, and Denver is no exception.  There were lots of murals and statues around town – our favorite was the Big Blue Bear at the Convention Center.

 

Golden is a former mining town that lies on Clear Creek at the base of the Front Range of the Rocky Mountains.  It was once the capital of the Territory of Colorado, but the old Capitol is now a restaurant.  Today it is best known as the home of the Colorado School of Mines, the Coors Brewing Company, and the birthplace of Jolly Rancher candy.  Great place for walking and admiring public art; the middle picture is a statue of Adolph Coors, standing in front of the Old Capitol.

 

Red Rocks Park is a mountain park near Morrison CO, at 6,450 feet above sea level. The park is in a transitional zone where the Great Plains meet the Rocky Mountains; it is known for its very large red sandstone outcrops. 

The park is home to the Red Rocks Amphitheater, an open-air amphitheater built into a rock structure.  There are several large rocks encircling the stage and a seating area for up to 9,525 people.  The Colorado Music Hall of Fame is located here. 

Buffalo Bill’s Burial Site is either in Lookout Mountain CO or Cody WY.  Buffalo Bill Cody always wanted to be buried in Wyoming, but Colorado officials bribed his widow to have him buried on Lookout Mountain.  A group from Cody, WY hatched a plan to travel to Denver to switch bodies and bury Bill on Cedar Mountain, overlooking the town of Cody – when he had often said he wanted his final resting place.  Now both states claim to have his burial site.  Most people only get one grave, but Buffalo Bill Cody, always the showman, has two.

Idaho Springs was the site of the first substantial gold discovery in Colorado.   In its heyday, the hills were crawling with miners; today only one mine remains in operation.  It’s still a great place for walking and window shopping.

 

The United States Air Force Academy is located near Colorado Springs.  It is the youngest of the five U.S. service academies; it has a large collection of old airplanes and a spectacular ultramodern chapel. 

 

The Holy Cross Abbey and Winery is located in Cañon City.  The Abbey was founded in 1866 by Benedictine monks to establish a frontier monastic community.  The present building was constructed in 1924 and the winery was opened in 2002.

The Royal Gorge Route Railroad is a heritage railroad that travels from Cañon City CO through the Royal Gorge and back.  This two-hour scenic and historic train ride took us along the most famed portion of the former Denver and Rio Grande Western Railroad.   It all started with silver mining in the 1800s and later revived as a scenic passenger train.   In 1905, President Teddy Roosevelt described it as “the trip that bankrupts the English language!” 

Parts of the gorge are very narrow - it must have been quite a challenge to find space for the rails and for the now-dilapidated water pipeline.  In the most narrow stretch, the railroad crosses some rather precarious trestles.  In the same area, the Royal Gorge Bridge hangs 1,000+ feet overhead.

Raton Pass, at the border of present-day Colorado and New Mexico, was one of the most important, yet treacherous, segments of the Santa Fe Trail.  The pass cuts through the Sangre de Cristo Mountains, allowing wagons access to the vast western territory.  The pass was named a National Historic Landmark as the first major passage west through these mountains. 

NEW MEXICO

Santa Fe was founded by the Spanish in 1607 – 13 years before the Pilgrims stepped onto Plymouth Rock.  Mexico took the town from Spain in 1821, and the US grabbed it in the Mexican-American War of 1846.  Set at 7000 feet at the base of the Sangre de Cristo Mountains, Santa Fe is one of this country’s prettiest cities – a blend of Pueblo adobe, old Mexico, and the frontier west. 

Its meandering streets showcase hand-carved wood doors, graceful arched gateways, tiled fountains, and colorful flower gardens tucked behind pink adobe walls.

 

Santa Fe Plaza is the city square, built in the traditional style of Spanish-American colonial cities.  For 400 years, it has been the central gathering place in town – the heart of Santa Fe. 

The Palace of Governors, overlooking the Plaza, was built by the Spanish in 1610, the Palace is believed to be the oldest building in the country in continuous public use.  Once it housed the Spanish governors; now it is a museum of Southwestern history.  Native artisans sell their hand-crafted creations beneath the portal of the Palace of the Governor.  We did our part to support the local economy, buying a small piece of pottery from Able Calabaza, from the Santa Domingo Pueblo.  

The Cathedral Basilica of Saint Francis of Assisi, commonly known as the St. Francis Cathedral, is the mother church of the Archdiocese of Santa Fe.  It was built between 1869 and 1886 and designed in the French Romanesque Revival style. 

The Chapel of Our Lady of the Rosary houses a wooden statue of the Virgin known as La Conquistadora, or Our Lady of Conquering Love.  It was first brought to Santa Fe in 1625 and is said to be the oldest Madonna in the US.

 

The Loretto Chapel, built in Gothic-Revival Style, was modeled after King Louis IX’s Sainte Chapelle in Paris.  When it was completed in 1878, there was no way to access the choir loft twenty-two feet above. Carpenters were called in to address the problem, but they all concluded access to the loft would have to be via ladder as a staircase would interfere with the interior space of the small Chapel.

Legend says that to find a solution to the loft problem, the Sisters of the Chapel made a novena to St. Joseph, the patron saint of carpenters. On the ninth and final day of prayer, a man appeared at the Chapel with a donkey and a toolbox looking for work. 

Months later, the elegant circular staircase was completed, and the carpenter disappeared without pay or thanks. After searching for the man (an ad even ran in the local newspaper) and finding no trace of him, some concluded that he was St. Joseph himself, having come in answer to the sisters' prayers.

The San Miguel Mission is a Spanish Colonial mission considered to be the oldest church in the U.S.  Built by the Tiaxcala Indians between 1610 and 1628, under the direction of Franciscan friars, its interior is steeped in history, with and 18th-century altar screen, a carved wooden statue of St. Michael, and many beautiful paintings. 

Nearby is an old adobe building that is thought to be the oldest house in the United States – it dates to about 1646.  It rests on part of the foundation of an ancient Indian Pueblo dating from around 1200 AD.

It’s not necessary to buy anything to enjoy shopping in Santa Fe.  The Native American artisans at the Governor’s Palace are a top draw, but there are delightful shops along every street. 

The buildings and streets are colorful and easy to walk – just a great place to wander around. 

 

Canyon Road is a half-mile long road near the Plaza; it is perhaps America’s densest concentration of art galleries.  It is a dazzling array of giant outdoor sculptures – odd, whimsical and realistic – take your pick.

The town of Taos is located in northern New Mexico’s high desert, bounded by the Sangre de Cristo Mountains, the southern end of the Rockies.  It is known for historic adobe buildings, particularly Taos Pueblo, a five-story adobe complex inhabited by Native Americans for centuries.  Taos is also a longtime artist colony with many galleries and museums showcasing regional artwork. 

The Kit Carson Home and Museum is a town landmark – it is the adobe house where the legendary Indian agent, explore, and mountain man lived from 1843 to 1868.  Popularized in dime novels as a hero on the western frontier, Carson achieved near-mythological status in his own lifetime. 

Taos Pueblo is an ancient structure belonging to a Taos-speaking Native American tribe of Puebloan people.  These buildings, made from mud and straw in the traditional manner, are said to be the finest example of Pueblo architecture anywhere.  The Taos Pueblo has been designated a UNESCO World Heritage Site. The Taos community is one of the more private, secretive and conservative pueblos; we were turned away from our planned visit because of a funeral ceremony and only caught a glimpse of the pueblo.  It stays on the wish-list for a real visit.

San Francisco de Asis Church is an old adobe church on the outskirts of town.  It has been the subject of countless paintings, the most famous of which is the one by Georgia O’Keefe. 

The Millicent Rogers Museum was established as a memorial to Millicent Rogers, whose collections form the cores of its holdings.  The granddaughter of one of the founders of the Standard Oil Company, she settled in Taos in her later years and became friends with many of the members of the Taos artists’ colony.

The museum was established in 1956 by her son as a memorial to her and to showcase the arts and cultures of the southwest.  Her collection of jewelry, ceramics, sculpture, paintings, weavings and other art live on in the museum; a central permanent exhibit displays the turquoise and silver jewelry collection assembled by Rogers during her life.  Her son then dedicated much of his life to building the museum’s extraordinary collection of more than 7,000 objects that document the arts and cultures of the southwest.

The Rio Grande Gorge Bridge, locally known as the "Gorge Bridge" or the "High Bridge", is a steel deck arch bridge across the Rio Grande Gorge north-west of Taos. Roughly 600 ft above the Rio Grande, it is the fifth highest bridge in the United States.  It was called the “bridge to nowhere” while it was being built because the funding did not exist to continue the road on the other side.

 

 

Chimayo is a village in northern New Mexico, situated in the foothills of the Sangre de Christo Mountains.  Here in the high desert, it is known for its historic church, weaving shops, and delectable food. 

El Santuario de Chimayo is a pilgrimage site with two chapels:  the Chapel of Our Lord of Esquipulas and the Chapel of Santo Nino de Atocha.  Every Good Friday, tens of thousands of pilgrims make their way to this “Lourdes of the Southwest.”

The Chapel of Our Lord of Esquipulas, built in 1816, has a side chapel where the dirt floor is reputed to have curative powers.  “El posito” is the small pit of Holy Dirt that many people claim has remarkable powers to heal the sick and the lame. 

 

Nearby, the Chapel of Santo Nino de Atocha was built in 1856 to honor Santo Nino de Atocha, the manifestation of Jesus as a child.  Santo Nino is the patron of travelers, miners, the imprisoned and "los desamparados" (the abandoned). He is said to wander the night on foot looking for people most in need of his help.

 

Ortega’s Weaving is one of Chimayo’s most famous weaving shops.  The Ortega family has been weaving for nine generations; their blankets, rugs, clothing and accessories are authentic symbols of New Mexico. 

Rancho de Chimayo serves authentic New Mexican cuisine from recipes passed down for generations.  The restaurant, in a century-old adobe dwelling, is known for its carne adovada – pork that has been stewed to tenderness in Chimayo red chile and has a unique, rich and earthy flavor.  Served with sopapilla to soak up the chile - and save some to douse with honey for dessert.

Coronado Historic Site is the location of the ruins of Kuaua Indian Pueblo.  In 1540, Francisco Vásquez de Coronado—with 500 soldiers and 2,000 Indian allies — entered the Rio Grande valley somewhere near this site.  Coronado was searching for the fabled Seven Cities of Gold.  Instead of treasure, he found a dozen villages inhabited by prosperous native farmers.  The ancestors of these newly "discovered" people had already been living in this area for thousands of years.  Coronado called them Pueblo Indians.  

 Over the next two years, Coronado and his men survived on food and other supplies they obtained from the pueblos.  Without their assistance (willing or unwilling), Coronado and his men very likely would have starved to death. 

Kuaua was the northernmost of the twelve villages, located just west of the Rio Grande River.  It was first settled around AD 1325 and was occupied by approximately 1,200 people when Coronado arrived.  Conflict with Coronado and later Spanish explorers led to the abandonment of this site within a century of first contact.  Today, the descendants of the people of Kuaua live in the surviving villages of Taos, Picuris, Sandia, and Isleta. 

 

When archaeologists excavated the ruins of Kuaua Pueblo, they discovered a square kiva in the south plaza of the community.  This kiva, or ceremonial chamber, contained many mural paintings that are considered to be some of the finest examples of Pre-Columbian art ever found in the United States.  Painstaking efforts allowed for the recovery of the murals; when the kiva was reconstructed, one of the murals was also recreated.  

Most of the Pueblo was excavated and later re-buried for protection, but several room blocks were rebuilt on the village footprint to replicate the original layout.  An interpretive trail runs from the visitor center throughout the ruins and along the river.

Albuquerque, New Mexico’s largest city, sits in the high desert, where it was founded in 1706 as a Spanish colony.  Albuquerque’s Old Town is filled with historic adobe buildings, including churches, museums and shops selling Native American handicrafts.  Sightseeing comes later – we’re here to see the balloons!

  

The Albuquerque International Balloon Fiesta is a world-renowned attraction and destination – people from all over the world gather to celebrate hot-air ballooning. From its modest beginnings in 1972 with 13 balloons launching from a shopping mall parking lot, the Balloon Fiesta has grown to a 9-day event launching from the custom-designed, 365-acre Balloon Fiesta Park. With nearly 700 balloons, is the largest ballooning event on earth, the most photographed event on earth, and the largest annual international event held in the United States.

We arrived in late afternoon on the first Saturday of the festival, in time for dinner at the Gondola Club and viewing the Balloon Glow.  The event officially opened with a sky-diver bringing in the American flag as balloons were beginning to inflate all over the park.  This is a static display of balloons; balloons are inflated but not released.  It really gets going after sunset – as the sky goes dark, the flames from the burners light up the park.  We had great seats in the Gondola Club, but found it much more fun to wander around the field and getting some close-up looks at the balloons, the pilots and their chase crews.  Quite an experience!

 

 

 

Gondola Club membership was something special for the Carolina Tours group.  Admission included beverages, a gourmet buffet meal, a collectible pin, courtesy shuttle service within the park, evening entertainment, and in/out privileges into the Gondola Club area. 

This year’s Balloon Glow ended rather abruptly as the wind picked up and changed direction.  At some signal unknown to us, it seemed that all the balloons deflated at once.  A spectacle unto itself!

When the balloons went down, it was time for fireworks.  The show got started with sky-divers falling from the dark sky and lighting up the night. 

 

They were followed by more traditional ground-to-sky fireworks, another great show of color.

Sunday morning started about 3:30 am as we staggered back to Balloon Fiesta Park to witness the Mass Ascension.  It was COLD – temperature in the upper 40s – but we enjoyed a hot breakfast at the Chasers’ Club, another benefit of traveling with Carolina Tours!

Just before sunrise, it was time for the Dawn Patrol.  This is a group of 13 selected balloons that launch into the darkness to measure wind speed and direction.  They took off one at a time and in a few minutes, they filled the sky overhead. We could see them because of the light from their burners, but their vision is seriously limited in the dark sky.  Only a few pilots have the skill to participate in this part of the program.  They report back to Festival officials to determine if conditions are safe for the mass event. 

Happily, conditions were perfect.  We watched the ascent of the first balloon, carrying the American flag, along with the crowd gathered around a local TV personality.  He has collected so many Balloon Fiesta pins that he wears a lab coat and a big hat to display them all. 

The Mass Ascension was officially underway and we joined thousands of other people wandering around the field watching 580 balloons inflated and take to the sky.  There were 650 registered pilots, from 17 countries and 41 states.  The balloonists pay $150 registration fee, and then all other expenses are covered, including hotels.  They also receive a gift bag with about $500 worth of goodies, including the annual official embroidered jacket.

All those balloons can’t fit on the field at one time.  They ascend in three waves, with about 250 balloons on the field at the same time.  And – they can’t all ascend at the same time, either.  They must get the nod from one of the “zebras” – officials who make sure nobody is tangled in the ropes and that spectators are cleared out of the first part of the flight path. 














It's not a simple task to fly a hot-air balloon, especially with hundreds of other balloons and thousands of spectators all over the place. .  It takes a crew to help drive the truck (loaded with balloon) to one's designated spot on the field, spread out the balloon on the grass, set up fans to inflate the balloon, manage the propane flame that heats the air, hold the balloon in place until the official blows his/her whistle, and guide the take-off to ensure the gondola doesn't take out any spectators looking in the other direction.  

 

 


Most of the balloons have only a few people aboard, but one special group - the Rainbow Ryders - have large gondolas and are available for folks wanting to take a ride.  

 

We walked around smiling, looking up and trying to see everything.  To say it was spectacular is an understatement.  The balloons are huge, the colors are wonderful, and it goes on for hours.  It never gets old (never gets warm, either)!

Toward mid-morning, we saw more and more Special Shape Balloons.   Balloons can be shaped into almost anything you can imagine; some examples include a stagecoach, piggy bank or a cow.  Some fly better than others, but all add to the fun. 

By late morning, fingers were too numb to operate the camera.  Time for a change of pace ....indoors for a while. 

The Indian Pueblo Cultural Center is owned and operated by the 19 Indian Pueblos of New Mexico and dedicated to the preservation of Pueblo Indian culture, history and art.  The center houses thousands of artifacts and works of art, including a world-renowned collection of historic and contemporary Pueblo pottery, as well as baskets, weaving, painting, murals jewelry and photographs. 

A festival was underway when we visited, so there were lots of Native American vendors and dancing demonstrations.  Pictured here are Zuni women performing the Olla Dance. 

The Albuquerque Museum, formerly known as the Albuquerque Museum of Art and History, is dedicated to preserving the art of the American Southwest and the history of Albuquerque.  Here are found all things New Mexico – from the Alvarado to O’Keefe, from Blumenschein to the Bosque, and more.  There’s quite a sculpture display outside, surrounding the building. 

San Felipe de Neri Church, built of adobe in 1793, is one of the oldest surviving buildings in the city and the only building proven to date to the Spanish colonial period.  For over 300 years, the church has been the spiritual heart of the city.  It is listed on the National Register of Historic Places. 

 

The Old Town Plaza is the city square, the point where the Spanish Governor Cuervo y Valdes officially founded Albuquerque in 1706.  During Balloon Fiesta time, the plaza is hopping with all sorts of performers.

From the plaza, narrow streets lead to century-old adobe houses that are home to New Mexican eateries and artisan shops selling jewelry, rugs and pottery.   It's a colorful area, with lots of interesting spots to explore.  

Old Route 66 passed right through the heart of the city of Albuquerque.  Today, it’s known as Central Avenue, but it’s still the city’s main thoroughfare.  We spent a morning exploring some of the high spots. 

Microsoft was founded on April 4, 1975, by Bill Gates and Paul Allen in Albuquerque, in a small store-front building on Central Avenue.  Gates and Allen grew up in Albuquerque and attended high school together before moving on to Harvard.  Their original headquarters doesn’t look like much, but this is where it all began…

The KiMo Theater was built in 1927 in the extravagant Art Deco-Pueblo Revival Style architecture, which is a blend of adobe building styles, decorative motifs from indigenous cultures, and the soaring lines and linear repetition found in American Art Deco.  There’s nothing that compare – a unique structure!

 

The Turquoise Museum was founded in 1993 and is home to the world’s largest collection of natural turquoise.  It houses some of the world’s rarest and most collectible turquoise and turquoise jewelry.  Visitors here learn about the science and grading of turquoise, the mining and history of the gem, and the imitations and (of course) how to shop. The Turquoise Museum is a family business, now in its fifth generation.

 

 

The Palms Trading Company is a landmark on Route 66 and it is packed with every imaginable item from the American Southwest.  The store claims to have the largest selection of Indian Jewelry in the Southwest, but there’s no shortage of pottery, Kachinas, rugs, and more.

The 66 Diner boasts authentic food and historic ambiance for guests from around the world to experience.  They say a visit to Albuquerque is not complete without a trip to 66 Diner! Back in the Route 66 heyday, this building was home to a Phillip’s gas station and service garage. In 1987, it was converted into a restaurant - a portion of the dining room was once a mechanics bay. The food was delicious and the strawberry milkshake was the best ever!

 

 

White Sands National Monument near Alamogordo is the world’s largest pure gypsum dune field in the world; it’s impossible not to be struck by the starkness and grandeur of this place.  Wave-like dunes of white sand engulf 275 square miles of New Mexico’s Tularosa Basin, creating one of the world’s most impressive natural wonders.  White Sands was established as a national monument in 1933, but its history goes back much further. 

Following the end of the last Ice Age, geological processes and an increasingly dry climate gradually dried up Lake Otero, exposing gypsum crystals that had formed beneath its silty bottom. Thousands of years of wind and weather broke the crystals down to fine sand and scattered them across the desert, creating the vast (and still growing) area of white sand that we see today. 

White Sands National Monument is home to more than 800 animal species.  They were mostly in hiding during our visit, but we did spot a road runner on the roof of the visitor center.  And then he took off running across the parking lot. 

 

McGinn’s Pistachio Land is a large pistachio farm and shop with a roadside advertisement that now draws tourists from all over the country.  The World’s Largest Pistachio stands 30-feet tall and was constructed using over five yards of concrete and 35 gallons of paint to give the enormous green cashew a strangely real look. Like many over-sized items littering the world’s highways, the pistachio is there mainly to lure motorists into the ranch ... and the gift shop.  The farm tour is a nice ride through the orchards and the gift shop features a number of exotic pistachio-based products for sale – such as chili-chocolate pistachio brittle and homemade pistachio milkshakes.   We settled for a pistachio ice cream cone – yum!

The International UFO Museum and Research Center in Roswell NM is focused largely on the 1947 Roswell Crash and later supposed UFO incidents in the United States and elsewhere.  After being sought after by various UFO researchers, Lt. Walter Haut (who worked for the military in Roswell in 1947) had the idea of building the museum as an educational center for the public. Little did he know, hundreds of thousands of people from around the world were waiting for this paranormal mecca. Today the city is known as the epicenter of extraterrestrials.

 

 

 

The museum does not try to convince its visitors, but rather urges them to ask questions and do research in their research center. There is extensive information regarding the “Roswell Incident” as well as alleged crop circles and abductions. Models of aliens, UFOs, “autopsy” reports and documentaries can be found here, depicting what some believe to be the ultimate truth.  Fun place to visit.

 

TEXAS

The Big Texan Steak Ranch & Brewery in Amarillo is a saloon-style steakhouse offering patrons a 72-oz. steak challenge & a souvenir gift shop.  In 1960, Bob Lee opened The Big Texan Steak Ranch in Amarillo on Route 66, the “Mother Road. Its distinctive architecture soon became recognized as a good stopping place for great steaks grilled over an open flame. 

 

Patrons who can consume a 72-oz. steak dinner (with all the trimmings) in one hour get that meal for free.  We watched a couple of guys taking a shot at this challenge.  They chewed steadily for 60 minutes, but still had plenty to take home.  They had to pay $72 for this privilege.

OKLAHOMA

The Will Rogers Memorial Museum and Birthplace Ranch in Claremont OK memorializes America’s favorite cowboy philosopher, Will Rogers.  The museum houses artifacts, memorabilia, photographs and manuscripts pertaining to Rogers’ life.  There is also a theater showing documentaries, speeches and movies in which he starred.

ARKANSAS

Hot Springs National Park gets its name from the naturally thermal spring waters flowing from the ground at a piping hot 143 degrees F.  Native Americans called the area the “Valley of the Vapors;” by the mid-1800s it became an elegant resort town centered around a row of stately Victorian bathhouses.  Bathhouse Row was at its height in the late 1800s and early 1900s when it boasted dozens of spas where visitors could take in the healing waters.  Today it’s a good place for a stroll to enjoy the architecture of the eight remaining bathhouses along the Grand Promenade.   These stately structures, now owned by the National Park Service, were constructed between the years of 1892 and 1923. Bathhouse Row and the Grand Promenade were designated as a National Historic Landmark District in 1987.

 

The Superior Bathhouse offered “no frills” service when it opened in 1916. It was the smallest and the least expensive to use. It has been renovated and is now the Superior Bathhouse Brewery & Distillery. 

Hale Bathhouse is the oldest with most of the current structure being completed in 1892. It is at least the fourth building to be named Hale on The Row. Today it houses a hotel. 

Maurice Bathhouse started off 1912 with a bang, and during its heyday, it rivaled the Fordyce in luxury and offerings. It was the only structure on The Row to have a pool. Today it is closed, waiting to be leased for reuse.

Fordyce Bathhouse was the grandest and largest when it opened in 1915 with three floors, two courtyards and a basement. An extensively restored jewel, it reopened in 1989 at the park’s visitor center and museum.

Here we could see how a luxury spa looked in the 1900s – with baths, cooling rooms, needle-point showers, steam cabinets, massage tables, and assorted hydrotherapy equipment. 

Upstairs there was a gym, a lovely sun room, plus areas for music and games.

Quapaw Bathhouse also opened in 1922 as the longest structure on the row. It has been refurbished and is now home to the family-oriented Quapaw Baths and Spa which includes a large spa pool.

Ozark Bathhouse was a no-frills facility when it opened in 1922. Today it has been totally renovated and houses the Ozark Bathhouse Cultural Center. 

Buckstaff Bathhouse is the only one that has been in constant operation since it opened in 1912.Visitors can still experience the full thermal treatment there today.

The Lamar Bathhouse made its debut in 1923 as a replacement for a wooden structure also bearing the same name. It offered tubs of different lengths and had a small coed gym. It is currently where you’ll find the official park store, Bathhouse Row Emporium, and offices for park employees.

Garvan Woodland Gardens, located on a peninsula in Lake Hamilton, began as the private garden of Verna Cook Garvan and later was given to the University of Arkansas.  The 210-acre garden features colorful shrubs and trees, such as camellias, magnolias, and Japanese maples, as well as many varieties of azaleas and tulips.  There is something eye-catching round every turn - bridges, waterfalls, and scenic overlooks.   We even got a sneak preview of the holiday light show.

The Anthony Chapel is the most spectacular structure in the garden.  Set on a hillside overlooking Lake Hamilton, the chapel’s floor-to-ceiling glass walls and multiple skylights provide picturesque views of the surrounding woods in a nearly six-story-tall structure made of massive yellow-pine columns and beams.  It is built with native wood, with a 57-foot ceiling.  It is a popular spot for weddings.

MISSISSIPPI

The Elvis Presley Birthplace is a museum dedicated to the preservation of the home where American musician Elvis Presley was born.  Elvis Aaron Presley was born in Tupelo on January 8, 1935 to Vernon and Gladys Presley.  He was born in a two-room house built by his father, grandfather and uncle.  Elvis grew up in Tupelo surrounded by extended family – grandparents, aunts, uncles and cousins.

Elvis at 13 is a bronze likeness of Elvis as a boy, portrayed in over-sized overalls as evidence of the poverty of those early years. 

Elvis’s Childhood Church is the actual building that the Presley family attended. It was here that Elvis was first exposed to the Southern gospel music that became a staple of his musical repertoire. 

Becoming is the name given to two statues standing atop the Tupelo overlook.  This sculpture symbolized the transformation from Elvis the boy to Elvis the entertainer.  Both represent a slice of the same person born on common soil.  

GEORGIA

The Blue Willow Inn is a restaurant (and gift shop) located in the heart of the historic Social Circle, Georgia.   The restaurant is housed in a Greek Revival style home built in 1917 by the Upshaw family.  Margaret Mitchell was a frequent visitor, and was briefly married to one of the Upshaw men – a scoundrel who was said to be the inspiration for the character of Rhett Butler in Gone with the Wind.   Today, the old home serves up a gigantic buffet of traditional southern cooking. Nobody went home hungry. 

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