Moving Down the Road to Kingman, Arizona

Tuesday, May 4 for Sunday, May 2, 2021


That would be us!

We were supposed to leave Williams, AZ on Sunday morning, but we had enjoyed this small town so much, we were slow to get out. We packed everything up, and walked to Goldie's Route 66 Diner for a very nice breakfast. Then we went back to the room, dropped off the key and went to see if Stephanie was open at her shop. She was not, so we went to stop and see Marshall and give him some more information. We chatted a few minutes, then back to Stephanie's, which was now open. She and Randy exchanged some information which we hope will help her further her business with further contacts. While the ladies chatted, I looked at some souvenir items, and found a lawman's badge that said --  Marshall. We bought it, and went back and gave it to Marshall. He was tickled by it, we said our goodbyes again, and off we went West. We really did enjoy our time in Williams, it is our favorite town of all of them on this trip.

We passed through a little town called Ash Fork. One claim to fame is a 1958 De Soto on top of an old gas station, repurposed as a beauty and barber shop.


Also nearby ...


Ash Fork's real claim to fame is their assertion that they are the flagstone mining capital of the world! We saw a number of yards like the one below.


On to Seligman. (We could not get an agreement on how to pronounce the name of the town!)  More Burma Shave signs.






In case you are interested in the history -- the Historic Route 66 Association of Arizona was started by barber Angel Delgadillo in his shop. Angel is still alive, aged 94, according to his daughter who was manning the gift shop, which is in the former barber shop. They had a number of items from the past in the barber shop/gift shop.






Angel had a brother named Juan, who passed away in 2004, who owned the Snow Cap diner. The family is carrying on the tradition of good food and desserts, with a number of items to see around the property.



The entire street was full of souvenir shops, curio shops, and other stores catering to the Route 66 traveler. It was refreshing to see so many, though every one was quirky in its own way.





I wouldn't normally take a panoramic picture of a town street, but there were so many shops, I thought I'd take a chance.


Those of us of a certain age will remember the postcards and pictures from our youth of a Jackalope. Here we thought they were made up! But we found one mounted on the wall.


We were told by our new friend Stephanie back in Williams to stop at Lilo's for lunch while in Seligman, so we did! On a Sunday afternoon, it was jammed.



She also told us we HAD to order a piece of carrot cake -- we ordered one slice for the two of us for later (it turned out to be dinner) -- it was at least a sixth of a normal two-layer cake!

We passed through Hackberry, stopping to look at the General Store. It was more of the same, T-Shirts, stickers, hats, etc. One thing they did have was cut crystal prisms, which were unique and seemed pretty well made. Sorry, there is only so much room in our little car.


Jerry's EZ Guide did mention what he called the Antares Curve, because there is a side dusty road called Antares that runs into Historic Route 66. We found this:





That is a 14-foot Tiki head, styled after the structures on Easter Island and Kon-Tiki fame.  We think the wire camel piece is because near this area, a military guy named Beale attempted to establish a camel corps in the western desert. Camels were thought to be better beasts of burden than horses, which was true. It was partially successful, but the camels spooked the horses, so they eventually were phased out. Trivia: There was a 1976 movie called "Hawmps" which was a stylized version of this chapter in US military history. It starred James Hampton, along with Chill Wills and Denver Pyle (Uncle Jesse; Mr. Darling in Andy Griffith Show). Randy and I saw it in the theatre before kids!

Finally on to Kingman, AZ. 

County Courthouse -- we thought it was very picturesque for a small town and county.


One of our first sights as we arrived along Route 66 -- 



Kingman has a lot to recommend it, but we found our her favorite son is Andy Devine. We remember Andy from many "A" and "B" western movies from before we were born, shown on Saturday TV. He was the stereotypical "sidekick" to Roy Rogers and other leading men. I still remember him as "Jingles" in a TV show called The Adventures of Wild Bill Hickock.


Another lesson learned: We looked for a place to stay, and were not successful. As much as we can, we stay in old-style Route 66 motels. We stopped at a couple and were not happy with what we saw. Stopped at one that seemed promising, and we stayed there, but decided the next night we would pamper ourselves a little. This one was a mess. Pictures don't look too bad!


Most of the rooms were named after movie stars. We were in the Clint Eastwood Room, as you can see.

















 

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