April 30, 2014 La Posada and Winslow

During our travels over the last few years, I was fascinated with what Fred Harvey did for the railroad and especially for his Harvey girls.  In doing some of my research, I had read about the La Posada Hotel and put that on my bucket list.  Well, today, we decided to tour and have lunch at the hotel.

First some information:

"Posada embodies the visions of both Mary Elizabeth Jane Colter, the hotel’s renowned architect, and Allan Affeldt, its current owner. But the story really begins with Fred Harvey, who “civilized the west” by introducing linen, silverware, china, crystal, and impeccable service to railroad travel. (He was so legendary that MGM made a movie called The Harvey Girls starring Judy Garland.) Harvey developed and ran all the hotels and restaurants of the Santa Fe Railway, eventually controlling a hospitality empire that spanned the continent.

In the 1920s, Harvey decided to build a major hotel in the center of northern Arizona. “La Posada”—the Resting Place—was to be the finest in the Southwest. Construction costs alone exceeded $1 million in 1929. Total budget with grounds and furnishings was rumored at $2 million (about $40 million in today’s dollars). They chose Winslow, then (as now) the Arizona headquarters for the Santa Fe Railway. Winslow was ideally situated for a resort hotel since everything to see and do in northern Arizona is a comfortable day’s drive. They asked Colter to design the new hotel.

Colter worked for the Fred Harvey Company from 1905 until her retirement in the 1950s. Although famous for her magnificent buildings at the Grand Canyon, she considered La Posada her masterpiece. Here she was able to design or select everything from the structures to the landscape, furniture, maids’ costumes, and dinner china. Many people consider this the most important and most beautiful building in the Southwest.

La Posada opened May 15, 1930, just after the stock market crash of 1929, and remained open for just 27 years. In 1957, the hotel closed to the public. The museum-quality furnishings were auctioned off in 1959. In the early 1960s, much of the building was gutted and transformed into offices for the Santa Fe Railway. Several times over the ensuing 40 years, the building was nearly demolished, as recently as 1994 when the railway announced its plans to move out for good.

The National Trust for Historic Preservation found out about La Posada’s peril and added it to their endangered list — where it came to the attention of Allan Affeldt. But La Posada was never for sale. Allan Affeldt purchased it from the Santa Fe Railway after learning that the property was in danger. He visited the hotel in 1994 and decided to help local preservationists save it. This daunting task entailed negotiating for 3 years with the railroad and resolving various legal, environmental, and financial obstacles. He established La Posada LLC to take on the enormous risk and complexity of the estimated $12 million restoration. Allan and his wife Tina Mion moved in April 1, 1997. Daniel Lutzick became the third partner and General Manager.

Although none of the partners is a hotelier by training, they have accomplished what once seemed impossible—transforming a forgotten but magical place into a living museum.”

More information can be found here:

http://www.laposada.org/hotel_history.html

The entrance:

Everything was so elegant.  This is one of the sitting rooms.  On the right is a hallway with history of the hotel.  Notice the chess set on the table to the right.

The TV room:

The hallway from the first picture:

One of the stairways to the rooms:

The Turquoise Room where we had lunch:

I was impressed when the waiter showed up as we sat and put the cloth napkins in our laps.  When Andy took the last sip of his soda, our waiter was right there with another glass.  WOW!  Our lunch was very good.

From there we continued our tour – this is another sitting room – library, fireplace, piano.  Another WOW!

I took a quick picture of one of the rooms they were cleaning – how nice.  I can just imagine what it was like back in the thirties!

The lobby and gift shop:

From there we took a walk along the back of the hotel and watched the trains go by:

The new owners story:

What a wonderful visit!

From there we took a walk thru town – so many murals:

And these cute signs all thru the town – reminiscent of traveling Route 66:

The town has taken a six block area and is making a heritage area.  This is one of the exhibits:

One of the original churches:

We also found a nice surprise – one of Peter Toth’s Whispering Giants.

“Peter Wolf Toth arrived in Winslow in 1979, intent on adding one of his art works to the city’s landscape. When he left about four months later, he had turned a single ponderosa pine log into a 30-foot tall Indian head, and he left it there for posterity. The work was one in Toth’s series of giant heads that he carved in every state and four Canadian provinces. He called the effort “The Trail of the Whispering Giants,” and dedicated it to what he considered the mistreatment of Native Americans by early settlers and the federal government.”

Another nice surprise was finding this 9-11 memorial with beams from the World Trade Center:

Our last stop was the Winslow Elks Lodge where we met some great local folks and had a great time.

Another wonderful day!

We will continue our adventures tomorrow so stay tuned and enjoy today.

 

September 18, 2013 Floods

When I was in my early teens, I read a condensed book from Reader’s Digest entitled “The Johnstown Flood” by David McCullough.  The images and story of that flood always remained with me.   So today our adventure took us to Johnstown National Memorial and the Johnstown Flood Museum.

A little about the flood:

On May 31, 1889, the South Fork Dam started to break, letting out over 20 million tons of water into the Conemaugh Valley. “It took forty minutes to drain the lake.  Twenty million tons of water took its natural course, dropping 450 feet in 14 miles, at times in a wall 70 to 75 feet high and reaching speeds of 40 miles per hour.  In 57 minutes, the wave engulfed the town.”

In those 14 miles, that wave took out the little towns along the river’s path and all the debris was carried in that way.  In one little town, it flattened a barb wire manufacturer and carried that debris also. “The churning water swept up earth, stones, trees, livestock, houses, trains, and debris as it advanced, adding to its destructive power and horrifying appearance.   Witnesses describe a dark mist which hung over the wave and an ominous sound like thunder.”

The wall of debris and water was 37 feet high when it came into Johnstown.

Here is Johnstown today.  The debris/wave came into Johnstown thru the river valley - center left.  This wave was over 30 feet and leveled the town in less than 10 minutes.  The water continued to the right and wiped out two more towns, then came back thru the town and flowed to the left.  At the bottom of town, there is a stone bridge (forgot to get a picture).  The debris piled up at this bridge, effectively damming the water.  At this point the water was 20’ high through the town.  About 30 minutes later, this debris pile caught fire.  The water eventually drained and was gone by morning but the fire continued to burn for three days.

Imagine the horrors of this devastating flood.  OH MY!

A better history of the flood can be found here: 

http://www.jaha.org/FloodMuseum/history.html

______

There are two museums on the flood.  The National Memorial is located near the dam.  When we walked into the Visitor Center, this is what we saw:

JAW DROPPING!

This was the lake and the moment the dam broke (artist rendition):

We first went on the van tour that took us around the lake and gave us the history of the lake and the dam (and possible causes of the break).

Afterwards, we went to the movie about the dam and the wave going down the valley.  Before the movie started, the ranger came in to tell us that this movie was loud and very graphic.   And it was.   All I could say is Oh My.

Afterwards we made some stops around the lake/dam area.  Here is where the lake was - two miles by one mile - a very large lake:

There are two overlooks on each side of the dam.  The missing area in between is where it broke:

Andy and I took the trail that led down to the lake bed, thru the breech area and back up the other side.  There were stations all along the way that told of the lake and the breech and possible reasons why it brook.

The area surrounding the lake was a popular place for the well-to-do.  They would take the train to Ebensburg, and then come down to the lake by horse and buggy.  This was the road across the lake:

From there we went downtown to the Flood Museum.  This museum was like a continuation of the National one.  The exhibits and movie told the tale of the flood and the aftermath.

Here is the museum:

This is what greeted us as we went thru the doors - WOW!:

We started first with the movie - different from the National movie.  This continued the story of what happened when the flood came and the aftermath.

The Flood Museum Building was beautiful:

Check out the inside:

Our last stop was at the twin towers structural beam.  According to the brochure, Johnstown is one of only five cities in the U.S. that has any actual part of the Towers.

Johnstown has been on my bucket list for many, many years.  For me, I was able to put real places to the images in my mind.  And yes, I did buy the book by David McCullough - “The Johnstown Flood” to read the whole version and not just the condensed version.  I am so glad we did this although it was very emotional for me.

We continue being tourists tomorrow so stay tuned.