That Vintage Girl

In the high-desert region of Navajo County in northern Arizona, there is a small quiet town called Winslow.  It was once a thriving community along Route 66, but today it might be missed in the blink of an eye by the average traveler driving along Interstate 40.  However, for the nostalgic traveler, Winslow holds a grand history and many treasured remnants from its glorious past.  Winslow, Arizona was founded in the early 1880s as a divisional terminal for the Atlantic & Pacific Railroad to serve as an operating headquarter and maintenance center for the growing railroad industry.  In 1930, the town celebrated the opening of La Posada, a beautiful hacienda style luxury hotel that was designed by Mary Coulter and built by Fred Harvey for the Santa Fe Railway to serve the surge of train passengers traveling to the Southwest.  In the same decade, America celebrated the opening of U.S Route 66 that connected Illinois to California. The new highway transformed ho...

One of my favorite travel memories is riding the Durango & Silverton steam-powered railroad through the San Juan National Forest in Colorado. The 45-mile railroad connects the historic towns of Durango and Silverton. Along the way, the train travels along the Animas River and providers breathtakingly panoramic views of the Colorado Rockies' wilderness, deep canyons, towering cliffs, and mountain passes.  The Durango & Silverton Narrow Gauge Railroad was built by the Denver and Rio Grande in 1882 to transport silver and gold from the mining town of Silverton to Durango. It was constructed through one of the country's most rugged mountains and was built mostly by hand. It is considered an engineering marvel and the American Society of Civil Engineers designated it a National Historic Civil Engineering Landmark in 1968. It has also been in continuous operation since 1882 making it one of the few remaining continuously used railroads in the United States.  Today, the Duran...

The Castle Green is a magnificent residential building in Pasadena, California that draws the attention of any passerby.  Built in 1898, the grand building, which is surrounded by lavish gardens, has a unique blend of many architectural styles that include Mediterranean Revival, Moorish Revival, Spanish Colonial, and Victorian.  It was built with all the turn-of-the-century charms: a grand lobby and ornate wrought-iron staircase, a ballroom, sun room, and multiple salons with tiled and hand carved fireplace mantels, a man-operated wrought-iron elevator, plaster and wood moldings, and decorative wood detailing.  However, it was originally bult to be a luxury hotel, a product of the Victoria-era luxury  resorts movement that catered to the growing trend of vacationers and health-seekers who searched for warmer climates, cleaner air, and leisure lifestyles.  The mastermind behind the planning of the hotel was Edward C. Webster who built Hotel Green in 1887, which ...