Castle Hot Springs: Arizona Oasis

Western Art & Architecture, December/January 2019-20

The first time I heard about Castle Hot Springs Resort was shortly after moving to Arizona in 1981. At the time, the historic location in the Bradshaws north of Phoenix was chainlinked, and the owner, Arizona State University, wasn’t sure what was going to happen to it. Fortunately, Scottsdale-based developer and resort manager, Westroc Hospitality, working with current property owners, Mike and Cindy Watts of Phoenix, have just reopened it. The result is magnificent: Triumphantly renewed is the 123-year-old property once frequented by the Vanderbilts, Pews, Rockefellers and the Wrigleys. Teddy Roosevelt was here during his visit to dedicate the nearby dam on the Salt River named for him; his cousin Franklin Delano followed. John F. Kennedy was here as a recuperating WW II Navy veteran before he was president. Artist Maxfield Parrish and Bauhaus founder Walter Gropius also signed in. Come up for a few days and take the waters –– or at least read the story!

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Hassayampa Inn

Western Art & Architecture, December 2018/January 2019

Approaching its 100th anniversary, Prescott’s grande-dame, the Hassayampa Inn, is as grand today as then: “Infinite planning and real artistry have been employed to make the color effect in the lobby blend perfectly. To achieve this end, nothing has been overlooked, from the tile coloring in the spacious fireplace and the wall borders to the golden hued walls themselves,” enthused the reporter for the Prescott Evening Courier, November 19, 1927, on the just-opened hotel. The 67-room Spanish Colonial Revival/Italianate four-story is in mile-high Prescott, about 90 miles from Phoenix. Its adjacent Peacock Room serves fine food and drinks. A visit to the Hassayampa is a visit into the history of the Arizona’s first Territorial capital, founded in 1864 by emissaries of President Lincoln. Take a look inside the story, and the hotel, and enjoy.

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Wanderings: Tombstone

Western Art & Architecture, December/January 2018

For anyone with a love for American history and folklore, Tombstone, Arizona, is still very much Wanted! For a few lucrative years, the “Town Too Tough to Die” was Eldorado for goldstrikers, ore assayers and grubstakers. Here in 1881, the “Gunfight at the O.K. Corral” transpired, mismatching the formidable Earps, Wyatt, Virgil and Morgan, and Doc Holliday, against cattle-rustling cowboys, the McLaurys and Clantons, including 19-year-old Billy Clanton, not too tough to die. Silver ecstasy had found Indian scout and prospector Ed Schieffelin, who established the Tombstone Gold and Silver Mining Company and found other lodes such as Lucky Cuss, Tough Nut, Grand Central and Contention. Today, The Good Enough Mine Tour takes you underground daily to experience this. You can also visit the notorious Bird Cage Theatre and the Tombstone Historic Courthouse and enjoy boutiques and restaurants and, of course, witness brazen gunfights. Hands up!

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The Great Ride of Our Parks

Highline Autos, August 2016

In 2016, our National Park Service celebrated its Centennial, and what rides it has been for the millions of visitors who have enjoyed them: on horse, by stagecoach, car, bus and boat. Included in the system are 412 areas: national parks, monuments, battlefields, military parks, historical parks, historic sites, lakeshores, seashores, recreation areas, scenic rivers and trails and the White House. To celebrate the event, we visited a few of the parks in the West to learn about the methods visitors have used to get to them and enjoy their stays during these first 100 years. President Theodore Roosevelt’s words at at the Grand Canyon May 6, 1903, resonate still: “Leave it as it is. Man cannot improve on it; not a bit. The ages have been at work on it and man can only mar it. What you can do is to keep it for your children and your children’s children and all who come after you.”

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Covered in Cool: Colorado in Summer

Arizona Foothills, July 2015

Colorado may be cool in the winter, but the Centennial State is hot in the summer, too, with many activities for everyone in the family. World-famous resorts and areas such as Winter Park, Powderhorn Mountain Resort, Purgatory Resort, Aspen Snowmass and Telluride offer top-quality accommodations, diverse restaurants and proximity to cities, towns and airports. Mountain biking is big, as is wine. Enjoy the mountains, lakes, National Parks, golf, shopping, ballooning and paragliding, tennis, rafting, and music and other cultural festivals. In addition, there’s ziplining, bungee trampolines, climbing walls and miniature golf, river sports, camping, horseback riding and destination excursions such as the historic train ride from Durango to Silverton along the raging Animas River. The locals say, ‘They came for the winter and stayed for the summer.’”

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