Not far from LA stands a most impressive collection of dinosaurs. Built nearly 30 years ago, motorist can pay $5.00 and walk back into time as well as inside the dinosaurs.(Wow, we are experiencing an earthquake RIGHT NOW. Hold on…!)
All is OK for now…
The dinosaurs were built to attracted tourist to the Wheel Inn Restaurant next door, which opened in 1958. These prehistoric giants are another example of the near bygone art of vernacular architecture. I featured another example of this at the Wigwam Motel along Route 66.
8 comments:
OK...another note of thanks to you, JT. I love all the roadside attractions that you post! Our family would be all over this place...especially my son who Loves dinosaurs! Kinda cool to see these out in the desert.
Wow! I'm glad you came through the earthquake OK! No damage, I hope.
The dinosaurs are great. I went there for the first time in a long time a few years ago and was surprised at the fast food places that popped up between the dinosaurs and the freeway. The other must stop in that area is Hadleys for a date shake.
Ah, my old stomping ground...I was PIO for the City of Palm Springs before I came to Pasadena.
There's a big sign above the name of the restaurant that says "Eat," so the locals in Palm Springs have always included that in the name. "Where shall we dine tonight? How about the Eat Wheel Inn?"
Every year a large group of PIO pals from all over the state get together in Palm Springs for a long weekend of lollygagging and imbibing. We call ourselves Dinosaurs in the Desert (because we're all ancient).
We always make it a point to stop by the Cabazon dinosaurs, which we refer to as "Mecca."
Thanks for the fun post!
Keith, I in fact did stop off at Hadleys and indulged in a date shake--it was fantastic! There was a Jewish girl and her mother at the counter asking if the ice cream was kosher (she explained to me later that she's recently become more observant of the laws). She learned from the manager that the shakes are not kosher, which made her sad. She said she is going really miss those date shakes. I can only imagine.
As for the earthquake: no damage, just another wild ride on the unstable ground of Los Angeles!
Hey my friend! I remember as a kid stopping by these ol' dinos on my long treks across country.
We dont do "dinosaurs" in Australia but we do have a small town fetish for "BIG" structures to attract the tourist dollar: big prawn, big banana, big pineapple, big merino. YOu get the drift ...
Vernacular architecture ... that has a ring to it.
I didn't know the dinosaurs are still open to the public. I'm so happy to see a photo of the fellows where they're not obliterated from view by the surrounding ticky tacky.
Post a Comment