So, last week we did an overnight trip to Winslow, AZ for dinner. More about that in a minute. Winslow, AZ, located along the famous Route 66, was made famous by the Eagle’s song, Take It Easy.
Well, I’m running down the road
tryin’ to loosen my load
I’ve got seven women on
my mind,
Four that wanna own me,
Two that wanna stone me,
One says she’s a friend of mine
Take It easy, take it easy
Don’t let the sound of your own wheels
drive you crazy
Lighten up while you still can
don’t even try to understand
Just find a place to make your stand
and take it easy
Well, I’m a standing on a corner
in Winslow, Arizona
and such a fine sight to see
It’s a girl, my Lord, in a flatbed
Ford slowin’ down to take a look at me
Come on, baby, don’t say maybe
I gotta know if your sweet love is
gonna save me
We may lose and we may win though
we will never be here again
so open up, I’m climbin’ in,
so take it easy
Well I’m running down the road trying to loosen
my load, got a world of trouble on my mind
lookin’ for a lover who won’t blow my
cover, she’s so hard to find
Take it easy, take it easy
don’t let the sound of your own
wheels make you crazy
come on baby, don’t say maybe
I gotta know if your sweet love is
gonna save me, oh oh oh
Oh we got it easy
We oughta take it easy
It’s a three hour drive to WInslow and there’s not a ton to do there other than a few art galleries and a couple of Route 66 gifts shops. The main activity is to, well, stand on the corner and take pictures. The city has made that corner a city park. There is a mural on the wall. There is a real flatbed Ford parked at the curb. And there is a statue of a man with a guitar standing on the corner. Some say it resembles
Jackson Browne, one of the co-authors of the song. In 2016 a second statue was added, this one definitely of
Glenn Frey, the other co-author who died that year.
Click on the gallery preview to bring up a scrollable window that shows all the pictures full size
The gallery preview shows only thumbnails of the photos.
Winslow, Arizona Mural 
Me and Jackson Browne (well, maybe it’s him) 
Glenn Frye Looking East 
“It’s a girl, my Lord, near a flatbed Ford 
On Route 66 
The Route of the Route
After taking the requisite pictures, we proceeded down the road just a half mile to check in at
La Posada Hotel. La Posada is one of
Fred Harvey’s famous Railway hotels (the hotel is also the station for Amtrak’s
Southwest Chief o
n its Chicago to LA run). All the Harvey hotels fell in disuse and disrepair, but this one has now been lovingly restored by Allan Affeldt and his wife, Tina Mion, who has filled the hotel with her haunting art work. They have made the hotel a destination in its own right. Note the camel sculpture in one picture below – the camel played a big role in the American west and the building of the railroad. The rooms are named after famous guests from over the years. Last time we were in the Howard Hughes room; this time it was the Albert Einstein room.
The Entrance 
Amtrak Stops Here 
The Front Door 
At the Entrance 
On the Grounds 
On the Grounds 
On the Grounds 
Room 107 – The Albert Einstein Room 
Elaine in the Room 
Our Sitting Area 
In the Gift Shop 
More Gift Shop 
Art Lines the Hallways 
A Painting I liked 
The Hallways Again
A great hotel needs a great restaurant, and Affeldt convinced renowned California chef John Sharpe, born in the UK, to actually move from Los Angeles in 1999 and open the Turquoise Room in La Posada. Affeldt and his wife oversee every aspect of the restaurant every day, and his southwest inspired menu is nothing short of fantastic. The waitresses dress as “Harvey Girls“, the “young, single, intelligent women who were also of ‘good character,’ and, presumably, had the sort of sense of adventure that propelled them to unknown territory in the 1880s to work as waitresses in Harvey hotels“. Dinner was magnificent, as usual, on this, our fourth visit, and we slept late this morning so we would have room to enjoy breakfast here for the first time. Oh, yum! A final note: neither the hotel nor the restaurant is particularly expensive. Come if you ever get a chance. The extensive wine list is the most reasonably priced one I have ever seen at a first class restaurant.
The Martini Bar at the Turquoise Room 
Vodka Gimlet, La Posada Style 
Tastes Good 
Entrance to the Restaurant 
As You Enter 
The Last Harvey Girl 
Story of the Painting
Our Choices from the Menu
Elaine’s Appetizer: Colorado Elk and Potato Empanadas with Pomegranate Sauce (Seasoned ground Elk with spices, black currants and red chili, wrapped in crispy empanada shells. Served with a Pomegranate sauce and a small green salad with herb vinaigrette and pomegranate gems!) 
Joe’s Appetizer: The Southwestern Caesar (Romaine tossed in our house-made Caesar dressing with roasted pumpkin seeds and parmesan cheese. Garnished with roasted red peppers and a parmesan crusted cracker bread) 
Elaine’s Main: Native Arizona Bouillabaisse with “Chicos” (Saffron scented fish soup with fennel, carrots, leeks, tomatoes, and peppers. Fresh herbs and a touch of spice. Smoked, organic sweet corn “Chicos” give the broth a unique flavor. Halibut morsels, scallops, shrimp, and green lip mussels. Served over a mound of our creamy polenta, topped with fire roasted corn salsa and crispy fried corn tortilla strips) 
Joe’s Main: Churro Lamb Sampler (A bowl of red corn, lamb pozole. A lamb chorizo patty in a pool of red chili sauce. Sweet corn tamale topped with pulled lamb shoulder and green chili. Grilled lamb medallion on a bed of Tuscan kale with a mint and garlic sauce. Served with a fresh vegetable medley. Our Churro Lamb is free-range reared by Antonio and Molly Manzanares in the wild lands of Tierra Amarillo New Mexico. It is a hormone and antibiotic free as well as being a “Heritage Breed” of lamb. We are the only restaurant serving this rare breed on a daily basis.) 
Joe’s Breakfast: Baked Beef Machaca Chilaquiles (Shredded beef machaca with tomatoes, peppers, onions and spices, scrambled with two eggs, smoky red chile tomato sauce, crispy red and blue corn tortilla chips, jalapeno jack cheese. Topped with crema fresca and roasted corn salsa served with black beans) 
Elaine’s Breakfast: Mary Jane’s Omelet (Fresh spinach and mushroom omelet with cheddar cheese and spicy green chili breakfast potatoes)
Read the links provided about the hotel, the restaurant, Fred Harvey, and Harvey Girls – good reading. Especially look at the menus! for the Turquoise Room – you’ll want to come yourself and try them!
Next morning we drove the three hours back home after the wonderful breakfast. The best part about the ride is that it on AZ state route 87 the whole way – no Interstate and no traffic.
