Exploring Spots on Route 66 Part 3

We spent quite a bit of time exploring the Route 66 museum and then walked around to the front of the building (facing the railroad tracks) to explore what was left of the Harvey House.


I'm sure I don't have to tell you that I love this building - I love all old buildings!


This building looks huge, doesn't it? Back in the day it was actually twice as big!


I spied this rotunda and zoomed it on it.



I was surprised to see just how close to the tracks we were.


The restaurant was once very opulent and was called Casa del Desierto which means House of the Desert.




Now we are inside the building which currently houses the Barstow Chamber of Commece.


I turned and saw an open door so naturally I headed straight for it.


This large room is rented out for weddings.


Now here's a shot of some Harvey Girls.


This is what their uniforms looked like.


Oh, and there were rules...


This was once the great restaurant, as you'll see in the next shot.



These gorgeous copper sconces are original to the building!


Next, I wandered upstaris to explore a bit. Only one of the rooms has been restored at this point. What you are going to see is the Station Master's Suite. Also, note that someone famous once stayed here!


Now, for the life of me, I can't imagine WHY the Station Master would need a vending machine in his room but I'll go with it. I actually remember using a machine exactly like this one as a kid whenever we would stop for gas in Arizona on our way to Texas.






And now, the "famous" bathroom!


As you can see, they're still doing some work on it.


The hallways have been restored so you can get a pretty good idea of what it looked like back in the day.


I walked down to the end of the hall to take a peek and I found a lovely veranda. I'm sure in the days before air conditioning this was a very popular place.


Curiosity got the best of me and I couldn't resist trying one of the doors. Much to my surprise, it was unlocked! I opened it and found this...As I mentioned, the restoration of this building is ongoing. If you look closely, you can see on the floor where the walls used to be. I would love to visit again in a year or so to see the progress of the restoration.


Now we're back outside and enjoying a lovely little garden with old train cars.


Around the other end of the building, we found a railroad museum...but as I soon found out, there was a lot more in there than just train stuff!



Call me twisted, but this cracked me up.


So you ask, just WHAT is a Date Nail Collection? Don't feel bad - I didn't know either.


OK, the suspense is over - THIS is a Date Nail Collection.


I took a close-up...and then I got dizzy.


Now, this is a blast from the past!


We left the museum and walked back the way we came...it is a really cool place and I highly recommend a visit to the Barstow Harvey House.


For more info on Harvey Houses, click here.

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