FALL RIVER MILLS AREA

Why Folks Live Here

The breathtaking silence of a Mt. Shasta sunset.

A heavenly Lassen sunrise.

Bountiful farmlands.

Appreciation of history.

Last but not least for visitors: classic guest lodging and good eats.

Tonopah

It's All Mine

With less than 3,000 people Tonopah ought not to have such a big town look. You can credit silver mining as the primary cause. A map of all the shafts and tunnels would show you an underground that looks like swiss cheese. Over 1.5 million in silver bullion was produced in the early 1900s. The town went bust during the depression but not before the downtown developed the character it has. As an indicator of its return to better economic health, the Mizpah hotel, at right, has been restored and turned into a very nice boutique hotel.

A new boom is on in mining and construction. This jumble of RVs and manufactured housing is mostly for all the new workers drawn to the area. The housing units come fully furnished. Many of those staying here work on the construction of a new solar array collector about 15 miles north of town. Others work at the Tonopah Test Range where the Navy has developed the F-117. Renewed interest in both gold and silver also continues to draw interest and investors.

Where once there were miners, there were also cattle and dairymen to supply them. Though this barn is nearly 100 years old, the dry air of the desert has helped preserve it.

The provenance of this roadside structure is unknown but with lumber being scarce, masons found good work in Tonopah. The town also benefits today by being the half way point between Reno and Las Vegas. The town has also one of the best mining museums found in the West.

PALM SPRINGS #2

Resort Life - Day & Night

Things have changed in the Palm Springs area in so many ways over the years. There used to be no high rise resorts, now there are several. Marriott's Esmeralda Resort looks like it would be right at home in Hawaii.

Same place but different in the evening. If the resort looks empty, it's because it was. In the lull between the Christmas holidays and the first big sporting event, most properties experience less than 30% occupancy. As we were leaving it was obvious that things were already ramping up. Once called the Bob Hope Classic, golfers and spectators were now arriving for the Humana Challenge.

To stand out now, some older properties feel that they have to be really noticed. I love it how this palm tree still upstages the building.

Add a little light at night and you've added even more magic to the desert.

This stylish structure is a clubhouse and restaurant for a 36 hole golf course.
Most everything of recent construction vintage was sleek and stylish, very little retro.

Though there were guests at our resort, cold nights kept many indoors. Usually temperate, even in January, we experienced cooler daytime highs than usual with the thermometer never getting higher than the mid 50s. As the sun fell on those extra cool nights, a highly mobile army of hotel groundskeepers rolled out to place shrouding on all the seasonal flowers.

Even the bar crowd was sparse. 

BRUNSWICK, GA #2

Back From The Water

Jekyll Island is a place of dowagers. That's the way these wonderful old turn-of-the-century buildings strike me - stately and very much in possession of their aging faculties. The Jekyll Island Club was once the winter playground of the very rich. The original clubhouse above was built in 1888 and is still in use as a hotel.

As part of the Jekyll Island Club Historical District there are a number of preserved "cottages." This is Moss Cottage built by a founder of The Great Atlantic & Pacific Tea company, more commonly known as A & P. As the original founders died off, the cost of maintaining these palaces often became too much to bear for the heirs. 

Another "cottage" is Indian Mound, built by one of the Rockefellers. Many of the remaining original resident's heirs abandoned the area from the lingering effects of the Depression and suffered further when the US Government closed the area due to the threat of bombardment. The Historic District has just spent over a quarter million dollars restoring this 24 room mansion. Proceeds come from tours and donations.

As its name suggests Faith Chapel serves all faiths. For many years during WW II most of the mansions and cottages sat empty. Most homes lost furnishings and decor. This church has two stunning stained glass windows that were left, despite other parts of the church being ransacked. How high were the high fliers that formed the Club and built their own cottages? Many of the winter residents came together (in secret, natch) to create today's Federal Reserve System. 

Not all of the structures have been renovated. This Italianate tabby concrete house remains untouched. After the abandonment that the war years brought, the State of Georgia attempted to run the Club as a public resort but failed. Though the Radisson chain brought new life back into the Clubhouse in the mid 1980s, the Jekyll Island Club now is operated as a historical landmark.

Another bit of history from the heyday of the Jeckyll Island Club was the placement of the first Transcontinental Telephone call. It was actually a three legged call between Alexander Graham Bell in San Francisco, Thomas Watson in New York City and the head of A T & T, Theodore Vail, on Jekyll Island.

The grounds are a showplace for flora too. Though commonly misnamed as a palm tree, this is a Sago Cycad. The red seeds peeking out from the center denote that this is a female plant. They are extremely toxic.

103 YEARS YOUNG

The Stately Stanley 

There are two "Stanley Steamers." One is the carpet cleaning company that many of us are familiar with; the other is an early automobile that not many of us have seen. Unlike the later cars that Henry Ford and Walter Chrysler built, the Stanley Motor Carriage Company made popular early steam powered automobiles.

1909: A Car & Hotel

The Stanley Hotel came about when one of the founding Stanley twins, Freelan, plagued by tuberculosis, followed doctor's orders to seek out a drier and higher climate. He and his wife Flora came to Estes Park and thrived. Took just two summer seasons to build the hotel

So THIS is Neo-Georgian!

With a touch of Rocco. For many years it was a seasonal hotel - when the first snows came, they shuttered in Inn - it had no room heat! This from a man who well understood steam. Just out of sight at left is an expansive sculpture garden full of bronze animals.

Copper Everywhere

This is the bar. Both tables and ceiling are copper clad. The piece at far right is a translucent silhouette of the nearby Rockies. The hotel sits close to the boundary of Rocky Mountain National Park.

The Music Room

Imagine John Philip Souza lighting up this room with a band-full of sound. He did so annually for almost 25 years. Theodore Roosevelt, the Emperor and Empress of Japan made trips here. More recent visitors have been novelist Stephen King and actor Jim Carrey. The Stanley Hotel has a big following among those who come to study its reputation as being haunted by multiple ghosts. Some have checked in but have never checked out.