Our time on the road was winding down as Bob and I departed the Grand Canyon National Park on the morning of Thursday, March 31, 2011. We had only one more major city to hit and this would be Phoenix, Arizona, which I would be seeing for the first time. We headed out that morning at around 9:30am, with only the minor distraction of seeing a Smokey the Bear statue delaying us initially. Then we came upon the small Arizona community of Valle, where we were sidetracked for over an hour. The reasons for this: Fred Flintstone and Barney Rubble.
Greeting Smokey just outside the Grand Canyon park
Initially, we drove right past the place, but the antsiness I began to feel signaled that I didn’t want to regret not stopping at this place – this Bedrock City – that looked pretty doggone cool from the outside. It was, simply, a playground adorned with characters from the classic TV series The Flintstones. It was cheesy, cheap, and pretty much falling into shambles – but that’s what made it fun. To me, it represented the classic days of the typical 1970’s tourist trap even more than it represented Fred and Barney themselves.
Yabba Dabba Doo!
There was no way that we were going to bypass breakfast at Fred’s Diner
Breakfast in Bedrock. Bob’s hand was nearly scalded on his burger, so he opted to pose with a french fry.
Still, at first we were only going to have breakfast in the Fred’s Diner portion of the place. But whilst browsing the giant gift store, I noticed that there was even more outside the building. This is where the actual Bedrock City was located, so I began working on Bob to allow us to go in and play for a while. The results were as follows in the pictorial essay below.
The beautiful Bedrock Arizona landscape
Fred allowed me sit in his car for one picture
Peddling pre-historic meat
Part of the entrance fee included the opportunity to feed Rocky the Snake, which I happily did
On top of the dinosaur slide. I felt like the king of Bedrock…
…until I scratched up my hand after going down the slide
Making time with Wilma while Fred was away
Got it bad, got it bad, got it bad…
Feeding weeds to a goatasaurus – which pretty much resembled a regular old goat
We left Bedrock City at about 11:40, making a brief stop at the Planes of Fame Air Museum. We only browsed the gift shop and opted not to pay the admission fee to actually enter the museum. It was about a three-hour drive to finally get to Phoenix and we arrived at the Arizona State Capitol at 3pm.
Construction of the capitol began in 1898, partly to demonstrate the nation was ready to accept Arizona as its 48th and final state on the mainland. Expansions were made in 1918 and 1938, but in 1960 the State Legislature began to move out of the building and into two surrounding buildings, followed by the Governor in 1974 into a newly constructed addition to the building, the State Capitol Executive Tower.
The mainland’s last State Capitol. This was my first one of the year – 17th total.
The 1974 addition to the Capitol, which was really its own separate building, connected by a hallway in the rear of each building
Where the State Senate now meets, if they can get through the picketers
The House of Representatives and a man who clearly believed in his message
The ‘old’ Capitol was then restored back to its original appearance and opened as a museum. Rooms that we visited during out tour included the offices of the Governor, the Mine Inspector, and the Livestock Sanitary Board. Methinks the latter two offices no longer exist.
The great seal of the state of Arizona on the rotunda floor
The old Governor’s office in the original building
With the painting of George W.P. Hunt, Arizona’s first Governor. There was a replica of this man behind the Governor’s desk in the office.
Our tour guide shows off a flag that was waved by Teddy Roosevelt’s Rough Riders
The so-called six flags of Arizona: Spain, Mexico, New Mexico territory, Arizona territory, the State of Arizona, and American flag with its 48th star added to indicate their induction into the Union
At the head of the old House Chamber
One of the other cool things that was located in the Capitol was a tribute to the USS Arizona – the battleship named in honor of the 48th state’s admission into the Union, and was later was sunk during the Japanese attack on Pearl Harbor. Artifacts included some items that were removed from the ship prior to the sinking, some recovered after, and a giant piece of the ship itself.
With a piece of the USS Arizona
A life ring from the USS Arizona launch boat
Before we left, Bob and I made an effort to either meet the current Governor Jan Brewer or to get a photo in her office in the Executive Tower. Unfortunately, we weren’t able to accomplish either, so settled for a photo in the reception area.
This very mean looking person would not allow us to enter the office of the Governor
We left the State Capitol at 4:30, discovering that it was now 96 degrees outside. This was a far cry from the temperature of 35 that we had experienced just five days earlier at Zion National Park. We had an appointment to meet up with Bob’s friend Bryan at 7pm, so we had some time to kill in the local cemeteries.
At the tiny burial grounds of the Episcopal Christ Church of the Ascension in Paradise Valley, Arizona, were housed the ashes of five-term U.S. Senator and Republican nomination for President in 1964, Barry Goldwater. Bob and I also visited the Greenwood Memory Lawn Cemetery back in Phoenix where legendary gossip columnist Walter Winchell is interred. Bob continued his quest for Medal of Honor recipients by visiting Oscar Palmer Austin and Robert Cox. In between the two grave visits, I found a stereotypical cactus with which to get a picture.
At the grave of Senator Barry Goldwater
A trip to Arizona wouldn’t be complete without finding a cactus to my liking. Incidentally, this is someone’s front yard.
The grave of gossip columnist Walter Winchell
We got into downtown Phoenix and maneuvered our way to a parking garage, ignoring where the GPS told us to go, in order to get to my 7th all-new Hard Rock Cafe of the year – making it my 36th overall. Here we met Bob’s former student Bryan, who had graduated in the class of 1988. The four of us had a nice dinner and I got my favorite dish, the Hickory BBQ Bacon Burger. After browsing the memorabilia, we departed in search of a motel (also scouting a notable TV location that I will discuss in the next posting).
Hard Rock Cafe #36, my fifth new Hard Rock of the year
Entering Hard Rock Phoenix, lest you be confused about where I’m at
Chowing down with Bob and his friend and former studen Bryan
The final piece of evidence that this is in fact the Phoenix Hard Rock
Gold Records for the Beatles’ singles Can’t Buy Me Love and A Hard Day’s Night and a John Lennon worn jacket
Tommy Shaw used this Fender Stratocaster on Styx’ Kilroy Was Here tour
It wasn’t all that easy to find one that we liked in a safe part of town, so we ended up at the Best Western Airport Inn which was a bit further out of the city than where we started searching. We’d have just a couple more things to see before arriving back in California for the conclusion of the road trip.
The Utah/Arizona road trip will continue…
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