SOMETHING A LITTLE DIFFERENT

February – March, 2019

We have an obsession with Atlas Obscura.  It’s our go-to website well ahead of googling “the best of (insert city here),” checking out Roadside Attractions, Off The Beaten Path, The Crazy Tourist and The Road Less Traveled.  Don’t get us wrong – the what-to-do list is a compendium of reviewing all of those websites as well as looking into what’s going on in the city/region while we’re there.  We just must be busy…we love it, and we get to know so much more than sitting in Aimee writing blogs!

Atlas Obscura’s by-line is “(insert number here) cool and unusual things to do in (insert city here).”  There’s even a Gastro Obscura for eaters…not always about adventuresome foods, this website covers stuff like the International Pizza Expo, the best hot dogs across the US, jezebel sauce, and the best food trucks in (insert city here).

Some of the 17 cool and unusual things to do in Phoenix/Mesa are time sensitive.  For example the Native American and First Nation Hoop Dance Contest takes place every February, and the flight of the Mexican Free Tailed Bats occurs only in summer.  Some require reservations (places not all that exciting), and the weather was flat out too nice to spend too much time in museums.  Honestly, some of those things to do were not of interest – let the other travelers do that exploring.

Some, like the Firefly Infinity Mirror Room (Phoenix Art Museum)a nd Governor Hunt’s Pyramid Tomb were included in other blogs.  The Sonoran Dog was the only food listed in Gastro Obscura (how weird is that?), and Tucson wins in the dog race hands down!

But there were 4 cool and unusual places we put on our list.  Those are the Mystery Castle, the Domes of Casa Grande, the turquoise “golden” arches of Sedona, and MacApline’s Diner and Soda Fountain.

Directions told us that if we’d turn south from The Casa Grande Ruins and go 6 miles and then turn west for 1 mile, we’d find The Domes of Casa Grande.  As we were travelling down a dusty dirt road we wondered if we’d find these modern day ruins.  Then there they were!  To us the eerie abandoned buildings, some covered with graffiti, looked like they could be flying saucer-like UFO houses or retro-futuristic ruins inspired by post-war science fiction movies.

What we came to find out is that The Domes were built in the 1970s to be used for computer manufacturing, were never completed, never used, and totally abandoned.  Urban legend has it that witchcraft and devil worship take place within The Domes of Casa Grande, and signs warn explorers to stay away, especially from the abandoned tunnels to the east of the site.  Myth?  In any case we were glad to see The Domes during daylight hours.

OK.  Let’s get this out of the way.  Yes, the McDonald’s in Sedona is the only McDonald’s whose arches are not golden.  They are turquoise!  In the whole wild world – yup – definitely – ‘fer sure – get over it.

Whew – glad that’s done.

Open since 1938, MacAlpine’s Diner and Soda Fountain has kept its original fountain, malt machine, and all the gum that customers have left beneath its counter. Waitresses dressed in 1950s’ outfits and a big smile snap their gum and offer meals to diners in wooden booths, vintage ice cream tables and chairs, or at swivel seats at the counter.

Guests can select old tunes from a jukebox, and it’s a real treat to look around at the vintage décor and hodgepodge of antiques seemingly in every nook and cranny.  It’s as if Al’s Diner from Happy Days and The American Pickers Showroom had a baby!

Brian tells the story of living in Oceanside, NY from ages 7-13, and stopping at Pop’s Candy Store in the mornings on his way to junior high for a buttered hard roll and chocolate phosphate for breakfast.  After school, he stopped for candy or to pick up the latest comic book; he would stop with his dad after a haircut for a soda fountain treat.  MacApline’s is just like Pop’s, serving up classics including malts, phosphates, egg creams, ice cream sodas, root beer floats and ice cream sundaes from the fountain;  short-order food like burgers, meat loaf, grilled cheese, egg or chicken salad, BLT, club sandwiches, etc. out of the kitchen in the back.  No fries back in those days.

Barbara went for her stand-by favorite – an egg salad sandwich, potato salad and pickle.  We had planned on splitting a malt, but with an array of 99 syrup flavors (standards from dill pickle to bubblegum to red velvet), we ended up having a heck of a time choosing one.  Our butter pecan malt came with the requisite whipped cream and a cherry on top, and the extra malt still nestled in its metal mixer cup – thick, rich and delicious!

 

 

The Mystery Castle was built in the 1930s by Boyce Luther Gulley for his daughter Mary Lou. After learning he had tuberculosis, Gulley moved without his family from Seattle to the Phoenix area, and he began arduous task of building the house from found or inexpensive materials.  In his heart was permanently etched the vision of those precious moments when he and his little girl built sand castles on the beach in Seattle.  How she would cry when the tide washed them away. “Please, Daddy! Build me a big and strong castle someday that I can live in.  Maybe you ought to build it in the desert where there is no water.”  He built Mary Lou a native stone castle – eighteen rooms, thirteen fireplaces, parapets and many charming nooks and crannies, then furnished it with southwestern antiques.  Boyce Gully died in 1945 before he could send for his family.  Mary Lou was an adult when she moved into her “castle” with her mother.  Mary Lou shared her “home” by giving guided tours of her beloved Mystery Castle until her death in 2010.

Two things stood out to us as we toured the castle.  Boyce Gulley was not trained as an architect nor in the construction trades; he came to Arizona because of his tuberculous, a disease that affects your breathing and, at that time, shortens your life. Yet he searched and scrounged and was able to take the materials and supplies back to this property to build the castle.  He also mined the property and found a decent supply of gold, copper, and other precious metals.  Secondly, Mary Lou had a sense of whimsy about her, and the castle is filled with cat memorabilia and quaint sayings.

Barbara and Brian