Winslow, Arizona
and
La Posada Hotel & Gardens
Allan Allfeldt and Tina Mion

Many people have only heard of Winslow, Arizona because of the Eagles song Take It Easy. Driving into town on Route 66 you can't miss the life-sized bronze statue of Jackson Browne by Ron Adamson against a backdrop of the two-story trompe-l'oeil building mural featuring the flatbed Ford mentioned in the song. Standin' on the Corner Park (opened in 1999) is a public park surrounded by a wall of bricks, each with a donor's name on it. We stopped for a photo op before heading to the town's historic architectural gem, La Posada Hotel and Gardens.

Further down from the statue, on Second Street, stands the majestic La Posada Hotel, which was our lodging for the night. It was built in 1929 for the Fred Harvey Company--the last of the Harvey House Hotels.The famous Harvey Girls served meals to passengers at La Posada and other train stations all along the Atchison, Topeka, and Santa Fe Route. The Burlington Northern Santa Fe RR still runs behind the hotel...100 trains a day, but only AMTRAK stops at La Posada. The station yards are one mile west. Architect Mary Colter designed the entire complex to present the illusion that this was an aging Spanish Colonial-era estate--she considered La Posada her masterpiece. We entered the hotel through a tranquil garden designed by Allan, landscape architect Christy TenEyck and gardener Patrick Pynes. The garden comprises all native Arizona plants and is a certified National Wildlife Federation Garden designed to attract birds, bees, and butterflies.

La Posada flourished for 27 years, but declining rail traffic and other lodging options along Route 66 led to its closure in 1959. Present owner and preservationist Allan Allfeldt commented, "They built all those Route 66 motel courts in the 40s and 50s, so to stay at La Posada was $5-$12 a night, compared to the $1 rate at the motels. In 1957 they closed the building and in 1959 they auctioned off all the furniture." For the next four decades the railroad used La Posada as its Arizona headquarters and remodeled it...arches filled in, flagstone floors replaced by linoleum, etc. To many it became just another dusty old building. It was announced in 1994 that the Burlington Northern Railroad intended to demolish the hotel.

Soon after the demolition order was issued, the property received recognition for its historical significance. In 1997 Allan, who is also an architect, and his artist wife, Tina Mion purchased the hotel and began the laborious task of restoring it to its original grandeur.

The visions of Mary Colter and customer services of the Fred Harvey Company have been preserved through the diligence, vision, and hard work from this enterprising couple.

In 1936 architect Mary Jane Colter was asked to design the private dining car for the Super Chief, a train that ran from Chicago to Los Angeles. Actress Eleanor Powell was on the inaugural run from Chicago's Dearborn Station on May 12, 1936. She was its first passenger, and so began the railroad's illustrious association with Hollywood. The fine dining room in La Posada today is named after that dining car.

Our dining experience was exceptional. We had two meals in this sophisticated dining room. One dish, in particular, was a feast for both the palette and the eye--The Killer Vegetable Platter...Steamed fresh vegetables, grilled tofu, sweet corn tamale, red caboose mashed potatoes, grilled fresh corn, grilled mild chili stuffed with three cheeses, wild mushroom corn custard and a crispy fried egg roll filled with red, brown and black sticky rice, roasted chili and jicama. We ordered these signature dishes at the suggestion of our waiter, Cliff Fewel, who is also a writer. He contributed to this story about Allan and Tina by sharing a feature article he wrote about the preservation of La Posada when he was the editor of a local magazine. It was refreshing to talk to people like Cliff during this journey on the Route who understand the value of hard work and perseverance and want to let travelers know about those attributes.

www.laposada.org