Almost two years in the planning and our girl trip to Arizona begins tomorrow. Tonight, Gwen and Cindy have arrived to spend the night and Mister is with us for dinner at Ephesus.
4th - Early morning pickup of our rental car --- quite a funny story as the plan was for both Gwen and I to rent it, but we went in the wrong way, got into trouble and she wound up dropping me off and heading back to the house. I have the car now and it's raining. Wonderful.
Stephannie arrives and we are soon loaded and ready to depart. Cheers to all! Bye, Mister.
The plan is to meet up with the rest of our gang in Cisco, which happens at JT's Ranch Quilt Shop. We're all together now - three car caravan. Ramona, Gwen, Sharman, Stephannie, Linda, Debi, Sherri, Cindy and myself.
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Strolling around the shop - some fun moments.
I'm starting out right - no purchases. It is not my intent on this trip to bring home a ton of new projects as I have soooo many that I'm behind on as it is. After the quilt shop - 2 cars decide to go and check out the Old Zoo Nature Trails. I visited here a few years ago and shared some info and more pictures in a blog post - here is the LINK.
A little history: When a dam went up on the outskirts of the North Texas town of Cisco during the oil boom in 1923, officials there decided the hulking cement structure could double nicely as a zoo. Someone donated a deer, another contributed a bear, and eventually an assortment of animals moved into damp quarters next to the 96-foot edifice that forms Lake Cisco, which still supplies drinking water for the city.
Apparently, no one thought much about how captive animals might fare in the enclosures at the foot of the buttress-style dam. It didn’t take long to figure out they didn’t like it, and within a year the menagerie was moved to a nearby bluff. Through the twenties and into the thirties, tourists came to see the creatures, to stay in stone cottages, and to swim in the huge man-made pool that opened a few years later below the dam. Unfortunately, this heyday was short-lived. According to yellowed news clippings from the time, the bear was poisoned in an unsolved crime, the deer died, and the zoo eventually lapsed into disrepair.
Although the pool—which its owners once billed as the world’s largest man-made swimming pool—continued to operate into the seventies, brush, vines, and cactus slowly consumed the remains of the zoo. We're not going on the trail much further than the zoo itself today, but if you check the above link, you'll see much more, including the pool.
In 2021, a nonprofit called Students, Athletics, Families and Education, or SAFE, got permission to clear part of the city-owned property. Volunteers uncovered old pathways and benches, built two hiking paths, and invited the public to take a look.
I haven't been near as good at photos lately - something I definitely need to work on during this trip, so I'm getting started. What do I see?
It's not the best day out - but we're giving all we've got.
The first time I came here, I was certain that this sign was a joke. Only this time did it sink in that it was a warning for a low tree branch. Yep, I can be pretty thick sometimes.
The spirit of the west lives on in a couple of statues next to the Hotel.
Opened on October 1, 1930, Hotel Settles was built by Will R. and Lillian Settles, following the discovery of oil on their ranch. Designed by architect David Castle, the building was constructed as a solid concrete, 15-story, 150-room hotel with a restaurant and a pharmacy. At the time, it was the tallest building between El Paso and Ft. Worth. The Settles family owned the hotel for two years, but sold it when the Great Depression gripped the nation and their oil revenues diminished. The hotel went through several owners in the ensuing years.
At one time the hotel was owned by John Birdwell, an early Big Spring settler, community leader and Texas Ranger. Mr. Birdwell was also the man who nicknamed historical resident Joseph Heneage Finch, the 7th Earl of Aylesford in Great Britain. After a rather scathing scandal in the royal court, the Earl decided to retire to the ends of the earth to drown his sorrows until his final days. In his mind, Big Spring was just the right place. He arrived at the hotel, proclaimed his royalty, and described the greatness of his royal friends. However, Mr. Birdwell interjected with, “You know, that just ain’t gonna fly around here. We’ll just call you ‘The Judge’.” “The Judge” became quick friends with the locals, and spent many hours playing cards and drinking libations. Noted poet, journalist and literary critic James Fenton, writing about Finch’s significance to history as an example of the remittance men of the Old West, wrote, “On the United States frontier, where men were expected to be rugged individualists, these outcasts were generally not admired. Finch was an exception.” Over the following years, the Settles Grill was frequented by numerous famous guests such as Elvis Presley, Lawrence Welk, and President Herbert Hoover, as well as Jerry Allison, Big Spring native and drummer for Buddy Holly and The Crickets.
As the energy crisis of the 1970s came to an end, West Texas suffered from a very large oil bust. The effect on the local economy was staggering as business after business shut down. The historic Hotel Settles was unable to sustain operations as well as repairs to a building that was now more than 50 years old. Sadly, the hotel closed its doors in 1982. Over the next 30 years, the property fell into further decline. Much of the original interior stone, wood and metal was removed by various owners, and the building was inhabited by pigeons. Fortunately, the hotel garnered much in the way of admiration and attention from the local community, and in the 1990s, a program was funded to purchase and replace most of the broken windows in the building. With each window costing more than $130, it was an astounding show of support for the hotel. In 2006, G. Brint Ryan purchased the hotel. Ryan, who grew up in Big Spring, was determined to revitalize this aging landmark, and invested $30 million in its renovation. Under his guidance, the building was impeccably restored, and designed with the rich history of the area in mind. The original Grand Ballroom was fully refurbished, with meticulous detail given to its historic context. Other rooms were restored and given names in homage to their regional history. For instance, our T & P Meeting Room was named for the Texas & Pacific Railroad, critical to the growth of the community in its formative years. The Cosden Meeting Room recalls the importance of our local oil industry, the Birdwell Conference Room is in tribute to John Birdwell and the Judge’s Chambers are in homage of the legendary Judge. Above the landing of the hotel’s grand staircase, you’ll find a portrait of Ryan’s mother, Virginia Ann Wilson Ryan, who inspired her son to do difficult tasks the right way. The Hotel Settles is living proof of this inspiration.
Take a peek around.
Group Photo.
Time to say good-bye to Kelly and move on to our next stop. There is a Stonehenge Replica in Odessa that many have never visited.
The officially titled "University of Texas of the Permian Basin Stonehenge" was built in the summer of 2004 by stoneworkers Connie and Brenda Edwards. The University thought that a nearly-full-size Stonehenge would make a good teaching tool -- and an alluring Druidic tourist attraction for the city.
Although the original Stonehenge took 2,000 years to complete, this one went up in only six weeks. Connie Edwards reportedly said at the time that he'd be happy just to build Stonehenges for the rest of his life. Made of limestone slabs up to 19 feet tall and 20 tons apiece, Permian Basin Stonehenge is slightly shorter than the original, but it's exact in horizontal size and astronomically accurate. Although a plaque in front of the 'henge claims that the replica is "as it appears today in England," that's not exactly true. The slabs are blocky leftovers donated by a quarry, so they're approximations, not duplicates; the Stonehenge stands in a circle of reddish Texas gravel, not the green Salisbury Plain; and the Heel Stone, which marks the summer solstice, had to be stuck in the ground across a street.
Still, all in all, it's a decent replica.
Once we get the fee figured out - money in a box - we are able to check it out.
Cindy and I are ready for an adventure.
Well, the sightseeing for the day has come to an end and we're still in Texas. We have rooms booked at the Fairfield in Monahans for tonight. No pics of rooms - dinner was Mexican and no pics there either as not a great experience. I did discover a good additional use for gifts though - not as good as the original use, but it works. See ya tomorrow.
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