Road Trip – The Winslow Arts Trust (The La Posada Museum), More La Posada, and Dinner at the Turquoise Room

After taking a short break watching the trains go by, we walked over to the area next to the hotel that was once the railroad depot to visit the La Posada Museum, also known as the Winslow Arts Trust Museum.

The Museum goes thru much of the history of Winslow with regards to Route 66, the Railroad, and Native American history and heritage in the area.

We enjoyed our short visit. Especially the menus and items from various Harvey Hotels and restaurants; especially the menus.

How does Thanksgiving Dinner for $2 sound????

Of course travel by car spelled the demise of railroad traffic and the planning of the I-40 meant that Route 66 was going to be bypassed. This foretold the end of an era and the demise of the La Posada.

We enjoyed our little trip back in time and contemplated all these changes as we took one last lap around the grounds of La Posada before checking on our room.

I must admit that Allan Affeldt and his wife Tina Mion have done a wonderful job restoring the hotel, with classic Spanish and Mission Revival Architecture designed by Mary Colter (for those interested, I've been reading this Biography/Coffee Table book about Mary Colter) having gone as far as trying to track down the original furniture. And there are some artistic touches as well.

We really enjoyed exploring, even though some of the art of Tina Mion, which displayed everywhere is not quite to our taste.

By this time, our room was ready. All the rooms are named after different celebrities who have stayed at La Posada. The one we stayed in was the Roddy McDowell (you remember him, right?) room.

Of course while going to our room the Missus had a peek in this one which was being cleaned….

Guess where She wants to stay next time?

We also enjoyed all the historic photos in the hotel.

And of you want even more about the La Posada, here's a wonderful, albeit abridged (the long version can be found playing in the hotel lobby) video that features Allan Affeldt.

Once in our room, we rested up before heading to dinner at the Turquoise Room.

We had early reservations for dinner and were seated promptly. We had really enjoyed lunch at the Turquoise Room on our previous trip to the area and was quite excited to see what was on the menu.

Service was very professional and welcoming. Looking over the menu, the Missus was a bit sad to see that the Lamb Pozole She enjoyed so much for lunch wasn't available. Still, a version of the salad we had enjoyed last time was. We split the Arizona Grown Vegan Salad ($20).

Loved the variety of textures, from crisp kale "chips", to wonderful, almost sweet thinly sliced jicama, the perfectly cooked beans, sweetness from the carrots and green beans, earthy quinoa. We really enjoy this salad.

The Missus surprised me by ordering the Grilled Chicken Breast with Tomatillo Sauce and Tamale ($25)

This was a "airline" chicken breast; which means a boneless breast with the drumette attached. Except for katsu, we almost never order chicken breast when dining out, but this was a n excellent choice. The chicken was moist and tender. I'm thinking that it might have been quickly brined because of the texture of the flesh and the nice flavor which permeated the chicken. The black beans were ono!

I got the "Wild-Wild" Platter ($40). This was not cheap, but we really enjoyed it.

Man, that fried quail was so tasty as was the toothsome but nicely gamy Colorado Venison Medallion. The black current sauce really supported the flavor of the venison. The pork, venison, and bison chili that topped the tamale was quite good as well. Though the tamale itself was really dry and lacking in flavor.