Peggy Sue's 50's Diner - Yermo, CA

One of our favorite place to stop is located 10 miles north of Barstow on the I-15 Interstate.  It is at the Ghost Town Road exit, Peggy Sue's original roadside diner. 

The diner was built in 1954 with 9 counter stools and 3 booths. The owners moved to Southern California in 1981 working for Knott's Berry farm and the movies. In 1987 they reopened the diner to restore and preserve it in its original state. With their background working in the movies, it's the place to display their extensive collection of movie and TV memorabilia.

Inside is cozy atmosphere with great 50's music playing, servers in 50's attire and good homemade food. We only stopped for breakfast due to timing of our travel.

The support from locals, truck drivers, military, and tourists (like us), the diner prospered and became popular so they expanded the diner into a real Old-Fashioned Tourist stop. The diner has 50's style restaurant, store with curious and memorabilia, Soda Fountain, Ice Cream Parlor, and Pizza Parlor.

In the back, we took a stroll in their own Dinosaur Park with larger-than-life Dinosaur Sculptures, Waterfalls, Fountains, Ponds, Grass and Trees. It brought some old memories and we made some new ones. Good food and nice place to stop.

Thanks for traveling with us.

Blessings!

The Carpenters Apartment Complex - Downey, CA

While visiting Nan's family in Downey, CA, we visited 1970 hit music due Karen and Richard Carpenter's apartment buildings.

The Carpenters are a brother/sister powerhouse pop act, the angelic clean duo was responsible for some of the most wonderful ballad music of the 70s. However, at the hight of their fame in 1983, tragedy stuck when lead singer Karen Carpenter succumbed to heart failure brought on by a years-long battle with anorexia, a disease that wasn't widely reported on at that time.

Apartments? After breaking into the music business in the early 70s, Karen and Richard purchased apartment buildings as an investment in the booming Las Angeles, CA housing market. They purchased these two adjacent buildings in their hometown of Downey, CA - formerly known as The Geneva - in 1971, and splashed the names of their biggest hits across the sides. 

While the buildings are no longer owned by the Carpenters, they're still functioning and have (obviously) kept their spirits alive by honoring the original names. As we were taking photos of these two buildings, we wonder whether the people living here are aware that their building is stamped with the lyrics from one of music's greatest singer.

The apartments are actually well groomed, pretty retro looking and as a Carpenters fan, nice experience. Thanks for traveling with us. Blessings!