THE GREAT WALGENKIMS

The Walgenkims

Young, Mercy, and Flora.

Young and Flora.

Flora, Young, and Sarah.

THE SLEEPY LAGOON MOTEL in BEAVER, UTAH. WE SPENT 1 NIGHT HERE IN 1967

When I find new comments or photographs of the motel, I will link to them or cite them.  So if you're back for a second look, be sure to check out the updates.  

Beaver, Utah

On Friday, December 18, 2014, Joe Walgenbach wrote

Yeah, me, Lorraine & Trent stopped at this hotel back in 2006 when we visited Uncle Bob [a few years] before he died. It was pretty run down. There were still a few ducks in the pond though. I think some of the rooms were in the process of being torn down when we went by there. Great pics. I think that old brick building across the street was still there too.

I answered him:

Well, the main office and a few of the rooms of the motel are definitely torn down, which is why at first I hesitated that this was the same motel.  The pond is unmistakable except for the leafless tree.  In that condition, the place looks more like the setting for an Edgar Allan Poe story.  Back in 1967 with Dad and family, I remember staying in a room that was closer to the main office.  And, yes, there still are a few ducks in that pond.  motel.  Good on him.  

UPDATE, Tuesday, January 18, 2022.  Jacob Barlow does a terrific job of grabbing up-close shots of the motel.  Good on him.  

Postcard of the Sleepy Lagoon Motel.  No date is given.

UPDATE, Tuesday, January 18, 2022

Ken over at his Flickr page has 3 good shots of the motel--here [this shot has extended comments and additional pics], here, and the night shot here.  I provide separate links because each photograph has a different set of comments that you should also read.  He's got a night shot of the motel that is absolutely rare.  Perhaps even better are his account of the dates of the motel.  He writes, 

This picture and the 2 after it show the different stages of great little motel that stood in Beaver, Utah since at least the early 1950s.

Sadly the office and front part of this motel caught fire in the Spring of 2005 and has been closed ever since.

This shot was taken in about 2002 when the motel was still in full operation.

Okay, this summer postcard of the Sleepy Lagoon Motel in Beaver, Utah is more in line with my picture of it from 1967.

This shot above and the one below show clearly how the Main Office to the motel is gone perhaps along with a couple of rooms.

Across the street from the Sleepy Lagoon Motel.   

This building stood across the road from the motel.  Such an iconic look that I could not pass it up.

I took these two shots parked in front of Cedar City, Utah Middle School.  The mountain peaks were much taller than either of these shots tell.

UPDATE, Tuesday, January 18, 2022

Clearly, I am not the only one with fond memories of this motel.  

EDWARDS DRIVE-IN THEATER, ARCADIA, CA

Not even sure that this is the drive-in at Live Oak and Peck in southern Arcadia.  I believe it is. 

Well, that was my first take upon seeing this photo.  I mean the sign obviously looked familiar, but the background was no help.  Meaning the context was missing.  And the double bill of the Boy with Green Hair and That Wonderful Urge were released in 1948, a full 9 years before I was even a glimpse in my daddio's eye.  But that absolutely is the theater that my fantastic father took us to.  See here for further comment on that.  

Movies that I saw here were Disney's Swiss Family Robinson, 1960, so clearly I was a 3-year-old child.  The theater must have shown it years later because I knew of the film, meaning I was much older when I'd seen it here at the Edwards. Probably 1967.  And on another sleepy night, I recall watching the 1955 Disney animated film, The Lady and the Tramp  Was not impressed.  But do recall something special about the visuals. Clearly, Disney used to do show reruns frequently.  

I do recall the invigorating aroma of dairy cows nearby, across the street, I think, which was either a Driftwood Dairy or an Alta-Dena Dairy. 

SEAFOOD BROILER, BAKED EGG, BACON, & CHEESE and WHEAT GERM

DAD'S FAVORITE FOODS

In retirement, my dad made the effort to eat healthy according to his understanding of which foods made him healthy.  His favorite place in the world to eat was the Seafood Broiler.  There was one in Pasadena, where I worked for the first eight months of 1988.  But he really loved Glendale because his friend, Marilyn lived nearby and he could enjoy a lunch or dinner with her and Frank.  But my dad ordered the same thing each time.  He ordered the Atlantic salmon, coleslaw, au gratin potatoes, and a glass of Chablis.  And he was in heaven.  On rare occasions would he order a Rosé or a Cabernet Sauvignon.  

For breakfast, Dad would regularly prepare a quiche.  He didn't call it a quiche, and it certainly was not a quiche in the traditional sense, for it lacked a pie crust.  Actually, his dish looked better than a quiche.  A quiche is almost party food or something you have for brunch.

Dad's quiche consisted of two baked eggs, strips of bacon chopped up and sprinkled on top, cheese, usually a yellow cheddar, some milk, and I think that's it.  What did it look like?  Well, at the start, it looked like that.

  At home, he would also try to eat well.  For one, he used to eat Wheat Germ.  I think he ate it for the purported Vitamin E.  Love that guy.  Loved his efforts.  He was relentless with trying to do the right thing.

SPENCER TRACY

Spencer Tracy, 1900-1967, was not my favorite.  Good actor but I just didn't understand his humor when I was a kid.  When I watch him today I am impressed by his repartee with Katherine Hepburn. 

What I don't like is this shot in "Adam's Rib," where he eats a gun, albeit one made of licorice trying to make the act funny.  But there's nothing funny about eating a gun even if it is in jest.  But this is what Hollywood does.  It adopts globalist, anti-second amendment position and inserts it into movies, songs, and scripts.  What's wrong with Hollywood actors doing stupid things is that their actions, though scripted, are suggestive, meaning that they give out the wrong message.  Guns are used for self-defense and survival.  Not for self-destruction as is implied by the scene however dismissive or whatever disregard Hollywood producers give to important matters of life.  Hollywood will never be held accountable to anyone offing themselves as this scene suggests.  The suggested act, of course, by Spencer is one of suicide, an act witnessed by terrified Katherine Hepburn and David Wayne, 1914-1995, the latter of whom I watched recently in an older episode of Banacek. But we're supposed to laugh at Tracy's gesture, believing it to be a joke. Ha, ha, ha.  So funny.  Yeah, right. It is despicable on the part of the writers, producers, and directors, anti-life and anti-Christian.  

This is not the only time that we've seen this happen.  It happens all the time.  Remember the first Lethal Weapon, 1987, where Gibson is drinking in his trailer, watching a Bugs Bunny leading Christmas carols, loading his gun and turning it on himself?  The scene reveals that he is distraught over the loss of his wife.  That was a full 40 after Tracy's trick.  So this is a theme that runs through gun-control Hollywood.

LIONEL BARRYMORE

Lionel Barrymore, 1878-1954, was one of my favorite actors.  He had versatility.  He had a great voice that could dominate a scene. Though I have always loved him as the inimitably avaricious, Mr. Potter, in "It's a Wonderful Life," 1947, I really enjoyed him in "You Can't Take It With You."  I love the activity in the household.  It was busy and reminded me of the Walgenbachs growing up.  Every time I think of "It's a Wonderful Life," I think of my mother's house on Elda, where a nativity set would be lit and adorned with a few Christmas tree boughs.  A silver star would occasionally be set atop the manger.  My mom loved Christmas--the music, the holiness, the quiet reflection between herself, her mom and dad, and God.  The following is one of my favorite scenes from You Can't Take It With You, 1938.  The movie stars Jean Arthur and Jimmy Stewart.  We all know Jimmy Stewart and his various roles.  But I have not tracked Arthur's career as closely.  She seems to take roles of a deferential wife, a vulnerable woman who wants the things belonging to a woman--wife, mother, children--with flashes of genius that persuade her love interests to commit to her.  Her voice is a fragile one that somehow has authority over men in crisis and having a difficult time with critical decisions that places dignity on the line.

DONALD O'CONNOR

Donald O'Connor, 1925-2003, was one of mom's favorites. Few entertainers gave her more delight to watch than Donald O'Connor.  Watching Donald O'Connor dance puts me right back in my Mom's company and it seems like she has never left.

JIMMY DURANTE

Jimmy Durante, 1893-1980, aka James Francis "Jimmy Durante."   Dad always shared with delight how much he loved Jimmy Durante. He liked Durante's easy, fun style of singing. He enjoyed the song as well as performing. And Dad loved his style.  Later in Durante's life he was known primarily for one-liners and for singing "Inka Dinka Doo."  Dad's comment seemed to defend Jimmy Durante, I think because he was not taken seriously as a singer.

Once upon a time they played that
Fo, lo, dee, oh, do
But that was long ago
Then they started singin' that
Boo, boop, ee, do

But they got tired of that, you know
Now here's a little tune that's goin' 'round
You can hear it all over town
They're singin'

Ink, a dink a dink, a dink a dink, a dink a doo
Oh what a tune for croonin'
Ink a dink a dink, a dink a dink, a dink a doo
It's got the whole world swoonin'

Eskimo belles up in Iceland
Have got themselves a real paradise land
Singin'

Ink a dink a dink, a dink a dink, a dink a doo
Ink a dink a dink, a dink a doo