I used to drive by so many of these places
on my way to Arizona to visit my step Mother.
They were mostly along Hwy 95.
Out here, we used brothels as our landmarks. Most are all gone now, or barely hanging on: Angel's (Beatty); Playmate and Wildcat (Mina); Bobbie's Buckeye Bar (Tonopah to Ely); Janie's Ranch on US-6. The Cottontail was the left turn west to Bishop from Las Vegas on US-95. The Shady Lady on US-95 survives as an AirBnB.
In 1992, we stopped at the Cherry Patch "Brothel Art Museum." It was the old place, still intact. The gal that ran the bar which was filled to capacity with retirees, was from Copperopolis, California. Against the wall behind us, was a glass faced coffin. Inside a mummified corpse dressed in all black-laced women's clothing, wearing a black laced hat, and carrying a purse on one handless wrist. That old gal was missing her hands—chopped clean off at the wrists.
It was a peculiar scene, to see all these folks sitting nonchalantly at the small bar, with the inhabited coffin leaning up against the wall behind them.
Visited again in 2024. Hof's 75+ acre property (with water rights) was sold, and was heavily guarded, 24/7. There was a Subaru and Honda parked in front, so I thought, well maybe it's an Air BnB..until a black leather-clad guard exited the Honda, to inform me that the property was privately held.
He let me take one pic of her, then I was restricted to the public road. Mine must have been one of the last pics of the Cherry Patch showgirl in her historic position before a helicopter (out of Orange County, CA) attempted to lift her from her perch. But she began to spin mid-air, and had to be lowered to the parking lot. Interstate-11 is on its way to Reno, along old US-95's route. Expect to see miles of solar panels, a new lithium mine in Rhyolite.
Author Unknown (This center part)
My travels sent me this way from 1990 to 2005.
These brothels were still operating then.
A few years back Hof ran for public office, and to retaliate, they shut his business down. Last I saw, Sheri's Ranch in Pahrump is still viable. But that was pre-covid.
ReplyDeleteAnon, I'll bet the tax revenue was cut in half.
DeleteSorry to hear about the Bunny Ranch.
ReplyDeleteedutcher, I thought it was still going.
DeleteThe last time I traveled US-95 on a load from Reno to Phoenix (within the last three years), the sporting house across the highway from the Amargosa Valley Rest Center in the same building complex as the AREA 51 Alien Center convenience store and fuel station was still operating.
ReplyDeleteThe first time I encountered this location it was during the Covid scare in 2020. The convenience store wouldn't allow anyone into the store without a face cover, which I found to be highly incongruous when considering that not 100 feet from the "mask" sign on the convenience store door, perfect strangers were bumping uglies.
It was a decent place to park, but I never again tried to business with that store.
MarkInKansas, "Bumping Uglies"? You crack me up. I just looked at it on google maps and there's an RV Park there now. I don't remember that. Half of the time I used my Motorhome to make the trip. That maybe could have been a nice place to stop ... wink wink.
Deletethat part of the world is where i grew up, i truly miss it.
ReplyDeleteAnon, were you out in the middle of nowhere?
DeleteMina
DeleteAnon, is that where the vacant cop car used to stand guard?
Delete"I used to drive by so many of these places... to visit my step Mother."
ReplyDeleteI have a couple questions, but I don't want any answers.....
Anon, operative words, "Drive by."
DeleteThere were two establishments off Hwy 93 north from Vegas just across the Clark Co. line. Don't remember the names.
ReplyDeleteAnon, I always took 95 north.
DeleteI remember an old desert dude in Mina that had a ship transported from Texas to be used as a seafood restaurant. He motioned us to visit as we were taking pics of it. We asked what the hell he would serve out here in the middle of nowhere, and he told us that he had found a spring up in the mountains that had cool enough water to raise lobsters in. When he found out we were from Maine, and one of us was a commercial fisherman, he walked that back and said they were Australian crayfish. Last I knew, the Nevada fish and game came in and closed him down after he started selling the highly invasive bugs alive. Don't think he ever opened the diner, and it's still visible on Google maps.
ReplyDeleteHandy Handsome, I see it on Google Maps, but I can't remember seeing it on my way through town.
Delete