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.
ReplyDeleteSorry to hear about the Bunny Ranch.
ReplyDeleteThe 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.
that part of the world is where i grew up, i truly miss it.
ReplyDelete