Sandhills Art
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Day 4: June 16, 2019 Sandhills Art Comment via blog |
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In 2013, the last dinner the eastern Lincoln Highway Centennial Tour had
before meeting the western tour was here. Then it was a newly opened
Italian restaurant. Since then I've heard rumors of closings and openings.
I thought of coming here last night but a defunct website and an unclear
Facebook page prompted me to pass. I decided to at least drive by today
and I'm quite happy that I did. Breakfast was
very good. The first picture shows the main entrance but it is the other
end, facing US-30/Lincoln Highway, that looks the coolest.
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There had been a few open tables when I arrived at Shady Bend but they
were soon filled. When two ladies were told they would have to wait, I
offered the open chairs at my table and they accepted. A pleasant
conversation followed during which I learned that NE-2 was the best way to
get to Carhenge and a nice drive. That's the way my GPS would send me but
they provided simpler connecting directions and it's always good to have
local input. I headed back past the still closed Kensinger's and on to
NE-2.
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I immediately started seeing Nebraska Byway signs that told me the road
had an additional name: Sandhills Journey Scenic Byway. I believe the word
scenic was used at least once by the ladies telling me about the route
over breakfast, but it didn't really look very scenic to me. Things were
flat and rather featureless. Trains on the tracks running beside the
roadway were the most interesting things in view. Near Broken Bow, I
pulled into byway's visitor center but a couple walking back from the
barn-like building saved me the effort of walking there myself. "It
doesn't open till 1:00", they told me. I read
the sign and moved on.
As I drove farther west, hills and other features begin to appear. The sky became involved in the scene I was viewing and there was a short period of rain. By the time I reached the end of the byway, it had convinced me that it was indeed scenic. I still included a train in the last picture, though. |
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I'd anticipated visiting Carhenge for so long that I feared I might be
disappointed, but I definitely was not. I enjoyed it as a full-sized
Stonehenge replica that I could wander around and through, and I enjoyed
it as a collection of cars that I could try to identify. The replica was
built in the summer of 1987 by Jim Reinders as a tribute to his father who
had died five years earlier. Approximately 35 family members participated.
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A small hill overlooking Carhenge is home to the Car Art Reserve. Pictured
are David Kowalski's Car-nestoga and The Fourd Seasons by
Jim Reinders. The hill also holds a couple of time capsules (one to be
opened in 2044 and another in 2053) and provides a good view of the
overall Carhenge installation including the '62 Cadillac heel stone.
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I'd booked the
Sunset Motel online. It's an older place that the
owners are working hard to maintain or possibly revive. My room is
here. Back at the Carhenge gift shop, the
attendant verified that there was a brewery in the town. They did not
serve food, she said, and started to describe her favorite restaurant but
at some point realized that it was Sunday and the restaurant would be
closing in a matter of minutes. That left some Chinese, Mexican, and a
typical assortment of fast food outlets. I soon learned that the brewery
is closed on Sunday and Monday and Tuesday. An online search turned up the
only open bar & grill where I had a decent pizza.
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The motel was just OK and so was the pizza. I pulled away from the bar
& grill and was about to give the town of Alliance a "just
OK" rating when I saw a glow about a block off the main drag. It was
this fully working theater marquee complete with chase lights which caused
me to immediately upgrade my opinion of Alliance. Now, if only that
brewery was open.
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