The Oasis Inn in Death Valley National Park lives up to its name. But there is so much more in the area. Come on, let’s go explore….
Check out The Goldwell Open Air Museum, established by four Belgian artists in 1984, just outside the boundaries of the park.
The artists created large scale outdoor sculptures which, in combination with the desert landscape, result in a truly unique visual experience.
The feeling this evokes, like the desert itself, is eerie.
This is one of the artist abodes. Check the museum out at: http://goldwellmuseum.org/
After we explore the remarkable museum and it’s ghostly sculptures by ourselves for as long as we want (there is no one here to bother us), we mosey on down the road to Rhyolite, Nevada, a gold mining ghost town that boomed and busted between 1904 to 1920.
At it’s peak in 1908, Rhyolite had a population of 8,000. By 1920, when the gold had petered out, the population stood at 14.
The post office, the bank, the store, the school, all were abandoned.
Can you imagine living in a desert that reached the hottest temperature on earth with no AC?
One home, built in 1905, was constructed almost entirely of 50,000 beer bottles. It is one of the most well preserved buildings in the ghost town.
You can see the bottle details in this section of wall. You could sing “99 Bottles of Beer on the Wall,” in this house, and actually be counting! For more on this unusual home see : http://www.nbmog.org/bottlehouse.html
Cheers to you from the fun to explore and always mysterious Mojave ~
Happy New Year Cindy.❤ A unique museum experience.
LikeLiked by 1 person
Happy & Healthy New Year to you!
LikeLiked by 1 person
Wow, I feel like I stumbled upon a marvelous mystery!
LikeLiked by 1 person
That is exactly how I felt!
LikeLiked by 1 person
Great pics Cindy!
LikeLiked by 1 person
Merci beaucoup Gary~
LikeLike
The open-air museum is really cool! It’s mind-boggling that within 12 years Rhyolite’s population went from 8,000 to 14. I can’t imagine how anyone could live in this environment without AC. Oh, and the bottle house is really interesting, gonna visit the link you provided. Thanks Cindy!!
LikeLiked by 1 person
Us humans are tougher than we realize, something you already know Stephanae. Cheers to you my friend ♡♡♡
LikeLiked by 1 person
Yes, we are a resilient lot aren’t we?🤗
LikeLiked by 2 people
We are ❤
LikeLiked by 1 person
Wow! Sooooo fascinating.
LikeLiked by 1 person
Everyday, something new, thankfully!
LikeLike
Cindy, thank you for these beautiful photographs.
LikeLiked by 1 person
You are a kind friend Charles, thank you!
LikeLike
The open air museum is amazing, and I love the bottle house! Thanks for the link to know more about it. Cheers to you, Cindy!
LikeLiked by 1 person
Happy you enjoyed & cheers to you Halim!
LikeLike
That’s the spirit, my friend! Boo-tiful shots as always!Ψ(｀▽´)Ψƪ(`▿▿▿▿´ƪ)ψ`ー´)ﾉ(ц｀ω´ц*)♡♡♡
LikeLiked by 1 person
Grazie ♡♡♡
LikeLiked by 1 person
Cool place. Thanks for sharing, Cindy.
LikeLiked by 1 person
Thanks more for your appreciation ❤
LikeLiked by 1 person
The four human sized scare crows 😁
LikeLiked by 1 person
Soooo amazing again!!! Wonder, how you always find this places and get this pictures. You are really a wonder-photograph! Top!
LikeLiked by 1 person
You are very kind. I love my blogging friends ❤
LikeLiked by 1 person
This leaves me to wow! 🙂
LikeLiked by 1 person
Awww, makes me happy, thank you Prakash!
LikeLiked by 1 person
Welcome.. 🙂
LikeLike
❤
LikeLiked by 1 person
I’ll guess the beer bottle house stays at a constant livable temp. I read somewhere in an arid country that they are using plastic bottles in a similar application. Here’s one link:
http://www.takepart.com/article/2015/12/10/plastic-bottle-homes.
🙂 Cheers, Jules
LikeLiked by 1 person
Amazing! Air is a great insulator. Thanks for the link and the info. ❤
LikeLiked by 1 person
Air and sand 🙂 Though I remember reading that one place might not have filled the plastic bottle up with anything before applying a type of plaster.
LikeLiked by 1 person
It makes me feel hopeful to remember how smart people can be.
LikeLiked by 1 person
amazing shots cindy!
LikeLiked by 1 person
Thanks & happy you enjoyed them!
LikeLike
Your photos brought back some great memories from my childhood as I spent a lot of time in the Mojave. Thanks!
LikeLiked by 1 person
Reminds me of some the ghost towns in Montana and Wyoming, Cuz. Spooky, but no museums😱. Thanks for the beautiful pics. 👻
LikeLiked by 1 person
These ghost towns of the American west are simply mind boggling. I have found others sometimes, not on purpose, it is like walking into someone’s home without permission. Sometimes their stuff is still there, like paintings on a wall.
LikeLiked by 2 people
I know , you feel like you’re trespassing
LikeLiked by 2 people
(｡♥‿♥｡)
LikeLike
The beer bottle house is amazing. I’m surprised by how well designed it appears to be.
LikeLiked by 1 person
Yes, so was I, and the guy who built it, named Kelley, ran a town pub, and built two other bottles houses. It seems there are excellent insulation. Quite a prescient person.
LikeLike
I love Szukalski’s ghosts! They tend to pop up in the most unexpected places, like looking down from the roof of a not too tall appartment building in the city… 😉 Or, like in your case, in the middle of nowhere… 😀
No idea who the others are… do you have their names?
LikeLiked by 2 people
Hugo Heyrman, Fred Bervoets, Dre Peters and David Spicer. Sofie Siegmann made the mosaic sofa. Check out:
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Goldwell_Open_Air_Museum
I think the original four were all from Belgium but I am not certain.
LikeLiked by 1 person
Hugo Heyrmann, Fred Bervoets, Dre Peeters are from Belgium… David Spicer ? Found a bunch of them, among others a rugby player… 🙂 The only one that might (doubtfully) fit in could be the jewel maker among them… ? He seems to be from your side of the ocean. Sofie Siegmann is from Albany, CA… To have a bit of background… 😉
LikeLiked by 1 person
That sounds right because I heard there were four founders from Belgium. You might want to contact the museum website for more info. My husband met the guy who we think inherited the museum at the site. I was too busy taking photos!
LikeLike
Hi Cindy. Happy New Year! This was fascinating! Thanks so much for sharing your trip to the desert. Beautiful photos and wow I love that art! ♥.
LikeLiked by 1 person
I am so pleased you enjoyed Niki and Happy New Year to you my friend ♡´･ᴗ･`♡
LikeLiked by 1 person
Thank you. =) ♥.
LikeLike
♡´･ᴗ･`♡
LikeLiked by 1 person
I felt like I was there exploring with you. Thanks I needed that adventure
LikeLiked by 1 person
It was much more fun with you along ♡´･ᴗ･`♡
LikeLiked by 1 person
❤❤
LikeLiked by 1 person
Now this (these) would make the drive almost insignificant. I think I’ve past my chance, but I really do enjoy the experiences you share. Broadens my mid-western perspective.
LikeLiked by 2 people
Ah, thank you for your kindness. My parents and grandparents are from Chicago (and very proud of it) and my husband and family from Iowa City (and very proud of it), Knoke Iowa too…Knoke is not a big town, laughing… The midwest is wonderful and I love to broaden my perspective when I visit your part of the world. But, I hear you about the distance…..if you do undertake a long drive to a place I post about, please talk to me before you go so I can try to make it worth your effort.
LikeLiked by 1 person
Our son lives in Los Angeles. I’m going to send him a link to your site. We’re way past safe driving age, whether in the big city or in the desert, but maybe we could convince him to take us to some of these places…. Thanks for your nice note!
LikeLiked by 2 people
Oh I hope he does! ♡´･ᴗ･`♡
LikeLike
I love how you captured a culture within a culture. So many stories here.
LikeLiked by 1 person
I love that you are sensitive to the layers. Thank you.
LikeLike
Thank you, Cindy for taking us there! A very interesting place to explore.
I haven’t seen your posts on Reader lately🤔
LikeLiked by 1 person
Yes, the same happens to me. I think the reader limits how many posts you can view, blogs you can see. It would be nice if they informed us of the limitations in the interest of transparency.
LikeLike
Beautiful works of art. My fave is the house made of beer bottles. It’s surprisingly exquisite.
LikeLiked by 1 person
It is isn’t it, and I learned from a fellow blogger that the bottles provide great insulation.
LikeLiked by 1 person
Wow, Maybe building house out of beer bottles would be a way to house the homeless!!!
Fun and fascinating post. You bring me the world of nature and interesting art. Thanks.
LikeLiked by 2 people
I hear the bottles make wonderful insulation from both heat and cold. We definitely need to do more to house the homeless. Using recycled materials to build energy efficient homes sounds like a very good idea.
LikeLiked by 2 people
“Ninety nine bottles of beer on the wall…” I will have that song in my head all day. The house is amazing. I’m headed over to click on the link. And the couch must provide a beautiful view against the stark landscape. Fabulous, Cindy!!
LikeLiked by 2 people
Creative people, like you Jennie, are a blessing in our world ♡´･ᴗ･`♡
LikeLike
We spent 2 days in this area and missed this. We’ll have to go back again. Lots to see!
LikeLike
Oh Good! I look forward to your impressions.
LikeLike
Very cool!
LikeLike
Grazie mille!
LikeLiked by 1 person
This is really fascinating! Thank you for sharing your experience, I feel like I have been there too. I love that house made of glass bottles, it makes me want to make a house of bottles myself. 🙂
LikeLike
I think it helped a lot that the guy who built that house was the town bar owner. It would be hard to drink enough bottles to build your house!!!
LikeLiked by 1 person
Yes, it must be what they did instead of recycling. On the website you linked to it said the town funeral director made a house out of embalming bottles. What a great idea. It makes me want to build a house out of bottles. 🙂
LikeLike
Might be worth investigating this for my blog. Considering the Belgian connection,
LikeLike
I hope you do, and write about it too!
LikeLike