Lunch at Peggy Sue's and Calico Ghost Town, CA

After doing a whole lot of nothing yesterday, we got out and about today. We started by having an early lunch at Peggy Sue's 50's Diner. The food was average but the ambiance was a lot of fun and we enjoyed being there.

Lynda with the Brothers

Peggy Sue's is an original roadside diner, built in 1954 with 9 counter stools and 3 booths. It was built from railroad ties and mortar from the nearby Union Pacific Rail yard. The current owners reopened the diner in 1987 and attempted to restore and preserve it in its original state. Thanks to the support of locals, truck drivers, service members from the nearby Marine Corp base, and tourists the diner prospered and became more popular. So the owners decided to expand the Diner into a real old fashioned tourist stop.

If you're ever passing through the Yermo/Calico area, I recommend you stop at Peggy Sue's for a meal or a milkshake - it's a fun place. Also, you can overnight in your RV in the big parking area next to the diner. Pretty convenient...

After lunch, we made our way to the nearby Calico Ghost Town, a former mining town located in the Calico Mountains of the Mojave Desert. It was founded in 1881 as a silver mining town, and today has been converted into a county park. Giant letters spelling CALICO can be seen on the Calico Peaks behind the ghost town from the freeway. Walter Knott (of Knottsberry Farms) purchased Calico in the 1950s, architecturally restoring all but the five remaining original buildings to look as they did in the 1880s. Calico was designated a California Historical Landmark in 2005.

Calico Ghost Town wasn't very crowded when we went there today, but based on the size of the parking lots, I suspect it gets very busy in the summer time and maybe the winter, when kids are out of school and families are traveling.

We enjoyed walking around and checking out the buildings, etc. We even rode the little train that takes you  outside the town area, where you can see the mine entrances.

Here are some photos:

The Entrance... kinda hard to miss!

Main Street

Artifacts

Schoolhouse

Miner and Burro