Giganticus Headicus

John R Beyer with Giganticus Headicus

I was having lunch with a friend of mine, Jim, when he asked if I had ever heard of the Giganticus Headicus.

While popping another popper in my mouth, I shook my head. “Not sure about that, and not sure that is truly a thing.”

Jim often asks me if I’ve seen this or that while I travel.

Jim travels a lot, too. And his main thoroughfare is the ‘Mother Road’, or the ‘Will Rogers Highway,’ or the ‘Main Street of America’ – all three are also known as just ‘Route 66.’

He has seen many things during his years traveling Route 66. At last count, I believe Jim told me he has traveled Route 66, all the way from Santa Monica to Chicago, about three thousand times.

That makes Jim an expert on what is and what is not on Route 66.

I’ve never been to Chicago, not even once. And, changing planes at O’Hare International Airport on the northwest side of the city does not count as having visited Chicago.

“So what is a Giganticus Headicus?”

“It is a great piece of art, created by Gregg Arnold,” Jim replied.

“Where’s it located?”

“At Antares Point,” he said. “You’ve heard of that, yes?”

I nodded. “Of course, that’s the bar where Luke Skywalker runs into Hans Solo and Chewie.”

Welcome to Antares Point

Turns out, there is a small village named Antares about twenty miles north-east of Kingman, Arizona. It began, as many villages did, as a railroad siding for the Atlantic and Pacific Railroad in 1883. The tracks at this point take a large curve in their design as the rails head south toward Kingman.

In 1910, after the National Old Trails Highway made its way through the area, the village was incorporated into what is now Antares. In 1926, Route 66 blazed along the railroad tracks, and the area became a rest stop for those visitors heading either north or south through this part of Arizona.

But, there is more to this little berg than just a fuel stop. There are over six thousand mining claims in the nearby hills, where copper, gold, lead, and silver were found in abundance. The village of Antares actually took its name from the star Antares, in the constellation ‘Scorpio.’ The word is Greek and means ‘rival of Mars’, due to the reddish tint of the hillsides created by the copper found there.

Though most of the mines are now closed, there are still over two hundred in operation in and around the Hualapai Valley, where Antares is located.

I found that research rather interesting, as I do most of my research – unless it has to do with how to take a dog stain off a living-room carpet.

But, it also turns out that there is a small stop along Route 66 called Antares Point. It is owned by Gregg Arnold and his spouse, Alie Reynolds-Arnold, and is a place that is truly worth a parking break.

A small A-framed building is the center of Antares Point, which offers visitors a chance for a snack, a drink, and a gaze at some awesome pieces of artwork.

Both Gregg and Alie are world-renowned artists, and have their studio, the Antares Art Studio, in Kingman.

Alie is known for her work in many art media forms, such as acrylics, oils, and whatever else great artists use to slap on a canvas to express their innermost creativity.

Gregg, on the other hand, deals mainly in metal works. His metal sculptures appear all over the world, and the more detailed, the better.

Some of his works are on display and for sale at Antares Point.

 “Gregg is unveiling a new metal sculpture there in two weeks.”

“That sounds like an adventure to me,” I told Jim.

And, it was.

As I rounded the bend just south of the village of Antares, my eyes locked onto a huge tiki-god-like sculpture to the left of the A-frame visitor’s center for Antares Point.

Gregg Arnold's tiki-god sculpture

I had to park quite a way down a dirt road from the business since about two hundred people were milling around for the unveiling of Arnold’s latest creation. Actually, I’m not sure if they were milling, to be honest – I'm not even sure what that truly means.

“I was just milling around.”

“Well, I was milling better than you.”

There was a car show with some really sweet rides, and people were walking around gawking in admiration or jealousy. There was a band playing near some outdoor benches and awnings. And a man selling ice cream, singing Italian songs – no, those are the lyrics from a song by the band, Chicago.

Car show and directions along Route 66

Anyway, there was quite a crowd and everyone was having a wonderful time while waiting for the blue tarps to be withdrawn from the newest artwork created by Gregg Arnold.

Giganticus Headicus is huge – really a big-headed cement head which looks like it is buried up to its chin in the ground. Standing at fourteen feet tall, it is impressive.

At that moment, the artist himself walked over to me. “What do you think?”

“It’s big and green,” I replied.

Arnold smiled. “Yes, it is, and the first time I used concrete in any of my artwork. The use of concrete was a new medium for me, but it worked out.”

Giganticus Headicus

Not being much of an art consumer, except for purchasing a couple of paintings depicting dogs playing cards, I asked what inspired him for this project.

“I thought of it while sleeping one night,” he replied. “I woke up and hurriedly jotted down the design. It was like an obsession with me. I’m sure being a writer, you probably get up in the middle of the night with something important on your mind.”

I nodded, but didn’t reply. The only time I get up in the middle of the night is to find the nearest restroom.

“For the entire month it took to complete it, it was all I could think of. I was totally obsessed and was physically and emotionally exhausted once I had completed it.”

Gregg is a very passionate artist. He created the large tiki-head project at the studio in Kingman, and then transported it to the site at his Antares Point location.

“I wanted something to draw a person’s eye, as they drive by on Route 66. This did the trick, and they stopped, and I got to talk with them about the importance of art and also the magnificence of this road.”

“What is going to be unveiled?” I asked.

“You’ll have to wait and see.” He smiled.

Taking my leave from Gregg, I walked into the visitor’s center and was really amazed at the pieces of art that lined the countertops and shelves around the rooms. Small pieces, medium pieces, and some large metal artworks, which were incredible in all their detail. Wandering through the store, I saw art magazine after art magazine with stories concerning this highly creative artisan. 

Of course, there were also books, photographs, signs, and other Route 66 memorabilia for sale, as well as snacks and drinks for the visitors.

Watch your speed near Antares Point

As I exited the store after purchasing something, Gregg was standing on the front porch of the establishment. I asked him how he got his inspiration for such a varied array of artworks.

“My art just comes to me. I don’t know how or why, but it does.”

Being as successful an artist as Gregg is, his imagination must be on overdrive most of the time. 

While waiting for the unveiling, I busied myself chatting with car enthusiasts, Route 66 enthusiasts, art enthusiasts, and enthusiasts of enthusiasm.

“I’m really enthused by being here,” said one lady.

The time for the unveiling was suddenly upon us – time speeds by when everyone is enthused.

The new metal structure, which stands at sixteen feet tall, is located on the north-west section of the property as planned by Gregg, so anyone traveling Route 66 would be able to see it right away. As though anyone driving by wouldn’t first see a giant green head tiki-god in the front yard of Antares Point.

That may slow a driver down a bit.

Gregg stepped up onto a concrete platform in front of the tarped covered stature, microphone in hand, and spoke to the large crowd gathered all around.

What's under the wrappings?

He explained very eloquently why and how he created the artwork.

“This metal statue is to be the guardian of Route 66,” he stated. “I wanted something very special and meaningful for anyone traveling this wonderful roadway. I also desired it to represent the strength of our wonderful nation, and to stand tall with all those who have served her and continue to serve her, no matter their occupations.”

At this moment, the tarps dropped, revealing a truly beautiful metal statue of a female holding a shield, a crown, and carrying an American flag.

The Guardian of Route 66

The crowd’s reaction was overwhelming with clapping, cheers, and other loud noises of approval.

Gregg Arnold with his masterpiece

I looked the whole situation over, the people, the artwork, and the place, and realized that not only was Gregg a very accomplished artist, but his love of this country was palpable.

It was certainly worth the drive to share in this moment along Route 66 at Antares Point.

John can be contacted at: beyersbyways@gmail.com

 

 

 

 

Time to revisit Route 66

In honor of the 100th anniversary of the opening of Route 66 from Chicago to Santa Monica, we've decided to re-print various blogs concerning this wonderful extension of American ingenuity. It is a road that needs to be traveled to truly understand the term, Americana.

So, let's begin our journey down those 2448 miles of asphalt.

Laureen Beyer is getting ready for a road trip

In his 1939 novel, The Grapes of Wrath, John Steinbeck referred to Route 66 as the ‘Mother Road’ of America. It was the strip of asphalt that those fleeing the devastation of the Dust Bowl took from the Midwest to the Promised Land of California.

So what is it about Route 66 that beckons millions of people to drive along its nearly two thousand five-hundred-mile path from the beginning in Chicago to its end in Santa Monica each year?

It was time to find out, and one of the best places to start was Kingman, Arizona.

“Ready for a road trip?” I asked my lovely wife, Laureen.

“When am I not?”

We soon set out for the short seventy-three-mile drive between Kingman and Seligman, Arizona, to see what we could see.

Kingman is definitely a place to stop and experience. There is so much history to cherish in this small town, just one hundred and five miles southeast of Las Vegas.

It’s named after Lewis Kingman, a railroad engineer for the Atlantic and Pacific Railroad. He was quite the engineer, designing over thirteen hundred miles of the Santa Fe Railroad system during his tenure. 

Actor Andy Devine was raised in Kingman, where he learned his love for the West. He appeared in over four hundred films during his lifetime, not including long stints in television western series which aired for decades.

Charles Lindbergh and Amelia Earhart dedicated Arizona’s first commercial airport on Route 66 in Kingman in 1929.

Clark Gable and Carole Lombard were married there in 1939.

To say the least, Kingman is a historical place.

Laureen Beyer having fun in Kingman, Arizona

Driving along Route 66 is not like driving along an interstate. No, if speed is what someone is after, find another road.

Route 66 is meant to be a drive of knowledge. 

A drive learning about the backbone of America, where people ventured in search of a better life for themselves and their families.

A drive along America’s Mother Road is an opportunity to slow down and enjoy each mile along this iconic highway.

Millions of foreign travelers descend on this roadway each year to learn about the thing known as Americana.

Beatrice, a shop owner outside of Kingman, told us, “It is so exciting to see the tourists from all over the world stopping here. They are amazed at all the things they experience driving Route 66. It thrills me.”

As we drove north-east from Kingman, towns such as Hualapai, Walapai, and Valle Vista were soon in our rear-view mirror.

Roughly twenty-five miles north of Kingman is Antares Point. 

It is one of the showcases for the international artist, Gregg Arnold. This master sculptor has made this tiny bend in Route 66 a place for visitors to stop and enjoy numerous art pieces on display.

The small A-frame building housing the artwork is easy to spot along the road, but if the tourist fails to notice it, there is another object that cannot be missed or forgotten.

Standing in front of the artist’s studio is a fourteen-foot-tall green Tiki head, Arnold created in 2003 out of concrete. It is appropriately entitled: Giganticus Headicus. 

John R Beyer with Giganticus-Headicus

As we meandered about the place, at least twenty other vehicles loaded with tourists stopped, snapping photos of each other with the Tiki Head, before wandering into the studio. 

Giganticus Headicus is a big hit with those driving by Antares Point.

After leaving Antares Point, we soon passed through Peach Springs, Nelson, and Yampai before reaching the town of Seligman.

John R Beyer visiting Seligman, Arizona

Originally a railroad encampment known as Prescott Junction, the town was renamed Seligman, after Jesse Seligman, a railroad financier, in 1886.

It was a thriving locale along Route 66 until Interstate 40 was built on the outskirts of town in 1978. The town seemed to be on the verge of becoming a ghost town when the citizens banded together and demanded that the State of Arizona recognize Route 66 as a historic highway in 1987, and to ensure Seligman was accessible to those driving by on the freeway.

Thus, a few off-ramps were built, allowing travelers to exit the interstate and explore downtown Seligman.

Seligman soon became a major destination for tourists. An eclectic group of shops like the Rusty Bolt, bars like the O.K. Saloon, and restaurants like the Roadkill Café, line Route 66, beckoning the curious to stop and enjoy.

We wandered the town and soon realized why so many visited this little berg in Northwest Arizona.

It is just plain, good old-fashioned fun.

John can be reached at: beyersbyways@gmail.com

Eureka along the Loneliest Road in America

 An article in Life magazine from July, 1986 listed U.S. Route 50 as ‘The Loneliest Road in America’.

Route 50 extends west to east over three thousand miles from West Sacramento, California to Ocean City in the state of Maryland. That is one long piece of highway. I did not have the time to travel it all at the moment, so a decision was made. I’d only travel the roadway across the section that traversed the state of Nevada. That was still over four hundred miles, but at least two thousand six hundred miles shorter than the entire route.

That was doable.

I cajoled my buddy, Paul, to venture out for this newest adventure. 

We drove north on U.S. Route 395 and enjoyed visiting the towns of Olancha, Lone Pine, Independence, Big Pine, Bishop, Bigger Pine, Lee Vining, and Biggest Pine. 

Cruising the eastern side of the Sierra mountain range is always a great road trip. Desert brown turning to forest green is awe-inspiring. It’s as if Mother Nature is showing all the colors available on her palette. 

We grabbed Route 50 just east of Carson City and were on our way along the loneliest road in America.

Within a hundred miles, it dawned on me why this stretch of highway was given the moniker by Life magazine – it was lonely. There is nothing to be seen except flat lands stretching to the far horizons on either side of the road.

Of course, there are the small towns of Fallon, Middlegate, Austin, and such along the way, but in between these locales, there was nothing but mile after mile of nothingness and loneliness.

We drove for hours and never saw another vehicle. When it was time to camp for the evening, I didn’t even have to pull off the side of the highway. No, just pitched a tent in the middle of the road – no semi-truck ran us over during the night.

Around noon, on the second day of our trip, we pulled into the town of Eureka, Nevada. I believed it would only be for a tankful of gasoline, but I was wrong.

This town, first settled in 1864 by a group of prospectors who found rich silver-lead ore in the nearby hills, was more than just a fuel fill-up for us. It turns out there is much more to Eureka than being one of the best-preserved historic mining towns I have come across. 

One section of downtown Eureka, Nevada

The downtown looks like you have been transported into the late 1800’s. Pristine buildings like the Eureka Opera House, the Colonnade Hotel, the Owl Club Saloon Roadhouse, the Eureka County Courthouse, and the majestic Jackson House Hotel, just to name a few.

Jackson House Hotel in Eureka, Nevada

And the best part about Eureka – it’s haunted.

According to Dana Lee Fruend, a town expert, Eureka has more ghosts than can be counted.

Dana Lee Fruend with John R Beyer, Eureka, Nevada

So haunted, in 2017, the Travel Channel sent Zak Bagan and his crew from the series ‘Ghost Adventures’ to investigate. Since then, professional and amateur paranormal investigators have paid Eureka many visits.

We met Fruend in the Jackson House Hotel, built in 1877, and it is supposedly one of the most haunted buildings in the town.

Many people have reported sitting at the bar inside the Jackson House Hotel and seeing the words – ‘I’m watching you’, mysteriously appear on the fogged mirror behind the bar.

“Perhaps it’s just Alexa, or the government,” I stated to Fruend.

“I don’t think so,” she replied.

During the heydays of Eureka, a violent or mysterious death wasn’t an unusual event for the town. For example, a man keeled over one night while drinking at the bar – he was dead before he hit the floor. Another man collapsed outside the hotel’s front door after receiving a fatal gunshot during a heated argument.

Violence in mining towns was not rare, and Eureka experienced its fair share through the years.

“I actually had a strange occurrence myself,” Fruend stated. “One evening, I was doing some paperwork here in the office when suddenly doors started opening and slamming shut. I heard footsteps right outside the office, but when I investigated, there was no one there. There was no one in the entire building. It freaked me out, so I gathered my things and went home to finish the work.”

Another employee saw two children going up the hotel's stairway and then just disappear into thin air.

“There’s a guy we call Ray, who really is active in the kitchen,” she said. “He’s not there, but the utensils move around a lot as though he’s trying to cook something.”

A ghost cooking? Talk about empty calories. 

It also turned out that the Owl Bar, just down the street from the hotel, is haunted. 

Interior of a bar in Eureka, Nevada

There’s an employee there who has been photographed with floating white orbs around her in numerous photos. There’s a cowboy who has been seen, just hanging out at the bar, but isn’t really there. And, a mirror where a woman is seen in it, and then the mirror can only be cleaned using Gin. No other cleaning product works after she is seen.”

That’s a picky ghost. 

“No, Vodka won’t do. You’ll have to use the good Gin to get me out of the mirror,” the ghost was once overheard saying.

“There are other sightings in different parts of town and at different times of the day or year,” Fruend told us. “But this is a beautiful town with wonderful people who live here. I couldn’t think of anywhere to live.”

Eureka receives over 10,000 tourists a year – not bad, since it sits on Route 50. Most come for the beauty of the countryside or the numerous events held in the town. In June, there is the Legends of the West Bike and Car Fest, the great 4th of July celebration, in September, the art, wine, and music festival, and so much more.

Fruend is a fount of knowledge concerning Eureka, so much so, she described an old dilapidated part of town that most tourists don’t know about. It too is supposedly haunted.

We got the directions and, within minutes, were on our way.

Driving approximately a mile and a half over paved and then dirt roads, we found ourselves on a hill high above Eureka. There was a large production plant of some sort to the northeast of us, and then a cluster of really tattered-looking old wooden buildings to the southwest.

Exploring buildings in disrepair must be approached carefully. You don’t want a roof beam falling on your head. I do it because I’m a professional explorer and have a very hard noggin.

Be careful in abandoned buildings at all times

“Check this out,” Paul stated while he was standing in front of one of the buildings. No windows, no doors, but a very creepy cloth painting hanging on the rear wall. He was snapping photos with his phone.

Rather disturbing image on the interior wall

“That is creepy,” I stated. It was a painting of a woman, tattered and blowing in the breeze, with two dark orbs as eyes.

“My camera won’t take a photo,” Paul stated. He then showed me multiple shots he had taken of the cloth painting, and each one only came out dark blue. He then took a photo of another building, and no issue. Clear and bright.

I’m a skeptic when it comes to the paranormal stuff, but there was something in that small house that made the hair on the back of my neck stand up.

We walked around a bit, snapped a few more photos, and it was time to go. I felt a bit better as I looked in the rear-view mirror, watching the rundown buildings disappear.

Eureka is more than just a place to look for hauntings. As the tourism director told me, the town’s motto is – ‘Eureka! You’ve found us! History, folklore, and fun, we have it all.’

And, they certainly do.

John can be reached at: beyersbyways@gmail.com