Gila Bend, Arizona: home to 1,917 friendly people and five old crabs. It's also where solar panels outnumber people. So says the welcome sign to Gila Bend, a speck of a quirky town about one hour southwest of Phoenix where it takes around six minutes to cross down Pima Street, the only street. Gila Bend has become something of an oddly cool and weird desert pit stop that's not only a UFO-lovers' favorite but also the kitsch-filled "crossroads of the Southwest" (per gilabendaz.org).
Gila Bend has always
been something of a desert oddity and crossroads. Back in 1879, the whole town was apparently small enough to just move away from the Gila River (near the river's bend — hence the name) to its current location. Gila Bend sat along the rail route from Yuma to Phoenix and became a favorite of travelers because it had an ice-making factory that produced cold drinks and ice cream. Its aptly named Stout Hotel still stands. And while Gila Bend never connected to the later, legendary Route 66 like the tribal-chic and quirky Arizona town of Holbrook, it amassed other claims to fame in later decades.
Most prominently, Gila Bend got its most prominent landmark in 1965, the Space Age Lodge and Restaurant (a Best Western). As one of five space race-era hotels designed by World War II-era industrialist Al Stovall, it has a UFO on top, a retro-futuristic diner, and an alien statue to greet you. Gila Bend also has oddball shops like M&J Artisanias and Much More, a southwestern-themed roadside souvenir joint stacked with knick-knacks, particularly ceramics. The desert town not only unexpectedly houses the second-largest natural gas power plant in the U.S. but also is something of a national leader in terms of implementing scalable solar power.
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Take Us To Your Leader And Also Your Ingestion Options
Dining out in Gila Bend, Arizona is a unique experience, to say the least. One option is the Space Age Restaurant — a weird Jetsons-esque diner with an alien greeter, basic diner fare, and a "Star Trek"-themed bar that has a picture of the original U.S.S. Enterprise on the wall. There's also the home-style Mexican food truck at Taquizas Mary, where your server may come dressed as a taco; a super authentic sit-down Mexican at El Taco Tri attached to the aforementioned knick-knack-ridden roadside souvenir shop; a couple more cozy Mexican places; and a cluster of standard fast-food options like Carl's Jr and Burger King. All this is to say: If you need a place to pull over while on the road, there is absolutely no reason to not stop at the West's kitschy crossroads, Gila Bend. The alien will be pleased.
Speaking of which, Gila Bend undoubtedly means the Space Age Lodge and Restaurant to most visitors. Even though it's not particularly well-rated on Google (3.6) and is arguably a tourist trap, its uniqueness can't be denied. The booths and chairs are spray-painted silver, the ceiling is an open industrial design reminiscent of an aircraft hangar, and the decor is all space race and NASA inspired. Per Phoenix Magazine, Bill O'Connell, an owner of the diner and its attached hotel, said that creator Al Stovall tweaked every last detail, down to the lamps in the rooms. After the restaurant and lobby burned down in 1988, they were rebuilt, and their schtick expanded to include the iconic UFO on the roof. It's no Roswell, a New Mexico town with a conspiratorial UFO legacy. But then again, maybe that's what the government wants you to think.
Get Lost In A Colorful Ocean Of Oddities
No pit stop at Gila Bend would be complete without a visit to its shops — or more accurately, shop. There's really only one standout souvenir shop in town, but it's so gonzo that it deserves the attention. Billed as a "Mexican goods store" on Google, M&J Artesanías and Much More sells hordes of wildly colorful trinkets for shelves or walls combined with the most practical items possible, like pots, dishes, and coasters (also wildly painted). Highlights include lawn ornaments that look like everything from flowers to giraffes to spaceships, ceramic pumpkins painted in Dia De Los Muertos fashion, and an assortment of random, discount goods that look like they were collected from tag sales. Basically, there couldn't be a more perfect place to get out of the car, stretch your legs, poke around a bit, and snag a souvenir.
There are a couple other highlights in town worth mentioning, like the Gila Bend Visitor Center and Museum. The museum houses 2,000 artifacts from the 19th century, some of which are organized into themed rooms like a Wild West Ikea. It's surprisingly educational and can make you wonder at the difference between life then and the town you're driving through now — the one with the fake UFO on a hotel rooftop. Interestingly and on a more serious note, there's also a 9/11 Memorial Park near the sheriff's office in the center of town. It contains an actual 4,000-pound steel beam from the wreckage of the Twin Towers. When you're ready to move on from the "crossroads of the Southwest," consider driving west an hour and a half to Yuma, another quirky Arizona small town that was named the "sunniest place on earth" by the World Meteorological Organisation.
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