Currently In: Lake Havasu, AZ
Next up: Yuma, AZ
We are loving this oasis in the desert! The color of the water is so blue, the mountains provide a lovely backdrop and the weather has been perfect. Palm trees are everywhere!
Lake Havasu City has an interesting history. Robert McCulloch bought 26 square miles of Arizona desert near the Colorado River in 1963 in order to build a chain saw manufacturing plant. He was looking for a unique attraction so more people would settle in Lake Havasu City and so he purchased the sinking London Bridge from the City of London! It was shipped piece by piece, reassembled, and opened in 1971. The result...the town now has 55k residents and is a thriving resort town.
The granite bricks on this wall are from the Haytor Quarry in Dartmoor, England - all manmade, no automation. I also liked the 3 flags: USA, British and Arizona.
This is the first brick that was laid when the bridge was assembled. The inscription describes the close relationship between America and England. The first brick was laid in 1968.
Love locks in Havasu City!
London Bridge connects the Business District to the Island District.
The view from the bridge. One of those mountains is called Cupcake Mountain.
Under the first arch of the bridge is an English Village. Complete with phone booth.
This fountain is in the Village plaza, but has nothing to do with the London Bridge. It's from Vegas.
This gilded gate is from Witley Court in Worcester, England. There was a fire at Witley Court in 1937 and everything was sold. Mr. McCulloch bought the gate!
There are a couple of pedestals that were a gift from the City of London. There are similar ones at each entry to London.
We drove over the bridge to check out the Island District, including the replica lighthouses that help guide boaters on Lake Havasu. I was very excited to start this tour!
There are 27 lighthouses in Lake Havasu City; 13 are accessible by land but you can only see the remainder by boat navigating the lake/river. We found about 10 of the 13 you can see on land. Some were too far away to photograph. Most are 1/2 to 1/5 scale of the original lighthouses. This one is a favorite because they built the keeper's house too. The original is in Lubec, Maine.
All of the lighthouses are operational and have US Coast Guard approved beacons. This is a replica of the Wind Point Lighthouse just north of Racine, WI. I'll have to check out the real one when we get home.
This one is really unusual. It is a replica of one in Alpena, Michigan.
We had to drive and hike a little to see the Point Gratiot, original located in Lake Erie.
Lunch break! Right on London Bridge Beach. So lovely.
There were 2 lighthouses near our lunch spot. This is a model of the Buffalo (NY) Main Lighthouse.
We actually saw the original Currituck Lighthouse (below) on the Outer Banks a year ago where we climbed to the top!
Such a fun day. We were treated to a beautiful sunset when we got back to the campground.
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