GETTING ON OUT THERE
Written by Dan Conaway, HH80 Board Member

You're just missin' somethin' if you don't get out to the backcountry now and then. A bunch of us visited several sites on Saturday, April 18, beginning at The Desert Tower and then headin' west through Jacumba, Boulevard, Live Oak Springs, La Posta Café, and ending entering Pine Valley. The next weekend others of us picked it up at Pine Valley and again headed west through Guatay, Descanso Junction, and East Alpine before we ran out of time and "steam." What a feeling, reaching back into time and experiencing the "slow down effect" that characterizes these little communities.

They're all distinct from one another, but one thing is a constant everywhere – people are just plain friendly. They have the time to engage you, they appreciate your visiting them, and they do all they can to get you to come back and bring your friends.

Here's just a partial list of folks and places to visit just as soon as you can. East to West they're waiting for you:

1. Ben Schultz and his "Monsters" at Desert View Tower – one of a kind place to be sure.
2. Sonya at Jacumba Hot Springs – super casual and comfortable; have a beer there -- tastes darn good.
3. Wisteria Candy Cottage in Boulevard – back in full swing, second to none. Waistlines are in trouble.
4. La Posta Casino -- small, comfortable, friendly. Give it a try.
5. La Posta Café -- excellent food and great little stop. But get ready for Medal of Honor recipient, John Finn's celebration on June 27. The little place will be jumpin'.
6. The Pine Valley "Cluster" (I call it) – The Store, the Malt Shop, Calvin's Restaurant, among others in this beautiful little town.
7. Descanso Junction Restaurant – nicest folks (Tammy's the owner/manager) and great food. Antique store on north end is super quaint.
8. And, of course, all kinds of fun in Alpine: Campbell Creek Ranch, one of a kind. Fred's Old Fashion Hamburgers – I can taste one now! Fred a great guy. And many other places of interest.

Go Ahead! Get out there and try these out! You and your family will be glad you did.

Note - We hear many favorite Old Highway 80 memories from people as we're out in the community creating awareness of the route so we'd like to invite all of you to share your favorite stories with our readers. Please send us your favorite story for inclusion in a future e-Newsletter issue. Stories should be no longer than three to five paragraphs and please include a picture if you can.


Classic Cars on Old Highway 80
Video Production by Rob Constantine, HH80 Board Member




Imig Family Returns to Lafayette Hotel
Contributed by the El Cajon Boulevard BIA

Last November, Mark Jones, the great nephew of Larry Imig visited the Lafayette Hotel for the first time in his life. Larry Imig was the developer and original owner of the hotel which he built in 1946. He named it the Imig Manor. Mark decided to take his sister, who flew in from out-of-town, to visit the location his family once claimed as their own and capture the spirit of his family's enchanting past.

Luckily, Mark approached the staff of the hotel and let them know who he was. In the interest of gathering memorabilia and documenting the hotel's history, this visit marked the start of something significant. On January 13, 2009, several members of the Imig family returned to the hotel, and this time they joined the current owners and directors of the hotel to share pictures, stories and unfold several critical elements of the hotel which had yet to be identified.

What they discovered was that Larry Imig was one of eight children. The family grew up in Nebraska on a self-sustaining farm, producing everything they needed to eat except for coffee and sugar. Larry moved away from home to join the Navy, and from there, he swiftly climbed the ladder of success. In fact, when Larry was working for a car dealership, he traded a car for a fixer-upper home and that is how he got started in the housing business.

Larry's last remaining sibling and youngest sister Esther Anderson joined her family at the hotel this year. When she wasn't living on the east coast, Esther and her husband Eldon ran the Eldon's Sundries, which was located inside the hotel, where the Red Fox Inn exists today. Shirley and Larry Sieck, Imig's orphaned niece and nephew, were lovingly treated as if they were his own children. They spent the most memorable years of their childhood at the Imig Manor. The two had all the privileges of growing up in a first class hotel: food whenever they wanted, daily swims in the pool, dance classes and first class hotel service.

The Imig Manor was considered a city within a city. There was a barbershop, dance studio, ballroom, a luxurious outdoor heated pool and spa on sight. Larry threw lavish parties which welcomed people throughout Southern California including many Hollywood stars and starlets. His nephew Larry remembers the Arabian Night parties most because he was able to hold onto the swords once they were over. There were also fashion shows, evening pool performances, bingo nights and all sorts of themed parties with smorgasbords of food.

With such wonderful memories, it is amazing that most of the family members who gathered at the hotel early this year had not visited it since the early 1950's, after Larry sold the hotel. Hopefully this reunion is only the beginning of an effort to rekindle the enchanting history on this fabulous hotel.


Did you know?
The name Imperial County, through which the Historic Highway 80 cuts, was originally known as the "Colorado Desert". When Imperial County split from San Diego County in August of 1907 an official with the state persuaded that the name "Imperial" sounded far more attractive than the "Colorado Desert".


HH80 Membership
We invite you to join our organization. Your financial assistance will help to preserve, enhance and resurrect an irreplaceable community resource that almost literally lies under our feet - Historic Highway 80 ~ The first dedicated intercontinental highway in the year 1926. Please call 619.445.0180 for membership information. Ask for Bob or Jeanette.


Art Along HH80
The banner images used to promote the Boulevard Sign's 20th Anniversary, created by graphic designs students at SDSU were so great that the El Cajon Boulevard BIA promotions committee decided that they should be painted on utility boxes as well. Artists Crol and Werc did an excellent job of replicating the designs on the Historic Highway 80's ever growing utility box art display.