Haunted Tale #3 Desert Air

This week in Myth's Legends & Tales, we head out on a spooky adventure to find motorcycle related haunted tales.  We'll share one story a day until Halloween  and if you feel the urge or have a story that needs to be heard please send us a tale and we will feature your haunting experience in Myths, Legends & Tales.

     Today's Tale is one of an old indian haunting...  Today's tale follows a couple of bikers on a relaxing road trip which ended up becoming a spooky tale.  Enjoy and we look forward to hearing from you at MythsLegendsTales@gmail.com, with your own spooky tales from the road!

My friend Scott and I decided to take a motorcycle trip into the Anza Borrego desert in California. It was spring and just the right weather for the trip. We left Los Angeles about 8 a.m. We made to the Salton Sea around 4 p.m., had dinner and decided to push on. We rode till about 9 p.m. and I was just too tired to go on. So we pulled off the road and I told Scott to take out the sleeping bags while I made some hot tea because were spending the night there.

After we had set up camp, we kicked back and enjoyed the hot drink and the beautiful star show. It was idyllic. We had stashed the motorcycles in some creosote bushes, and when I was finished with my drink walked back to the bikes to retrieve my .45 pistol. When I returned, Scott asked me who I had been talking to. I said, "No one. Why?" He looked at me and said, "I heard voices and they were clear as a bell. So quit messing with me." I informed my friend that I wasn't messing with him and let it go.

We were on our backs looking up into the heavens when both of us heard this laughing, but not normal laughter, but something you would expect in an insane asylum. Scott said to me, "See! I told you I heard something." Along with the laughter, we could hear what sounded like whispering and more than one voice. Dang! What the heck is that? I looked at Scott and remarked that sound carries strangely in the dry desert air and it was probably a pack of coyotes. I could tell Scott wasn't buying it.

We laid back down, and after a while the sounds died down and we were on our way to the land of nod when I felt this current pass over my body, and that's about the best I can describe it. The hair on my neck and arms literally stood up. Sometimes this is felt before a lightning strike and campers are told if they feel this to get ready to jump out of the way, which is what I was about to do. My body snapped into a sitting position. I was about to tell my friend to get up. When I turned to him, he was staring at a point just past my head.

When I turned to look, there was a disembodied head floating in the air a few feet from my face! It was red, but translucent -- sorta like a balloon. It had huge, thick features and only looked somewhat human. As it floated there, minutely moving from side to side, it was staring right at me, but as though I were a bug under a microscope. My hand went for my gun I had hidden under the blanket, but my brain was telling me this would be of no use. I was literally frozen with fear. Finally, I reacted by shouting, "YOU HAVE NO POWER HERE! BE GONE!" With this, the head started spinning and becoming smaller in size until it was the size of a marble, then took off like a shot across the desert.

Scott looked as if he were going to have a cow. He looked to me and said, "That's it. Let's pack and get the heck out of here." And that's what we did. We rode down the road for another half hour, then dismounted and spent the next three hours before daybreak talking, then laughing about what had just occurred. At daybreak we headed out and came by a gas station that served food, so we had breakfast. The waitress serving us remarked, "You boys look like hell." I told her we spent the night in the desert, but didn't get much sleep. She asked us where we had camped. When I told her Ocotillo Spring, she leaned in close to me and Scott and said, "Well, see any spooks? That place has been haunted since Indian times."

Find the whole story HERE!

Ride to Dine!

Restaurant Rides to Remember!

We’ve all sat down at the burger joint halfway between nowhere and anywhere in an attempt to find the perfect place to eat.  Sometimes it’s a gas station stop you hold out hope for when you see they actually have a working grill.  But this week in Myths Legends and Tales from the road we’re going to examine the most famous locations bikers make trips of thousands of miles to frequent.  We also found a list of places near you that might change your planned ride this weekend!  Enjoy this week’s Restaurant legends of the road!

At # 1 

we have Alice’s Restaurant in Woodside, CA - Sometime during the 1960’s the restaurant was bought by Alice Taylor who renamed the restaurant after herself and the now famous Arlo Guthrie song of the same name. Already, a world famous stop for motorcyclist, hikers and tourists, Alice’s Restaurant (and the adjacent buildings) was bought in the 1970’s and has been family owned & operated ever since.
Source: http://www.alicesrestaurant.com/

# 2 

Moonshine Store was founded in 1889 by William St. Martz.  The store was originally located just north of the present building, but after this building burnt, a new Moonshine Store was built in 1912.  Moonshine has served as a gathering place, a grocery store, and a place for farmers and oil field workers to come for lunch.  Enid Misner was the first to start making cold cut sandwiches and hamburgers for lunch.  Helen and Roy Lee Tuttle bought the store from Enid in 1982.  When Helen took over, she continued the menu and added a variety of other sandwiches.  Until the early 1990's hamburgers were cooked on small electric griddles.  The first gas grill replaced them in 1993 and the second grill was added in 2004. With the help of family and friends, this piece of history will continue on.


Source: http://themoonshinestore.com/about_us

It’s important to remember that they are also the host of the Moonshine-run each year in april.  This event while not quite sturgis draws riders from all over the US and Canada.  More information http://moonshine-run.com/Moonshine/Event.asp

#3 

Fast Eddies Bon Aire legend begins with beer—Busch beer to be exact. But this was just the beginning…

In 1921 Anheuser Busch decided to open a drinking establishment in the picturesque river town of Alton, Illinois. A yellow brick building known as Bon-Air, was constructed right on the corner of three streets, 4th, Pearl and Broadway. Approximately ten years later, Busch had to sell the tavern due to a change in the statutes, which prohibited breweries from owning drinking establishments.

Sam Balaco, and later his son Lotteo, owned and operated the Bon-Air for 50 years. Then in 1981, in a move that would change history forever, Eddie Sholar (alias Fast Eddie) purchased Bon-Air. Things began to change – FAST!

In the more than twenty years that Fast Eddie has owned Bon-Air, it has quadrupled in size going from 80 chairs (and a few beer cases) to over 400 chairs. And on the weekends, standing room becomes a premium commodity!

Each weekend features the best in live entertainment: Sable, Fantasy, Planet Boogie and Ultraviolets, just to name a few. Until you’ve played Bon-Air, you haven’t played anywhere.

Fast Eddie’s Bon-Air is like no other. Over 4,000 half barrels of beer and thousands of cases of cans, bottles and liquor quench the thirst of our patrons every year. Some even say that Bon-Air is the #1 volume bar in the world!

A food bar, added due to popular demand, serves an assortment of grilled burgers, shish-kabobs, bratwurst and boiled shrimp all sold at the same low prices as when they were added nineteen years ago.

So…we now have an establishment that has become the hot spot of the Midwest!

Source: http://www.fasteddiesbonair.com/fr_legend.cfm  &  http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7syChfWSCeU

# 4 

Hideaway Grill – Cave Creek, Arizona

In 1998 Mark Bradshaw brought his dream into reality by creating Hideaway Grill on the outskirts of a big city. Bikers can head here to tread where some of the legends have been. A popular stop for famous motorcycle personalities and custom bike builders, Hideaway Grill offers bikers a place in the country to relax and enjoy good food and hospitality. With a motto like “There are no strangers here, just friends you haven’t met yet” how can you not want to make this a must- visit bar?

Source: http://www.hideaway-usa.com/

# 5 

The Broken Spoke Saloon –  all began 20+ years ago in Sturgis, South Dakota. What began as a small band of dedicated riders with a love for the open road and a thirst for adventure (not to mention an occasional adult beverage) has become the biggest biker bar on the planet. And no matter where you find us — in the Black Hills of Sturgis, South Dakota, the lakes of Laconia, New Hampshire or the sunshine of Daytona, Florida, you’ll always find the same things — great bikes, hot babes, cold drinks and fast friends. That’s what happens when you have a saloon that’s as authentic as the riders — and bikes —that come in here year after year. So stop back here often and share this page with your friends to help keep them up to date on all things Broken Spoke!  Until we see you on the road, KEEP THE SHINY SIDE UP and THE RUBBER SIDE DOWN!

Source: http://brokenspoke.com/about/

We’ve found the perfect site to cater your rides around.  

http://ridetoeat.com/

You can also submit your favorite spot to stop for grub along your favorite route.  

Good luck and ride safe!