Day 7 of our 30-day Southwest Grand Circle Caravan – Kanab Utah

Our last day in the Zion National Park area, we decided to head 25 miles back into Kanab. It looked like a very interesting town when we passed through it on our way to Zion. Along Route 9, there was a herd of Buffalo on the plain, near the woods. Some people said they were not big enough to be Buffalo, that they were Beefalo … who knows … they were big to me! 

There was a large Buffalo in Kanab too! He is known as "Film Buff." He is a metal buffalo sculpture by artist Arlene Sibley. Wrapping the buffalo is a copper film strip listing names of movies filmed in Kanab. It is a very unique piece of art and focuses on their notable history,

The town sign for Kanab indicated it was a “western classic” and some of the sights we saw today, I believe it! 

There was a little Hollywood museum that I notice on our first pass through town and I thought … strange place for a Hollywood Museum. So, today we are going to see what that is all about!

We parked at the visitor center and went inside to get information from some very helpful gentlemen. They provided us information on Kanab as well as Bryce and scenic route 12 that we will be traveling tomorrow. 

We stayed parked at the visitor’s center and walked a few blocks, took pictures and entered every gift shop! What we noticed were many of the building had murals painted on them. 

The Shell gas station had a mural. 

Even the thrift store had a mural on the front and side.

There was some very cool metal sculptures of horses at the Iron Horse Restaurant. We could not try it out, as it does not open until 5 pm!

You know Charlie and I ... 

we are suckers for wood carvings ... good thing this one is not for sale ... besides it is too big to fit in our motor home.

We also discovered that the town was filled with placards. The placards were telling a tale of movie stars and the movies that they made in the Kanab area. Yes, you read it right … there were many movies filmed in Kanab. The Lone Ranger was filmed here, with Clayton Moore and Jay Silverheels. Charlton Heston made two films in Kanab, “Pony Express” and “Planet of the Apes.” The television series “Death Valley Days” was filmed in Kanab in the 1960’s with Ronald Reagan as the host. With over 100 movies and many TV series filmed here since 1924, Kanab has been universally recognized by the film industry as Little Hollywood. Many of the old western sets used in the Little Hollywood movies have been preserved in the free museum. I am beginning to understand why they have a Hollywood Museum here!

Founded in 1931 by the three Parry brothers, Parry Lodge has hosted some of the biggest names from the golden age of Hollywood. John Wayne, Frank Sinatra, Gregory Peck, Maureen O'Hara, Robert Taylor, Anne Bancroft, Dean Martin, Clint Eastwood and Barbara Stanwyck are just a few of the hundreds of stars and character players that stayed at Parry's while filming in the many scenic locales in and around Kanab, Utah.The Parry Lodge is an icon, that has hosted movie stars for decades!

The old cars are a big hit with the two Charlies! They enjoyed this old Chevrolet.

We stopped at the Three Bears Café and Creamery for lunch. 

Charlie, Nancy and Charlie all got the BLT and I had the Taco Soup. All was delicious … we have had ice cream for the last 3 days, so we skipped the creamery part of the establishment!

We needed to be back to the Zion IMAX Movie theater by 2 pm, so we did not tour the Hollywood Museum. Our caravan leader had arranged a special showing of “Zion Treasure of the Gods” at the IMAX for us. It was a huge theater and they opened it up, made popcorn and showed the movie for 22 of us! Amazing! The movie provided the history and legends of Bryce Canyon. We are very glad we went! 

After the movie, there was a cut-out and our friend, Nancy, had to get into the action! She looks like she is ready to do a bit of rock climbing! Since she has already done sky-diving!

Before the movie, while Charlie & Charlie were parking the car, Nancy and I had to check out a sculpture we saw. Turns out, it is not a sculpture in the traditional sense, but more a piece of art created by many. 

It was a ‘Love Locks’ station. A love lock is a padlock which sweethearts lock to a bridge, fence, gate, or similar fixture in a public place to symbolize their love. Typically the sweethearts' names or initials are inscribed on the lock, and its key is thrown away to symbolize their unbreakable love.

Last sunset at Zion! As another stop on our caravan comes to a close, the adventure will continue tomorrow as we travel from Zion to Bryce.