Myself, standing in front of the Calico bottle house.

Calico Ghost Town: From Silver Boom Town to Tourist Trap

April 20, 2022, 2 Comments

Between the glittering searchlights of Hollywood and the buzzing neon of Las Vegas sits the Mojave Desert, desolate, but with colorful rolling hills. Tucked into one of the hills just north of the fabled Route 66 sits the town of Calico, once a bustling silver mining town that has since turned into a tourist attraction.…

Guests walk down an old western street. Yellow text reads "Knott's Berry Farm & Ghost Town Buena Park, California"

Vintage Knott’s Berry Farm Postcards

July 3, 2019, 3 Comments

Since summer is my favorite time to visit Knott’s Berry Farm, I thought it would be a great time to share my vintage Knott’s Berry Farm postcard collection! In looking at these images, most of which are over 50 years old now, it’s amazing to see just how little has actually changed. Let’s start with…

Kiley and I standing in front of Old Betsy, a borax train that now carries beautiful flowers, each of us wearing the same thing, a purple sweater over a white dress with painted boysenberries.

Celebrating National Boysenberry Day

April 9, 2019, 8 Comments

Okay, I know I literally just wrote about Knott’s Berry Farm’s amazing Boysenberry Festival, but you’ll have to endure another post about it! Because first, it’s hard to eat all of the unique food offerings and enjoy all of the fun live entertainment all in one day! Plus, last Wednesday was National Boysenberry Day! Shortly…

Atomic Redhead' Guide to Knott's Berry Farm

Knott’s Berry Farm Guide

June 21, 2018, 2 Comments

Awhile ago I did a post sharing my tips for visiting Disneyland. Today, I am turning my focus to Knott’s Berry Farm! Offering up a little guide to help you on your next, or perhaps first ever visit to Knott’s! Knott’s Berry Farm is home to two theme parks, Knott’s Berry Farm, a more typical…

Knott’s Preserved

May 25, 2017, 3 Comments

By now it’s no secret I have fallen head over cowboy boots in love with Knott’s Berry Farm. The literal farm turned theme park has one of the most unique, interesting, and classic American dream stories that there is. The book that helps tell that story best is Knott’s Preserved: From Boysenberry to Theme Park,…

Spirit of ’76

July 3, 2016, 12 Comments

When someone says “Knott’s Berry Farm” a lot comes to mind… Boysenberries of course, fried chicken, the infamous Ghost Town created because of the massive lines for said famous chicken, and perhaps Peanuts characters. What may not immediately spring to mind though is the Liberty Bell or Independence Hall, even though an exact replica of…

Knott’s Berry Farm

March 9, 2015, 6 Comments

Some of the perks of being a Cast Member at Disneyland is that we are offered discounted tickets to other amusement parks in southern California, including Knott’s Berry Farm. I hadn’t been to Knott’s Berry Farm since the mid-90s, and in all sincerity, all I remember is getting so drenched on Bigfoot Rapids that we had…

Calico Ghost Town

January 6, 2015, 6 Comments

This weekend’s trip to Vegas was my first visit since the late 90s, and my first time driving there. Not to mention it was Patrick’s first ever visit to America’s playground. On our way we made some stops, including the ghost town of Calico. Founded in 1881, Calico’s mines produced millions in silver, before silver dropped in price, and it…