Travel

The first stop on our epic road trip, after the World’s Largest Truck Stop, was Mel Gould’s Buryville. We’d been on the road for nineteen hours at this point so it didn’t matter that the rain was pouring down, we were just excited to get out of the car.

When we pulled up I was a little hesitant to get out and poke around though. I could see all the metal sculptures the internet told me about but they were fenced in, in what was very clearly someone’s yard. Within mere minutes of pulling in we were greeted by a friendly face. Mel Gould’s daughter came out and swept us away on a little tour of the cars built by her father. After the short tour, she told us to take our time and feel free to explore as long as we’d like.

So, what the heck is this place? Mel Gould is an engineer, scientist, and inventor. His property is covered in metal sculptures he’s built and unique cars he’s created and collected. One of these giant sculptures titled ‘Wind Thing’ even generates the electricity for the lights of his underground workshop (which is made from a school bus!!!)

I tried searching for more fun tidbits of information to share but surprisingly Google is kind of lacking when it comes to the search “Mel Gould Buryville.” Spaces has a really nice write up on Mel that is definitely worth reading though.

Despite the fact that we didn’t get a chance to meet Mel during our short visit (His daughter mentioned a broken foot) I feel like he’s just gotta be the coolest guy ever. For him to see these random objects and think to create the things he does is just amazing. Every single thing I read about him just emphasized how much he enjoys showing off his creations even after all this time.

I loved every second of our visit. Mel Gould’s Buryville is 100% worth stopping at as you cruise down I-80 or even making a little day trip to! I heard if you’re lucky he’ll even invite you in and show you his underground workshop! xoxo

Check out more road trip posts under the ‘travel‘ tag.

If you love collectors + their fun roadside attractions, check out Bottle Tree Ranch, Salvation Mountain, Don Park’s yard of signs, statues & other junk, and Jerry’s Junk.

Normally the travel locations I feature here on The Dainty Squid are a little more offbeat. I post about cemeteries, giant roadside animals, abandoned buildings, and other unique spots we stumble upon. I’ve never dedicated an entire post to our lodging choices aside from, coincidentally, Wigwam Village – which is of no affiliation. The Wigwam though, this place is something special! We even had our wedding reception here!

This post is essentially four years in the making. Since the second I walked into the room on our very first visit back in 2015 I knew this was somewhere I needed to blog about.  Our visits are just never long enough. My time is usually spent lounging in bed, swimming in the saltwater pool or filling my face with delicious food.

For our six month wedding anniversary, Jeff and I headed back to the areas we hit on our wedding road trip. We stayed the night in the hotel we got ready for our wedding at, revisited the ceremony site, and perhaps most excitingly, we spent a few nights at The Wigwam. Between eating churros in bed (three different dipping sauces! OMG!) and pretending it wasn’t too cold to swim (surprisingly, Phoenix does get cold-ish sometimes!) Jeff and I took a walk around the property specifically so I could take some photos.

Gorgeous, right!? Like I said, I was smitten since the second I laid eyes upon this place. We ended up here on our second roadtrip together. We had flown into Phoenix and spent a few days wandering the desert opting to sleep in the car most nights. The last night though, we wanted to get a place semi-close to the airport so we could wake up refreshed, and clean up before the flight. Jeff found The Wigwam, saw that it was about a half hour from the airport, super affordable for how nice it looked and booked it.

We definitely weren’t expecting something this nice though! We walked into the room and I immediately facetimed my mom. ‘Look at this place! It has three sinks! It’s huge!!’ Since we had gotten there fairly late, and were flying out first thing in the morning we didn’t have the opportunity to check it all out but the tiny taste we had gotten made us hungry for more. We vowed to visit again someday.

‘Someday’ came a lot sooner than expected… because let’s be honest most the time when you say you’re gonna revisit a place it doesn’t happen for a long time, if ever! We made it a point to visit again the next year! Once again, we only spent a single night but we made it a priority to get there early and really take advantage of everything they had to offer.

After that visit, I was hooked. I couldn’t wait to go back. Jeff and I talked about it constantly. I saw on their website that they had weddings. Despite the fact we weren’t even engaged yet I was obsessed with the idea. Getting our friends and family out there seemed outlandish but a girl can dream, aye?

Well, fast forward another year and there we were sitting poolside with our friends and family mere hours after tying the knot. We opted to get married somewhere else special to us, the ghost town of Two Guns but after the ceremony and photos, everyone reconvened at The Wigwam for food and a couple days of poolside fun. It couldn’t have been more perfect.

Hotel reviews aren’t my thing but I guess to cover all my bases on this post I should tell you that the beds are the coziest I’ve ever slept in. All of the rooms we’ve stayed in have had giant bathtubs. Their food is the bomb dot com. (Get yourself the quesadillas with shrimp from Wigwam Bar! I can also personally recommend their burger, the hummus trio, and the wings – which are actually the only wings I eat on the bone because they’re that good!) There are multiple pools, one of which has slide and the other is a saltwater pool. I can’t choose a favorite between the two! Clearly, from the photos you should be able to see, the landscaping is beautiful. It’s truly an escape from the norm!

There are also dozens of other awesome things to do there other than sleep, swim and eat – although I can vouch for those things being spectacular! There’s a spa, you can golf, play tennis, rent a bike (free with the resort fee) and there is almost always some sort of event going on.

There are a few other resort style accommodations in Arizona that have caught my eye but honestly, I can’t imagine going all the way out there and not staying at The Wigwam now, especially since it holds so many special memories.

Until next time, The Wigwam! I’m sure it won’t be too long until I see you again!
xoxo