The sun sets behind a 1950 Hughes Spartan travel trailer complete with pink flamingo and vintage El Dorado Cadillac parked by its side at Shady Dell Trailer Court in April.
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The sun rises behind the stern of a 38-foot 1947 Chris Craft Yacht dry docked at the Shady Dell Trailer Court in April in Bisbee, Arizona.
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The interior of a 1947 Airporter bus is decorated in a 1950's Hawaiian theme at the Shady Dell Trailer Court in April in Bisbee, Arizona. The "Tiki" bus is used as a guest room at the trailer lodge in Southern Arizona compete with '50s island records on a vintage phonograph.
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The galley of a 38-foot 1947 Chris Craft Yacht dry docked at Shady Dell Trailer Court is seen in April in Bisbee, Arizona. The yacht offers a V-shaped berthing area and sleeps two.
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A retro motel room key to a 1947 Airporter bus sits on a tiki pole at the Shady Dell Trailer Court in April in Bisbee, Arizona.
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A guest takes a photo with her smartphone while leaning on a Spartan Manor travel trailer in April at the Shady Dell Trailer Court in Bisbee, Arizona.
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BISBEE, Arizona (AP) - Visitors arriving at the neon-illuminated office of the Shady Dell trailer court enter a kind of time warp, transported back to the 1950s when big Studebakers and Chevrolets rolled up carrying road-weary travelers, their trailers in tow.
Decades later, that mid-century feeling endures at this southern Arizona tourist stop.
Lined inside with warm woods, vintage aluminum travel trailers manufactured under names such as Airstream, Spartan Royal Mansion, Airfloat, Boles Aero and El Rey populate the tidy trailer court with gravel paths and small lawns. But the trailers, rather than the spaces, are for rent, like hotel rooms.
The trailer windows glow a soft amber hue after dusk, and tiki torches and neatly hung strings of multicolored lights circle a small bandstand outside. Once-popular songs from 1950s vinyl records crackle over a loudspeaker throughout the park just 10 miles from the U.S.-Mexico border.
Founded in 1927 as the Thompson Motor Court and renamed Shady Dell in the 1950s, the rest haven nestled in the copper mining town of Bisbee was a frequent stop for motorists along Highway 80 during the golden age of American automobile travel.
Similar to its big brother, Route 66, the lesser-known Highway 80 once linked America's Atlantic and Pacific coasts - in its case between Savannah, Georgia, and San Diego. Back then, trailer courts lined Highway 80, offering respite to motorists traversing the Southwest's harsh landscape in the final push to Southern California.
The Shady Dell later sat dormant, reopening in 1996 with the idea of reviving its vintage atmosphere.
Now, the former layover for people traveling long distances has become a destination of its own for vintage enthusiasts and those just looking to get off the beaten path.
The trailer park shuts down several months each year for the brutally hot desert summer but reopens as fall nears.
Along with various mid-century trailers, a 1947 Chris Craft yacht with V-shaped berth sleeping quarters and a 1947 Airporter bus decked out in 1950s Hawaiian style have added to the court's yesteryear charm.
All guest rooms come complete with period-correct furnishings.
Several have old-fashioned phonographs and black-and-white TV sets, but there are no telephones, digital clocks or remote controls.
Staying true to the 1950s style, classic films are shown every night at a kind of drive-in theater outside, the viewers sitting in carts as they watch the big screen spread against Arizona's star-filled sky. The outdoor movie, adjacent to a little snack bar, is the perfect nightcap to a relaxing day in Bisbee's slow lane.
