My Corner Online
Gary's Gay Parita
We visited Gary's Gay Parita on June 24, 2023. What a fun place to visit and it is free! It is located on Old Route 66, but the address is 21118 Old 66, Ash Grove, Lawrence County, Missouri. It's that place where you see people stand in the road to get photos of themselves with the Route US 66 sign! I've seen those so many times and wondered where that was located. This place is an old 1930's Sinclair gas station complete with pumps, repair garage, old vehicles, and more memorabilia than you have time to look through. We met one of the curators, George, on the front porch, who also credited Gary & Lena Turner, and Barbara (his wife and their daughter) for collecting memorabilia over the years to preserve the history of Route 66 for over 85 years. You can meet him in the above video. How wonderful that George and Barbara are keeping this memory alive and blessing so many other folks.
We wondered what a "parita" was and were told that "this is Parita, Missouri." It is actually at Paris Junction as can be seen across the road at another old building, but that just begins the wonderment of the mind of just what everything means. When I started seeing little dinosaurs all around, I kept thinking 'how odd!" until I had a 'duh moment' and realized that a green dinosaur was the branding (trademark) for Sinclair Gas and the memories from the back of my head came flooding back in to existence. Yes, I am old enough to remember those signs when they were actually in use! I feel old. As you wander around this rustic grounds the little details and oddities continue to jump out at you. Just stand in one spot and canvas the scene with your eyes and I guarantee you that you will see something you had not seen at first view. I am not sure how long it took me to realize that the old vehicles and other antiques and tractors just stuck in the middle of the yard in utter randomness were each now an ornamental garden bed. As a flower gardener, I really enjoyed all of the flowers and unique garden beds.
We wanted to support them and found a shirt in the gift shop to buy, but he did not take cards and we had no cash. Bummer! If you go, bring some cash and support their kindness. There is also a place behind the gas station where you can get some beverages and snacks, although it was much to hot that day for anyone to stay out in the heat too long when we were there.
I think the below photos and the above video speak for themselves about this amazing roadside attraction and I'll let you go ahead an peruse the page and enjoy the little snippets that I managed to capture.
