Missing Moqui: Grand Canyon Memories

Nov 02

Missing Moqui: Grand Canyon Memories

While this blog will make every effort to talk about current and future happenings and issues at the Grand Canyon, I’ll be most grateful to those of you who don’t mind indulging me as I revisit the past a bit.

When I did my post about funny names at the Grand Canyon, it caught the attention of a few of the area’s “old timers” (of which yours truly is a proud member – 20 years in Northern Arizona!). We shared a laugh about the various *ahem* mutilations of the word “Yavapai:“ “yellow pine,” “yakapooi,” “yippy-yie,” “yapathy…” Recently, a gentleman put an Arizona trip report on his blog (give it a read at www.squishedfrog.com) where he talks about staying at the “El Kabong” hotel. He goes on to say “sorry El Tovar.” I must confess that’s a new one on me… I guess the name sounded a lot like that of a cartoon character from the writer’s childhood.

The name that really brought back some bittersweet memories for us all, though, was Moqui. The old Moqui Lodge at the Grand Canyon For those unfamiliar, Moqui Lodge (photo at right) was a small hotel located about half a mile South of the park gates at the South Rim.

Flash back to November 1987. My husband and I pulled into Grand Canyon National Park in an old station wagon with a leaky transmission. Our wallets were practically empty, but our hearts were full of excitement about working for the Fred Harvey Company at the South Rim. Hubster would be working as a night auditor; me, I had the honor and privelege of working at the front desk of the beautiful El Tovar Hotel.

Now, the food at the El Tovar was the stuff of legend. But, at the time, a meal there was a bit out of the price range of two entry-level Grand Canyon hotel workers. Besides, the place everyone said we just had to try was the Mexican Restaurant at the little place just outside the park’s border, Moqui Lodge.

Being a California native, I was practically raised on Mexican food. I started eating salsa in pre-school - the hot stuff! I’d dined at some good Mexican eateries in my day and was excited to try this one. Our fellow employees raved not only about how awesome the food was, but how reasonable the prices were. The thing to try, they said, was the seafood chimichanga.

Well, the day we got our first paychecks, try ‘em we did, and hooked we were! A blend of succulent crab, shrimp, scallops and spices, all wrapped up in a tortilla with a little salsa and a dollop of guacamole – didn’t get any better than that! The chef, Jose, also did a mean turn with blackened shrimp and Arroz con Pollo. And the salsa? Some of the best I’ve ever had. Made it hard not to fill up on chips before dinner. Meals at Moqui would be a regular treat for the two of us during our years at the Grand Canyon.

We left in 1989, bolting – we thought – for better lives and better paying jobs in the big city. About a year and a half later, we realized how wrong we’d been and decided to go back to the Grand Canyon, this time to stay. First item on the agenda? Seafood chimis at Moqui! Woe were we to learn upon our return that they had taken the seafood chimis off the menu in our absence, but no matter; there was plenty of other good stuff to be had.

We’d go on to enjoy many a memorable evening at Moqui Lodge in the five years we spent at the Grand Canyon after returning, sometimes just the two of us, more often with friends. The crews from various offices we worked at got together there regularly to welcome new employees, send off departing ones, and sometimes to welcome them back. We brought out of town guests there.

One year, an escaped convict named Danny Ray Horning ran amok in the park for two weeks. The canyon was like a military base. Normally, the drive from our apartment to Moqui took 15 minutes. But that time we endured two hours of bumper to bumper traffic through checkpoint after checkpoint to go to dinner at Moqui!

Of course, we enjoyed the cuisine at the other area restaurants like the El Tovar, the Arizona Room, and the cafeteria at Maswik, the Cameron Trading Post (worthy of a post unto itself!) but Moqui was always special to us. It was a place where locals and visitors could enjoy a quality meal for a decent price in a warm and welcoming atmosphere.

Eventually, we left the canyon again, but we didn’t go far. We still go back and visit. How saddened I was in April 2005 (when I visited to celebrate the centennial of the El Tovar Hotel) to see a tacky old plywood sign with the word “closed” spray painted in red, disrespectfully hanging across the door of Moqui’s trademark A Frame lobby.

I went on to learn that the lodge, which dated back to the ’50’s, hadn’t been open since 2001 due to some structural issues. After considering whether or not to refurbish the old buildings, the decision was made to bring on the wrecking ball. We shed a few tears upon hearing the news. We just couldn’t believe that the place where we’d made friends, made plans, celebrated milestones in our professional and personal lives over a chips and salsa and maybe a margarita or two, would be be no more.

The demolition work was done in spring of 2006. When I visited the Grand Canyon again that April (this time on my way to Peach Springs to go white water rafting), nothing of Moqui Lodge remained – nothing to the naked eye perhaps. What folks won’t see are the memories made by all those people who passed through Moqui’s doors through the decades. They have to remain in some form, perhaps to nurture the pine trees that will one day be planted there. May they grow tall and strong.

Thanks for indulging me, folks.

Happy Travels! ~Alley Kaye

P.S. Oh, and while I’m getting misty-eyed over one of my old haunts, let us also pause to remember the legendary Stardust Hotel and Casino in Las Vegas. As of yesterday, the last dice were rolled at this 50–year-old local icon, which will be imploded in January to make way for the new Echelon Place. Time marches on.

P.P.S. Want to know what other Grand Canyon restaurants we like? Order your special advance copy of “The Insider’s Guide to Grand Canyon Dining.” Drop me a line at alleyk@grandcanyon.com