Yep, that's a place. See?
It's in the middle of the desert between Las Vegas and LA. I'd never heard of it until we drove by, and then of course this sign intrigued me.
I won't bother retyping the story of Zzyzx here. You can read it on Wikipedia. And you can see some fantastic photos here. In Motel. Pool., Tag and Jack pay the place a visit and Tag has an epiphany there.
Zzyzx has an interesting history and the scenery is unique, but I'd love it just for the name alone. Maybe it's because I grew up in a town called Beaverton, but I really like towns with weird, funny, or intriguing names. Mist, Drain, and Boring in Oregon. Wahoo, Nebraska. European places that are missing their vowels, like Krk (a Croatian island) or Trst (the Croatian name for the nearby Italian city of Trieste). Or those that threaten to sprain your tongue, like Ljubljana, Slovenia. And there's apparently a place near Sacramento called Manlove.
What's your favorite place name?
Okay Zzyzx is fun. I love funny place names and I grew up in Pennsylvania which is full of the them, Moon (my uncle lives there), Mars (my cousins), King of Prussia, Blue Balls, Intercourse, Virginville and Climax (which all had to be typed together), Bird-in-Hand, Loyalsockville and it goes on. Kinda makes you wonder if all those settlers were high at the time.
ReplyDeleteAnd of course on the way to my friend's place I have to drive by this in KY and return to being 12. Big Bone Lick St Park. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Big_Bone_Lick_State_Park
Oh my. Pennsylvania totally wins for interesting names! I love that you have relatives in Moon *and* Mars.
DeleteI also love that I have a cousin in Evans GA (Evans is my actual surname) but yes PA has great many fun names many of which I'm using in a non-erotica steampunk mystery series including Cherry Hollow and Dogwood Hollow (I grew up next door to the former).
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