How-dee Adventurers! From Beatty we took a short drive to ghost town of Rhyolite, Nevada. The first time I visited Rhyolite was driving with my friend Brian on the way back from Ridgecrest, California on our way to Las Vegas. On that trip, we drove through Death Valley National Monument and arrived at the Goldwell Open Air Museum at dusk.


It was a weird, and most striking experience. On their website they describe it best:

"Just outside of Rhyolite, Nevada, a spectacular ghost town off the road leading to Death Valley, California, a group of prominent Belgian artists, led by the late Albert Szukalski, created a self-described art situation consisting of seven outdoor sculptures that are colossal not only in their scale, but in their placement within the vast upper Mojave desert."



What that means it when you see "The Last Supper," by Belgian artist Albert Szukalski, which is a ghostly interpretation of Christ and his disciples, lighted and glowing against the backdrop of the expansive Amargosa Valley on a cold winter night, you ain't going to forget it. (using their words and mine).


There are other art pieces on the grounds, like the couch, and a gift shop museum staffed by friendly local volunteers. It is a very interesting visit, especially at dusk. 



Just up the road from the Goldwell Museum is the ghost town of Rhyolite. This was my first visit to the ghost town. Long story short, this area suddenly grew to around 10,000 people when a new mine was opened and suddenly grew to around 0 when they figured out it was worthless a few years later. The town was built specifically for the mine from the ground up out of concrete so it would last. And last it has, out in the middle of nowhere. 


One of the oddities close by is Tom Kelley's Bottle House. It is a house built of bottles. There is too much to describe here, check the link if you want the story. I can tell you this much, if you like to see what dreamers create, Rhyolite has lots to offer.


The story of Rhyolite also is a warning to us of potential blindness when chasing wealth. Wanting something to be true doesn't make it so, best to deal with what is. But not dealing with what is does make for an awesome ghost town.