SEPTEMBER 2003 – During the Blue Hour, a worn out sign promotes budget rates at Burchs Inn in Mexican Hat, Utah. © Mark Zanzig/zanzig.com
The story behind the image
It had been a long day for us. We had visited the spectacular Antelope Canyon near Page, Arizona, during noon, and explored Monument Valley in the afternoon. Now we were getting nervous as we had not booked an accomodation in advance but were relying on our luck to find something.
When we approached Mexican Hat in Utah on the scenic highway 163, the sun had set already. And we were really happy that Burchs Inn had a room for us.
Now, Mexican Hat is a really small village close to the border between Arizona and Utah. In the middle of nowhere. And that was awesome. Once the sunset had turned into the Blue Hour (that we photographers love so much), there was almost no traffic any more, and it was genuinely quiet and peaceful. We went down the street to the Swingin’g’ Steaks restaurant, were we ordered steaks that were grilled on a huge swining BBQ grill (just as the name suggests.) It was probably the best steak I’ve ever had.
Then we walked back and fell almost instantly into a deep sleep.
Mexican Hat? If you have a chance, stay for a night here.
P.S.: 20+ years later, Burchs Inn is now The Hat Rock Inn and Swingin’ Steaks is now just The Grill – but I strongly believe that neither the surroundings nor the super friendly hospitality hasn’t changed one bit.
The high resolution image
| Capture Date | 14-SEP-2003 |
| Location | Mexican Hat, Utah |
| Camera | Canon AE-1 Program |
| Image Source | Fuji Slide Film |
| Digital Image Source | EPSON Perfection 4870 Photo |
| Digital Image Source Format | TIFF, 48 bits/pixel, sRGB |
| Edited Image Format | JPEG, 24 bits/pixel, sRGB |
| Edited Image Dimensions | 6420 x 4255 Pixels |
| Copyright | © by Mark Zanzig/zanzig.com |
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