April 2024

Lake Havasu City, AZ

Lake Havasu is probably best known by its famous bridge. The old or original London Bridge is in fact NOT falling down. The inside of the bridge is hollow because it was rebuilt in order to accommodate auto traffic. During the London Bridge's reassembly, a steel framework was faced in granite, rather than using solid granite blocks, which reduced its weight from 130,000 tons to 30,000 tons while strengthening the structure. When dismantled in London, England, each stone of the London Bridge was numbered for reassembly in Lake Havasu City. The bridge was shipped overseas to the Port of Long Beach, California and then transported overland to Lake Havasu City, where reassembly began in 1968. If you look carefully, you can see the numbering on many of the stones. The London Bridge is known as the world's largest antique, and with the opening of the bridge in October 1971, Lake Havasu City was permanently put on the map as a world-famous attraction.

As the second-largest tourist attraction in Arizona, topped only by the Grand Canyon, the London Bridge continues to draw tens of thousands of sightseers to Lake Havasu City annually. To whom does Lake Havasu and Arizona owe their gratitude? His name is Robert McCulloch and he was a Missouri-born industrialist who had made millions heading up companies that sold oil, motors and chainsaws. Lake Havasu's claim to fame began in 1963 when R.M. purchased thousands of acres of land near Arizona’s Lake Havasu, an isolated body of water created by a dam on the Colorado River. McCulloch had founded the community of Lake Havasu City at the site and had designs on making it a tourist oasis, but he was still struggling to attract visitors. The rest is...history.

To read the full story: CLICK HERE

The 28 Lighthouses of Havasu

Lake Havasu may be well-known for the London Bridge, but it is a lesser- known fact that it is also home to more lighthouses than any other city in the entire country. The structures on the west side of Lake Havasu are modeled after West Coast lighthouses and use green beacons, while the east side of the reservoir has East Coast replicas with red beacons. The Great Lakes replicas are situated around the island. They are incredibly designed to look like their counterparts except that they are much shorter/smaller. All the lighthouses are functional, providing safety to night boaters. Some you can drive, walk, or bike to, and others are only accessible or seen by boat. You can go up to them but there is no access to go inside them. All of the lighthouses were funded through donations and built from scratch. The first, West Quoddy, modeled after a lighthouse in Maine, was installed in June 2002. Each lighthouse took two to three months to design and build. The Lake Havasu Lighthouse Club is responsible for inspecting and maintaining them. I have not seen them all yet, but it was really fun to visit several of them! I always enjoy leaving something on the to-do list for my next visit.

When In Havasu...

Thank you Lake Havasu Lighthouse Club

Click Above to Go Their Website

Walking and Biking Around

While we were there, we checked out a couple of cruiser bikes that were available at our resort and rode around the island. There is a nice trail around the island that passes several lighthouses and has great views of the lake. It was a peaceful and beautiful ride; I would recommend doing this for sure. In nice weather, I would bring a picnic to enjoy in a pretty spot by the water. Walking across the bridge and around the area was enjoyable. There are places to eat and drink and opportunities to get out on the water all around the bridge area. I can't recommend enough staying close to the bridge and island so you can walk, bike, or boat around.

Kayaking

Of course this is only one option to get out on the water. We used the company right next to the Nautical Resort to rent a kayak and it was a smooth process. We even got to meet their cute dog, River. (Is it just me or do all of you miss your fuzzy babies while you are out on vacation? I will never miss out on giving some pets to other fuzzy children out there.) On our short kayak adventure we saw a few lighthouses and enjoyed the calm of the morning before the lake filled up. The temperature was great too!

Where We Stayed- The Nautical Resort

When deciding where I wanted to stay, being close to the water was a priority. Being that I had never been here before, the island seemed like a perfect place to be centralized yet away from the hustle and bustle of the city. The Nautical Resort had some deals at the time and was proud to be the only hotel "on the beach". I can say that there are a couple other good hotel options that are very close to a beach, but not actually beach front properties. This resort offers a restaurant/bar, a tiki bar by the infinity pool where you can also order food, and a sandy beach bar. There is a small store on the property that sells ice, drinks, snacks, some clothing, incidentals, etc. They have cruiser bikes to check out and use to bike around the island or even into town...do it! We stayed in a bay room at the cove and it offered a great view of the bay and the pool (a pretty fantastic sunrise/sunset too!). We accidentally hit the tail end of "spring break season" so we did have a lot of noise one of the nights. We faded the party noise with the loud yet soothing hum of the air conditioner and were able to get to sleep. The room was adequate; the property is older (retro cool I dare say?) so we weren't expecting a Four Seasons. We particularly enjoyed the balcony. The bathroom, bed, refrigerator, microwave, and tv were all in fine condition. We noticed that several people would boat and tie up to the beach to enjoy the property during the day (good thing to keep in mind). Consider spring break dates and temperatures in the area when you book a stay in Havasu. The town has many events and the town can fill up fast! I am not a fan of intense heat or crowds, so off season times are great for me. If you are a heat loving lake fish, you could hang out here with the party that summer brings and really enjoy it. We enjoyed our quiet time reading, relaxing, and sunning out at the pool and the convenience of the restaurant and bars on the property, however, we would recommend getting out into the town to experience a finer food/drink experience. We liked it at The Nautical Resort and would stay here again.

**I am not sponsored

Food

We enjoyed perhaps one of the most delicious dinners we ever had at Shugrue's. We had the largest oysters we've ever seen, paella, and garlic encrusted halibut. Even their bread was fabulous! The atmosphere was pleasant and had great moody lighting. We were elated that they also just happened to have the exact bottle of wine we were craving! The view of the bridge from our table was the cherry on top! Two other restaurants worth mentioning that we went to are La Vita Dolce Italian Bistro and Rotary Kitchen & Bar.

Experience

We enjoyed the time we spent walking around the bridge area. There were a few places to eat, grab a snack (ice cream & snow cones!) or grab a drink. A few of them even overlook the bridge and water. This area was reminiscent of the Santa Monica Boardwalk by day and a little like Laughlin by night. There were clubs and several hotels located right by the bridge as well as plenty of docks to pull up to. We were only here for a short vacation but if we had more time we would rent a boat and stay longer without hesitation. There's always next time!

Fun Facts

-The ornate lampposts on the bridge are made from the melted-down cannons captured by the British from Napoleon's army after the Battle of Waterloo in 1815.

-Lake Havasu is ideal for catching large and small-mouth bass; and is a renowned striped bass fishery

-Lake Havasu consists of 60 miles of lake and river waterways and more than 400 miles of beautiful shoreline

-The word Havasu means blue green water in the Havasupai language.

-Havasu has 9 months of flip-flop weather!

Don't Forget to Take a Stroll in the Park

You'll wonder where exactly you've been transported to. There's a beach, mountains, palm trees, a lake, and we're in a desert? Are we still in Arizona?

Rotary Community Park was fun to walk around. It is a great place to picnic, enjoy the water, see some lighthouses, or hang out on a boat. You can walk here from the bridge area or get here by boat.

Havasu has a total of 17 city parks, 3 dog parks plus Lake Havasu State Park. Life can really be a picnic here!

Take a Tiki Tour Too!

While we were waiting to check in we met a nice bartender that told us about a tiki boat tour. We did end up booking a tour and really enjoyed it. You're encouraged to bring drinks and/or food to enjoy as you enjoy being on the water. It would be a fun activity with a group but we enjoyed being the only people on this particular ride. Greyson was a great captain and he even took our picture by the bridge.