Jo Traveler: Inspiration Found on Family Fun Trip to Calico Ghost Town

A few weeks ago, while visiting my daughter and her family to celebrate the birth of their son Everett, Richard and I decided to take their two older kids to Calico Ghost Town. Calico Ghost Town is located just a few miles east of Barstow off I-15. Exit I-15 at Ghost Town Road. It is free to get in normally, but this was a special President's Day weekend event and there was a $10.00 charge. We saw the likes of President Abraham Lincoln, as he recites the complete Gettysburg address. We also enjoyed the Civil War re-enactors from the Southwest region of the American Civil War Society as they bring the Civil War to life.

Blues and barn browns were all abound in Calico

Calico is Open every day, no reservations are required. Calico was built during an 1881 silver strike, the largest strike ever found in California. The town boomed until the mines started to dwindle out in 1896 and by 1904, it was a ghost town. Today it's a tourist attraction, and a great place for a design enthusiast like myself to find some old-world inspiration.

I was so inspired by the the blues and browns I saw. What a classic color palette. The Victorian era furnishings were so polished-looking even for today's design standards. I can easily see how sophisticated these styles would be in someone's more modern home design.

My favorite attraction at Calico was the Lucy Lane Museum. The artifacts, photographs and documents gave the guests an amazing opportunity to see what life was like for the people of Calico.