Yeehaw Junction

by Mike Miller
(Naples, Florida)

Follow SR-60 west out of Vero Beach and you will come to a genuine slice of Old Florida.

Yeehaw Junction, Florida is at the intersection of US-441 and State Road 60 between Vero Beach and Lake Wales. In the nearly 50 years that I have been driving through it, changes have been very few. A couple of gas stations, maybe a motel that came and went, a new connection to Florida Turnpike. But one constant is the Desert Inn, a unique combination of bar, restaurant and hotel that has been there so long it's on The National Register of Historic Places.

The chili served in the Desert Inn used to be among the best in the western world. I haven't been there lately, but would be disappointed if the chili is gone.

In my early years in Florida, Yeehaw Junction was where you ended up if your car broke down anywhere in the wilderness that exists on all four compass points.

Many years ago there was a service station in Yeehaw Junction that sold tires to replace those that might have blown out on a unfortunate traveler's vehicle.

Those tires were the most expensive in the State of Florida.

Time stands still for no place, not even Yeehaw Junction. A developer has purchased many thousands of acres and is currently planning to create a new town called Destiny.

The destiny of Yeehaw Junction might be to become nothing but a memory.

A history of the Desert Inn and Yeehaw Junction are at http://www.desertinnrestaurant.com/.

The picture above is of the Desert Inn in 2003.