London Bridge is Falling Down

Most people confuse London's famed "Tower Bridge" with the less imposing "London Bridge". The song no doubt refers to the efforts of the London town fathers to keep the original bridge, built across the Thames River in 1830, from dropping stones on passing boats and otherwise deteriorating. To make matters worse, shipping interests complained that the bridge was too low. A decision was made in 1960 to remove the original London Bridge.

A group of American businessmen raised seven and one-half million dollars to dismantle London Bridge block-by block, and reconstruct it across the Colorado River in Arizona as a tourist attraction. The work began in 1968 and the restored bridge was dedicated in 1971. It actually spans from the Arizona shore of Lake Havasu to a beach island just off shore, rather than across the Colorado River. The bridge has become a tourist theme, and 30 years later is surrounded by the London Bridge Resort, the English Village shopping area, numerous other resort hotels and a casino. It is a popular destination for the relentless stream of retired tourists who fill the parking lots with RV's (which am now convinced means "Retirement Vehicle").

When I went to breakfast at my hotel, I found I was the youngest person in the dining room by a decade, and the only one not stealing food from the buffet with zip-lock bags.