Tombstone, Arizona – Big Trip 2019

Friday 12 July – Sunny and high 30’s. Off to Tombstone Arizona. We left at 620 in the morning and arrived at 11:20 but because we went back another hour we actually arrived at 10:20.  We stopped, and stayed, at Tombstone RV Park we had site 23 and it was $35 a night. It’s a really nice park, all gravel with trees on either side.

After we got to the RV park we set up and headed to town, only a five minute drive away.  We went to the Old Tombstone Western Town and it was $15 each entrance fee to enter and included a gunfight show, a trolley ride and mini putt. I know what you’re thinking……….they had mini putt back in the day of gunslingers?  Apparently so…….  We did the 25 minute trolley right through town and it was just us and a family of four.  Didn’t take too long to go around the town but it was an interesting tour.

After the tour, we were back in time for the 45 minute gunfight show which was pretty funny. There was a girl miner who had her mule stolen and the story went from there and included a sheriff and others. All the actors were dressed up as per the era and they were all pretty good.

We did walk around this Western Town looking at different things and yes we played mini putt.

After that we walked around the town and there were lots of people dressed up, just walking around. We went into Big Nose Kate’s bar and had a beer. It was a pretty cool place, all old fashioned and western looking.

We left there and there was supposed to be a gunfight at the Oriental saloon so we went in there and spent $12 on 2 beer.  Because we were the only two people there, they canceled the gunfight, which we were looking forward to.

Some downtown photos.

Off to Margarita’s Café which was a Mexican/Italian restaurant for dinner. Clint had enchiladas and I had fettuccine Alfredo, it was an okay meal and our waitress was really nice. Walked around the town a bit more and then headed home.

Saturday 13 July – 35 Celsius and sunny. We went to the OK Corral and it was $20 total to go in. We went in and watched the big gunfight. The actors were dressed like Wyatt Earp and his brothers, the acting was good. The whole show lasted about 25 minutes and it was good but I think I preferred the other show.  I had my picture taken with some of the guys from the OK Corral gunfight.

They had all kinds of displays you could walk around to see, before or after the show.

 

The ticket also included the Historama which was about 30 minutes long and really, really cool. We sat in a dark theatre and there was a four sided moving diorama and every few minutes a film screen would come down, it was so neat.  Go to the link and read about it and look at the photos, it’s hard to explain but if you go to Tombstone, it’s a must see.  No cameras are allowed inside.

Then we walked down the street to the outskirts of the main town to the Courthouse.  This is a beautiful old building, made into a museum, and we toured all through it and downstairs and upstairs.  I love old buildings and this one was in great shape.

Just down the road from the courthouse was Tombstone Brewing Company, of course we had to go there and it was a cute little place. The beer was okay but the ambience was really good. I did like their Lager. They had really cool posters on their walls and I love any kind of wall murals or posters. And to top it off, the staff was really nice.  We went there a couple of times.

 

After that we just walked around the streets going into different spots;  the Crystal Palace and some stores.

 

They had a building which said it housed (in the back garden)  a large Rose Bush.  We were curious so in we went.  I forget the admission fee, couple of bucks maybe?  They had a museum throughout the house and then you went out back and saw the huge rose bush.

We also went into the Bird Cage which is an old original building and it was very cool. We went upstairs and downstairs.  It was jam packed with items and furniture.   Lots of original stuff left in there and a lot left as it was in the 1880s.  I think it was $14 each to get in and I thought it was a lot at the time but it was actually worth it.  The building inside is a lot bigger than it looks from the outside.

Back to Café Margarita for dinner. This time I had enchiladas and Clint had a burrito and fried ice cream. We had a different server and she forgot to bring Clint’s soup that he ordered and she asked us to pay while we were still eating.  I said to her “we are still eating” and she walked away. She was not a good server like the one we had the last time.

Sunday 14 July –  Sunny and 40 Celsius. We drove to Boot Hill and it was $3 each to get in. We walked all around the cemetery reading the different tombstones. Some were sad and some were kind of funny.   They also had a Jewish cemetery which we had to walk down the hill to get to.

After that we went to the Telegraph office to get our free newspaper and there was a small museum there. Lots of old printing equipment and devices.  Must have been quite something to print a newspaper back then. A lot of work.

Then we walked downtown and stopped at a bakery where we bought cookies and a cinnamon bun, it was okay but nothing special.

We stopped in at Tombstone Brewery for another beer and decided to do a driving loop to Bisbee.   This town has an interesting history, it proved to be one of the richest mineral sites in the world by producing gold, copper, silver, lead and zinc.  The primary mining was copper.  It has a  very unique downtown and is built in a canyon. It kind of felt like Nelson, British Columbia, without the smell.  If you have been to Nelson, you’ll know what I’m talking about.

 

We shared a taster tray at the Old Bisbee Brewing company. The beer was not that great at all and the girl was grumpy. She’s probably grumpy because the beer is not that great.

This town is on Tombstone Canyon Road. Neat name.  We walked around downtown and stopped in an alley and ate at a little alley restaurant called Poco’s. But it was clean!  We shared a burrito and holy cow it was huge, I’ve never seen a burrito that big in my life.  We only ordered one.  And it was very tasty, they put everything on it, even potatoes.

 

After that we walked around a bit more then just drove outside of town.  We wanted to see where the big copper mine used to be. Now it’s a big hole the ground.

 

We drove through a lot of small towns on the way back, one called Naco where we saw the wall up close and personal  Then we went to another town I believe called Sierra where the Buffalo soldiers used to be.  Sierra is also supposed to be the hummingbird capital of the USA.  It took us a couple of hours to get home as we stopped here and there to see some sights.

Tomorrow we are off to Tucson, Arizona!