Tucson, AZ
There were two stops on my itinerary today, Tombstone and Bisbee, both of which are south-east of Tucson. Both are shameless tourist traps, but hey, I’m a tourist so trap me!
Tombstone is only an hour or so east of Tucson on I-10 and then south on AZ-80. It’s a pleasant drive through the desert mesa with hills and mountains all around at various distances away. It was fairly early when I arrived and so there weren’t a lot of tourists but as the day progressed, more and more appeared. The area to visit is fairly small in size and it’s easy to take everything in wandering about on foot.
There are different re-enactments of the famous Shoot Out at the OK Corral around town, but I figured the one called the OK Corral would be the logical choice. For some reason, in my head, the shoot out should take place on the Main Street, but then they couldn’t charge for it, now could they. I watched the Historama, which was cheesier than most of the rest of the place, but it did the job of filling in the huge gaps in my knowledge regarding this historic gunfight. It also told the story of Tombstone as well.
Tombstone grew after the discovery of silver in the area and was a thriving town until the cost of extracting the silver got too expensive due to the need to manage the water table. Twice the main streets of Tombstone burned to the ground, and it was quickly rebuilt. Then a disaster at the mine, when salt water was used accidentally instead of gas for the generators which kept the water out of the mines, meant the mine shut down. Tombstone stayed alive as the county seat for a while until it was eventually replaced and fell into disrepair.
After watching the famous re-enactment, I wandered the shops for a bit, and then grabbed some lunch on the main drag (Allen Street) at the Longhorn Restaurant. I had a steak sandwich that was fantastic. It was a thick sirloin cooked to perfection served on Texas toast and was melt in your mouth tender.
Boothill Graveyard awaited my exploration and so I backtracked a little to take a look at it. The Graveyard is a registered National Historic Site. The gravestones often indicated how the individual had died, and you quickly realized just how wild the west really was at that time.
During my time in Tombstone I was reminded of another town that was inspired by a silver rush, Dawson City, Yukon, which I visited with my friend Nanci a few years ago on our northern adventure. It didn’t have the Wild West (cowboy and Indian) element to it but I have to say, that overall, the quality of the re-enactments, and the organization and presentation of the buildings and history in Dawson City was far superior to that of Tombstone. Skagway, Alaska also has similar history and they have done a great job of capitalizing on the Alaskan cruise ship tourists by presenting the history and providing tourist opportunities.
After taking some pictures of the town, I jumped in the car and headed south on Highway 80 to the Mule Mountain community of Bisbee. It’s 5000 feet above sea level so the remnants of the recent snow were still in evidence on the north slopes an sides of buildings and even on the Main Street. Despite Bisbee’s claim to fame that it has near perfect weather year round, it was only 9 degrees but the sun was warm making it feel much warmer.
From it’s historic roots, the town, which is in such a ruggedly beautiful setting, has grown into a popular getaway for residents of Tucson and Phoenix as well as tourists from everywhere. The main streets are filled with shops of all sorts, but mainly art, and restaurants. There is much said about the how the environment there “stimulates creativity and an appreciation for freedom”. It definitely appeared from some of the locals I saw that it is attracting an “alternative” lifestyle in the desert.
Once again I’m reminded of a Canadian town that is somewhat similar to Bisbee, Nelson, BC. I wandered along the main street, and into some shops but I’m afraid I didn’t do anything to help stimulate the economy. Unfortunately, I didn’t see anyone offering to take Canadian money at par.
Then it was off for home. On the return drive I had the delightful treat of watching the warm light changing shadows on the mesa and the mountains to the east and north as the sun went down behind the westerly mountains.
Lois' Adventures 