Trip to Bisbee

Gloria, Doug, Gerry and I took a 200 mile roundtrip to Bisbee, AZ and had a great time.  We picked them up at the Pima County Fairground campground and took the back roads to Bisbee.  We took the long way there in order to see the countryside and the towns of Sierra Vista, Ft Huachucha, and Naco.  Naco is right on the border with Mexico and has seen better days.

Bisbee is a great place to visit.  It used to be a copper mining town and when the mines closed down the town fell on hard times.  It has become a haven for artists and the town has been restored to former glory with the exception that the homes are now purple, green, red and other bright colors.  

The downtown area is reivitalized and most shops are open for business.  There are the usual tourist shops plus other interesting places, including many restaurants, brew pubs and hotels.  

Doug was raised in Miami, AZ and said Bisbee reminded him of his home town, except their mine was larger.  If so, then it must have been a very big mine since the one in the center of Bisbee is huge.  The truck paths down to the bottom have eroded and it isn't possible to drive to the bottom anymore.

Gloria and Doug checked out the pit from the overlook.  They don't have anything like this back in the midwest where Gloria is from.  All the mines back there are deep shafts and have closed down over the years.  Gloria is from the same county in Illinois as Gerry and I.  


We stopped for dinner at Santiago's Restaurant and had a great Mexican meal and cold beer.  They weren't at all busy and the waiter said it was a very slow period for them.  Bisbee is about 15 degrees colder than the Tucson area and I think that accounts for their slow season.  They did have the Christmas lights up in the downtown area and we enjoyed seeing them on the way out.

On our way back we drove through Benson and ran across this neat Christmas ornament out side a car dealership.  It really stood out nicely.  The display was about 15 ft high to give you an idea of it's size.  Well done.