Tombstone & Bisbee

We made plans to go to Tombstone & Bisbee today to check them out.  Gerry and I have been to both places a number of times and prefer Bisbee over Tombstone, however for the first time visitor Tombstone is more interesting.  Before we could get out of Tucson a shady character on a Harley road up to say goodbye.  He tried to pick up Gerry, but didn't have the rear seat for her to sit on.

Gerry & Ron K

We stopped in St. David at the Holy Trinity Monastery to pick up some of their honey and also the candy that they sell.  It is an interesting place to stop and check out the Our Lady of Guadalupe Chapel and large cross on the grounds.  We arrived at lunch time and the store was closed.  Darn!

Brief History of Tombstone 

The people of Tombstone have gone to a lot of trouble to make it a tourist town and have succeeded very well.  A number of the buildings are original and the newer ones are built to look like they are 140 years old.  One of the more famous buildings is the Bird Cage Theater which was a gambling hall, saloon and house of prostitution for many years.  They say it never closed it's doors for over 10 years and had a very interesting past.

Barb & Henry

   We visited the famous Boothill Graveyard and took in all the grave markers with their witty sayings on them.  

Barb, Henry and Gerry decided to check out all the shops on the 3 block long mainstreet while I stayed behind to guard the car.  LOL  Henry gave up after and while and came back to help me on guard duty, but the girls continued to shop and found some must have bargains.  

I was afraid to ask about this photo.

We also had Bisbee on our itinerary and we made the 25 mile drive down there.  Bisbee is more natural and very eclectic since the artists have taken over the town after the mines closed in the 1974.  The girls went shopping and Henry and I went sightseeing in the area.  We visited the Copper Queen Mine but they were closing for the day so on to the huge Lavender open pit copper mine.  By products from this copper mine were gold and turquoise, with the Bisbee Blue turquoise being one of the most finest in the world. 

There is a well known RV park there called Shady Dell which has old Airstreams and other trailers of that era available for rental.  They are restored and seem to be in demand a lot from tourists.  It seems they recently put up an iron fence around the grounds to keep people out, so I was only able to get a few pictures.  They even have a yacht on the grounds to rent, but not water to put it in.  It looks like it would be an interesting place to spend a few nights.

   
By this time we were losing daylight fast and decided to head back to Tucson via Sierra Vista, AZ.  Our tummies were growling and we stopped at an Applebee's for dinner.  Gerry and I agreed that it wasn't one of the better meals that we've had at Applebee's.  A return stop is not on the schedule.

We did manage to stop by the Vail Dairy Queen for their Blizzard special once again.  I put mine in the freezer since I was still full from dinner.  The others scarfed theirs down like they were starving and later were moaning how full they were.  Humm!

Yes, Jerry & Suzy, we did honk the horn as we drove by the SKP in Benson, but you ignored us.