Tombstone, Arizona

March 30, 2017

We visited the Empire Ranch and then drove on to Tombstone for a look see.  Gerry and I have been to Tombstone many times and think it's interesting, but just a tourist trap.  At least it is a lot better than The Dells in Wisconsin.  The Dells are in another class.

The Birdcage Theatre is reputed to be one of the only authentic buildings left from the old Tombstone.  It opened in 1881 and was open for business 24 hours a day for 8 years.  It appears today just like it did back in 1889 when it closed.  It was a bar, brothel, theatre and gambling hall all rolled up into one place.

 The original bar from when the Birdcage closed still looks in great shape.  It was made of cherry wood in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania and shipped around the horn to the west coast of the US and then brought to Tombstone by wagon.

 There are many pictures in the bar area.  One can also see one of the "birdcages" shown on the upper left.  It was a small crib for the "working girls" to earn their keep.

 Down the street is Big Nose Kate's bar/restaurant.  They usually have live entertainment there and it's covered with old photos from days gone by.

The old bar is usually full of patrons from tourists to locals.  A number of locals dress in period costumes and it looks like one of them is taking a break at the bar.  Then again, Arizona is an open carry state and he may not be in costume, but a tourist after all.

One of the local performers was doing his thing across the street from Big Nose Kate's and had on a very wild outfit.  I sat down on a bench to wait for Gerry & Debbie and the man next to me said he was a former high school classmate of the man.

The O.K. Corral is used for a daily reenactment of the famous shootout at the O.K. Corral between the Earp brothers and Doc Holliday against the Clantons and others.  

 There are a couple stagecoach rides that go up and down the street with the driver narrating information about old Tombstone. 

 The local fire department couldn't keep the town from almost burning down a couple times due to lack of water.  By the time they had water delivered to the town the mines played out and that was the end of Tombstone for about 45 years.

 The Earp brothers were famous gamblers/lawmen and other professions and Wyatt was the most famous of them.  His home has been restored and is now a Gallery.

Wyatt Earp home

 They have recently installed a statue of Wyatt Earp next to his house.  Notice he is carrying a double barrel shotgun in addition to his pistol.

 We had an entertainment passport book with a page that was good for free admittance to the Boothill Cemetery.  We thought it was good for a discount in the gift shop there, also.  They had free admission to the cemetery at least since 2006 when we first visited there.  Now they don't honor the passport book and charge $3.00 to view the cemetery.  Debbie had questioned the clerk, who apologized for not being able to accept the coupon.  She said the policy had just recently been changed and she had to follow her instructions, although the coupon wasn't supposed to expire until 12/31/17.

If you've never been to Tombstone it is worth a first visit, but be prepared for a lot of tee-shirts for sale along with lots of other touristy articles.

The main street was asphalt with parking on the street in 2006 and they later covered the street with dirt to film a movie there.  While that sounds neat, the dust from the street is terrible when the wind picks up.  Over the years the dirt has worn down and the stagecoaches mainly run on the asphalt.

We stopped at the Horseshoe Cafe in Benson on our way back to the campground and had a very nice dinner.  We really lucked out and immediately got a table. Others who followed us weren't so lucky and waited for 30-45 minutes to be seated.  The restaurant is very old and we like to stop there when we are in the area since we know they serve good food.

Finally we drove back to the campground and were worn out.  It was a 210 mile round trip and our old bodies felt it.  That was our day, how was yours?

 

Tombstone & some excitement

The next thing on Grant's bucket list to see while in the Tucson area was Tombstone, AZ.   We waited for the hottest day of the year so far ( 95 degrees ) to make the 60 mile drive there.  

I usually take the long round about drive to Tombstone through Sierra Vista and then over to Tombstone.  We enjoy the backroads down through Sonoita and then over to Sierra Vista.  Another reason for this route is that we stop at the Safeway grocery store in Sierra Vista and have them prepare a Chicago South Sider sandwich for us.  Safeway officially doesn't make the South Sider anymore, but the deli clerk remembers the ingredients and prepared them for us.  

After picking up sandwiches we headed for the local park for lunch and were surprised to see they were having a "fair" in the park with many tents and food wagons.  No problem, we enjoyed our South Siders and then left for Tombstone.

We switched to the ride shown below and it took us a while to make the trip.  It was a little bumpy, but otherwise fine.  

Tomstone Stage Coach

Pancho Villa was there to greet us and I chatted with him for a while.  Actually, he just finished working on a movie being shot at Gammon's Gulch and dresses like this most of the time.  He does reenactments all over the west and also gives talks to schoolkids and tourists.  Very interesting fellow.  The man in black next to him on the left worked in Tombstone and was all dressed up like a US Marshal.

 Tombstone at 5:30 pm.  All the stores close at 5pm and the tourists leave and once again the streets are almost deserted.  In past visits to Tombstone they covered the street with dirt for a movie being shot there.  Once the movie was finished they left the dirt on the main street and it was a mess when the high winds were active.  Finally, they decided tourism was more important than a dirt road, so they removed the dust (dirt) and it went back to the present form.

 I was getting thirsty so Gerry, Grant and I went over to the Big Nose Kate's Saloon on main street.  It is quite a colorful place and they had live entertainment with a man playing a guitar and singing country ballads.

 We snagged a table really fast and then waited and waited and waited for service.  The man and woman servers were more interested in talking to people than providing any service so we got up and left after a while.  At least Grant got to see what the interior of the old place looked like.

Bar area in Big Nose Kates Saloon

One of the many shops on main street.

 Ooopps, we missed the afternoon stage to Sierra Vista.  Not to worry, we had the trusty Saturn to take us back home.

We got there right after the gunfight started at the OK Corral and the next gunfight there started while we were at the other end of town.  We did get a picture of Grant outside of the corral area.

Grant couldn't get the Duke's autograph but was able to get his picture taken next to a likeness of him.

We finally stopped at another bar and got some drinks.  Grant had a sasparilla and we had adult beverages.  This place seems to be the gathering place for all the characters who dress up in period costumes and work in Tombstone.

While we were sitting there a huge black cloud appeared down the street from us.  I thought it was a car that caught on fire, but found out it was at the Old West Theatre studio show and it caught fire 10 minutes after the last act.  The place burned to the ground along with some apartments next to the place.  It caused quite a commotion since the buildings in Tombstone are wood and quite old.  If the fire had gotten into the buildings on main street it would have been a disaster for the town.  Thankfully, the fire department was able to contain the fire and keep it from main street.

Tombstone bills itself as "the town too tough to die" and has been through fires, earthquakes, mine shutdowns and other calamaties.  They dodged the bullet once again.

After a quick stop at Boothill we made the long drive back to the motor home.  That was our exciting day, how was yours?

Ride to Tombstone to Pick Up a Skull

We got a request from our FSILINC to pick up a cattle skull in Tombstone today.  We hopped in our trusty old car and motored on up to Tombstone.

We made good time driving there since there wasn't much traffic on the road.  It took us a couple tries at stores in Tombstone to find a skull like he wanted.  Thank goodness he didn't want a buffalo skull since they were $135 on up and quite large.  We found a nice cattle skull that will take care of his request.  It looked like the one below without the post.  Don't ask what he wants it for.

 

I wish I could remember where I saw this one and go back and get it.  It looks quite a bit like the one we picked up for him.  What do you think of it, Henry?

We decided to take some picture while we were in Tombstone to go along with the 100 or so we took in previous visits.  Never have too many pictures.

Stagecoach ride

Main Street

We had to drive back fairly early so we wouldn't miss The Amazing Race at 7pm, so we didn't spend a lot of time there.  We did look for a restaurant that we went to in 2006.  The town might be "too tough to die", but the restaurant wasn't that tough.  The building is still there, but it is vacant.  Too bad, since we enjoyed the meal and atmosphere.

The return trip was delayed a little while we had dinner at Montgomery's in Vail, AZ.  It is just a neighborhood bar in a small shopping center, but it is a friendly place with good food.  The cold beer also helped convince us to stop there for the last time this spring.  

The temps were in the mid 90s, but it cooled off nicely around sunset and it was beautiful outside.

Our neighbors from Erie, PA left this morning after buying new coach batteries.  They had to wait until 10am to leave in order to get some propane and then the coach wouldn't start.  The new batteries did the trick and they pulled out around noon.  Jan came over to sit in our MH because we had the a/c on. They had already disconnected their MH utilities.  We had a nice chat and look forward to seeing them again in the fall.  Safe travels guys.