On the Road: Bisbee, Arizona!


(tiredness and hard beds)

We took off from Tombstone midday and arrived in the charming mining town of Bisbee -


We checked into the Copper Queen Hotel - awesome place! Just love it!  This old historic hotel is not only perfectly located to walk to EVERYTHING, but right alongside Brewery Gulch where the fun honky tonk bars are. Lots of yuppie shops for gourmets and antique shoppers, but also a fun population of very relaxed folks escaping the rat race to live as artists, expressionists, free souls, or even stoners, but it's all fun and good. They are a kind town that likes its visitors and perhaps feels a bit of sympathy for us because we can only visit and not stay in that suspended state of creating and relaxing that they get to do every day.

We got the Grace Dodge room. It was a sweet corner room on the third floor, #312. It had two beds and a clawfoot tub and right outside the window close beside our room was a beautiful church -



The hotel touts 3 famous ghosts; a cigar smoking shadowy one, a playful boy and a female who likes to mess with men's bedsheets. It's apparent as you walk the halls and stay in the rooms that this hotel has these entities coming and going through the rooms, not any particular limiting factor. In fact, we had one of the most amazing events I've seen since I stated officially started investigating with the turn of the millennium (tomorrow's post).

We had a great time at the bar downstairs. The atmosphere was nice, the drinks good, and the bartender entertaining and funny.

Julie and I hit the streets and did some serious shopping. The antique shops are awesome and I stopped into a tea shop for some awesome custom teas and an awesome shop called Bisbee Olive Oil where I went nuts getting some of the yummiest things ever -


There was a wide variety of cute cafes, antique shops, and unique shops. There was also Brewery Gulch where there were colorful bars and interesting street art. We also did photography in Lowell (tomorrow's afternoon post) and hit the cemetery (last Sunday's post).

The town has a history of quite a few ghosts and justifiably so, not only from a rough and tough mining town and whore house angle, but because the very way it's tucked between hills of ore is promising as a conduit for craziness.  I'd suggest the trek Julie and I took on this trip because you will be likely heading south from Phoenix and seeing The Thing is not only worth it, but Texas Canyon is a great photo op site - pull off at the rest stop in the boulders! Then, to St. David and the Monastery and Tombstone on the way to Bisbee.


The Shady Dell Trailer Park is right on the edge of the Evergreen Cemetery. There are mid century aluminum trailers set up for a fun blast back into the past to rent for the night.



I recommend Bisbee if you want a mining town that is supported by an artist colony feel - Jerome is the other one in Arizona that comes to mind and fills that bill (if you like a town on a scary mountain road up high). Here's a couple videos of, well, having only ONE margarita - and a glimpse of the cemetery at sunset.





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