2016 June Arizona Adjunct

The Desert Museum and Lodging tips for Bisbee

Jack finding out what it's like to have ears as big as his dad.  

Since Jack's Baseball team had a "Day of Rest" on Tuesday we decided to take a side trip to the Arizona-Sonora Desert Museum.  John's Grandfather and Dad took him here 26 years ago.  The place has grown A LOT.

Located west of Tucson the Desert museum houses every plant species that grow in the surrounding Sonora Desert.  It also houses many of the animals you will encounter in the Sonora desert including javelina, bear, tortoises, birds of all types and of course snakes. Lots and lots of snakes.

"The Desert Museum is ranked on TripAdvisor.com as one of the Top 10 Museums in the country and the #1 Tucson attraction. Unlike most museums, about 85% of the experience is outdoors!

The 98 acre Desert Museum is a fusion experience: zoo, botanical garden, art gallery, natural history museum, and aquarium."

Straw'bear'y the black bear likes to play with her toys.   She is very active even in this 110+ heat. 

Vulture Culture

Jack enjoyed being a vulture a little too much. I had to drag him away. 

 

This entertaining exhibit humorously displays intriguing facts about this oft-misunderstood bird. Keep an eye out for the exhibit’s committee* of turkey and black vultures as they silently study your movements. (*A group of vultures is called a committee, volt, or venue.)"

The desert museum has all types of plants and animals including this beaver sleeping in his den.

Mountain goats including a very young buckling and a Ram(not in this picture)

Advice for lodging in Bisbee

We wanted to add some tips for lodging in Bisbee.  There are plenty of options in Bisbee including AirBNBs, actual BNBs,  Hotels and then there is the suite above the Brewery.

We didn't find out about the Brewery Suite until after our first night's stay and if we could have canceled the Airbnb we would have moved into the suite immediately.  Located directly above the brewery in Brewery Gulch. This suite is well priced and even more well appointed.  Please check with them brewery if you are interested in renting this spot for your trip to town. For reservations Click Here

2016 June Arizona Day 3 Big Holes, Tombstone and A lot of hot.

Day Three began like day two with us waking up to the blazing sun shining in through the window into the upstairs bedroom of our AirBNB. Imediately it was clear that today was going to be warmer than yesterday but that didn't really matter since we'll be in Pheonix by dinner time.  Phoenix is a good 15-20 degrees warmer.

First things first though, we still had some unfinished business here in Bisbee and the surrounding area. After grabing coffee and a few souvenirs from the Phelps Dodge building we made a quick stop to the scenic viewpoint over the Lavender Mine  The Lavender Mine(described by my friend Bo as a Big Hole) is located just east of Bisbee and borders our breakfast destination of Lowell, AZ.  

 

 

Pulling into Lowell is like stepping back in time.  The town resembles the movie set from "Pleasantville" or "Back To The future".  It looks like nothing has changed since the fifties.   There is an Indian Motorcycle  and a Harley dealership(they're fake but look authentic). There is even an old police station, gas station and a diner. 

 

 

 

The diner is our destination for this morning. Bisbee Breakfast Club boasts the best breakfast in Bisbee.  Rightfully so, we split the potato cakes, eggs and sausage for $9.  We both were satisfied enough to last us until late afternoon. 

 

With the storm rolling in we decided it was time to head to our next destination.  Tombstone here we come.  As we passed through Tombstone Canyon, out the tunnel and through the hills up to Tombstone, AZ the thermometer crept from 80 to 95. We arrived in Tombstone just before high noon.  Right in time for

The Shootout at the OK Corral. 

Rather than sitting in the sun in the arena(OK Corral) to watch a reenactment of the shootout. We slipped into the Four Deuces Saloon where John discovered that "Bartender Bob" and he had several old friends and aquaintences in common due to their respective stints living in Santa Barbara. Although Bob and John were enjoying the conversation the rest of the patrons(mostly locals) quickly became bored with the banter. 

With the rain, thunder and lightning now making their presences known we hurried back to our car.  We had approximately 170 miles to travel through Tucson and back to Phoenix where we were lucky enough to spend the rest of the evening dining with good friends. Thanks Brian, Lindsey and Randy for hanging out and chatting with us.  

The next morning would bring on more heat and finally some baseball. Since Amber was flying back to Sacramento to shoot a wedding on Sunday we will consider this vacation over.  

Sidenote; John stayed in Phoenix for three more days. Most days were spent at the baseball field but due to a "rest day" in the tournament Jack and John were allowed some time to do a little adventuring of their own.  More to follow on the side trip. 

2016 June Arizona Day 2

Day 2:  Bisbee,  AZ  Wow, just Wow.

Having retired early and left all windows aloft to assist in cooling the under thermodynamically designed house, we were awakened by the birds chirping out their morning annoyances just before sunrise. 

Although we fought the good fight against getting out of bed early during vacation we were finally forced to exit the bedroom and descend the many, many stairs to the local caffeine slinger Bisbee Coffee Company.  At the earlier hours of the morning, this is the view from their patio. 

 

It does resemble an empty Hollywood Movie set and that may be why this town has been used in several movies.  

As we would find out soon this town had yet to unroll the sidewalks that were rolled up the afternoon-evening before.  Bisbee is very quiet this time of year and especially before 10:00 AM so we set out on foot to find a breakfast place.  We were once again reminded that trusting Yelp isn't always the best practice. Luckily this time it was just the directions that were errant and we ended up walking to the empty lot by the freeway off-ramp. The good news is that everywhere you walk in Bisbee there are knick-knacks, do-dads, and other oddities as you will soon see. 

Once we obtained the correct address we made our way to Ana's Seasonal Kitchen located on Main Street (not at the off-ramp). The food was fantastic and the clientele offered plenty to observe and overhear. The locals around here are real characters. 

 

Photo courtesy of Facebook. 

With our bellies now full we headed out to walk off breakfast and take pictures of all of the crazy things you'll find in Bisbee. 

 

That B up on the hill actually lights up at night.  

This back door reminds me of what may have been a speakeasy at some point.  A local of 40 years explained to us that Bisbee was rebuild in the 70s by a bunch of hippies and outlaws. The economy was fueled by selling pot and stealing turquoise off the mine tailings.  It seems like the outlaw spirit is alive and well here without the crime. 

 

Little Warriors:  During our self-guided walking tour up Tombstone Canyon we happened upon this mocked up battle between various action figures staged in some creative soul's front yard.  

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Mermaid Castle is a private backyard only steps from our front door.  They offer private tours if you call ahead.  These ponds contain Koi Fish that are over TWO feet long and at least TEN inches in diameter. They are easily the biggest Koi I have ever seen. 

The Bisbee Stock Exchange was an actual extension of the NYSE. They received a ticker tape daily and posted the prices on this massive chalkboard.  This remained in operation until it was shut down in 1964. It reopened in the 80s as The Stock Exchange Bar. 

 

We eventually made it to the Old Bisbee Brewing Company where our Beertender encouraged us to sample all seven offerings. Amber favored The Holy Grail "Indigenous" IPA while I chose the Salut. The Salut is a  "salut de la vie" which resembles a Zima more than a beer.  

Lastely we joined our Ghost Host on a guided tour showcasing the stories of ghost sightings throughout the town's hotels, bars and brothels.  Believe me there are plenty.  So many that several of the ghost hunter TV shows have been here.  For more information on the ghost tour Old Bisbee Ghost Tour. We picked up some interesting folklore but didn't learn a lot more than we had in the previous days of exploring the town.  

A quick bite to eat at Bisbee's Table Restaurant and we were off to the Stock Exchange for open mic night. As with most open mic nights there was some good and some not so good.  A few songs and it was time to trek back up the hills and staircases to bed. Day two was a complete success.  Tomorrow: Tombstone and ???

2016 June Arizona Baseball and Bisbee

Arizona June 2016 

Day 1 Sacramento to Phoenix to Tucson to Bisbee. 

Thanks to our son's (possibly parentally inflated) burgeoning baseball career, my lovely wife and I are traveling to the hottest part of America today (and for the next few days) to sit in the blistering heat and ensure that Jack doesn't suffer from heat stroke. 

But....as we tend to do we've added a few additional stops along the way.  This will be the first installment of the JohnandAmberTravel blog.  

Itinerary:

4:35AM Drive from Folsom to SMF

6:15AM SMF-PHX by Southwest Airlines

9:30AM Rent a car from Sixt

10:15 Drive to Tucson for lunch and some sightseeing. 

2:15PM drive to Bisbee, AZ. Check into AirBNB and then explore the funky little town that was once a mining Mecca. 

Flights and car rental all went smooth as silk.  I decided to upgrade from our normal rental type because we have a lot of driving to do in 110+ weather so I picked up this beauty from Sixt 

 

During the drive to Tucson I had the opportunity to see a propane take blow the side out of a fifth wheel shortly after I passed it.  I actually felt the blast form 500 feet away.  It reminded me of something you'd see in an action adventure film. 

Once we arrived in Tucson we stopped for lunch at 

Cafe Poca Cosa where we complimented Pollo Mole Negro and Pastel de Elote con Colorado with fresh brewed Ice tea and watermelon juice.

 
  Following our dining experience we took a quick walk around the block and soon understood why we received such strange looks from the wait staff when we told them we were going to walk around town.  This town gets HOT. I'm talking 112 hot but with no real sign of relief like a cool breeze. Stepping outside feels like putting your head in an oven prepared to cook a thanksgiving turkey. After circling the block we opted for the air conditioned comfort of our rental and headed out to the desert to visit old Tucson and the Saguaro National Park.

Although Old Tucson wasn't open we were able to poke around the gift shop before heading to see the big cacti.

A relic of the film industry that has utilized Old Tucson for many decades.  Side note: John's grandfather was a stunt man for the movie industry many years back and actually appeared in two films created at this location. 

 

Finally it was time to head for the final destination for Day 1: Bisbee, AZ.  Bisbee is an historic Mining town that has been transformed into a funky little artist colony boasting many art galleries, gift shops, bars and restaurants. Bisbee is accessible from the west through a tunnel cut through the mountain.  This is my impression of Huell Howser entering Bisbee for the first time if he had ever done an episode here. 

Once we finally arrived in Bisbee we checked into our Airbnb Casa Antigua which was nice enough and walking distance to everything in town. Our location's sister rental Casa De Cobre would be preferable of the two. 

A quick walk around town taught us that during the week Bisbee rolls up the sidewalks at 5:00PM but we landed at one of the open establishments. 

Screaming Banshee Pizza  is a hip(ster) place with great pizza and wings and very crafty cocktails.

Since we awoke at 3:50AM to get to the airport on time we were finally out of gas.  It was time to climb back up the hill and up the stairs to bed. I can't wait to see what tomorrow brings.