Well 2020 really put a crimp on our travel plans. We had to cancel two vacations due to COVID-19. Plus no "girlfriend getaway" for me this year.
What we had planned before 2020 said "not so fast people":
First trip - Paul and I had scheduled San Antonio Riverwalk in Texas the end of May. Cancelled due to travel restrictions and closure of non-essential business. Local restaurants, shops, and tourist attractions were closed. We will rebook that sometime in the future.
Second trip - we had rented a beach house in Belize with four other couples. We planed it the end of last year for this November. Cancelled due to travel restrictions. Belize just reopened it's borders with lots of protocol requirements to get into Belize, plus coming back into the country with 14 day quarantine recommendations. That would have turned a one week vacation into three weeks off.
Girlfriend Getaways - nothing specific had been planned yet since things took a downturn in March. My friend Lisa (River Cruise Travel Club) invited me to visit her in Seattle and we'd hop over to Friday Harbor. I'm hoping to be able to do that next year, maybe end of Spring. We shall see.
Fast forward to today, Paul has been itching to get away so we planned a three day getaway to Bisbee, Arizona. Bisbee is about 3.5 to 4 hours drive from Phoenix. It is south of Tucson and just north of the Mexico border. It was a copper mining town known as the Queen of the Copper Mines because it produced nearly 25% of the world's copper back in the heyday. Now it's artsy, historic, and said to be HAUNTED!
Yes, we booked a Haunted Ghost Tour for our first night there. It's 1.5 hour walking tour. That's is the only thing booked so the rest of the time we will see where the sites take us.
Count down to road trip - about 24 hours. I'll update as time and WiFi permit.
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Sunday October 4, 2020
The drive down to Bisbee was almost four hours of smooth sailing (with two quick pit stops). The hotel is nice for being over 100 years old. Built in 1914 it was a boarding house for miners. They call them Suites, but it’s more like a one bedroom apartment with Living Room, Kitchen, Bedroom, Bathroom. It also has a front and back patio! No smoking on the patios allowed but there is a designated smoking area right across the street from our front door so Paul will venture across when it’s cigar time.
We checked in and made a quick run to the grocery store for
snacks and beverages and SUNSCREEN. I can't believe I forgot the sunscreen! I have a lot at home but when in Rome. It’s much hotter here than I expected. Only 10 degrees cooler than Phoenix, it’s 90* and the sun is very strong.
When we got back, we juiced up with the sunscreen and walked up and down the streets and in and out of shops before stopping at the Old Bisbee Brewing Company for a beverage.
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| That's our hotel on the street above the Brewery |
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| I didn't realize my glass had writing on it until I was almost done. Thus the two pics |
I relaxed in the room while he went across the way to enjoy a cigar and a beer.
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| Waiting for my date. |
We decided to go to Santiago’s for dinner. When you are this close to Mexico you should probably have the local Mexican food. The margaritas were good. The chips and salsa were the best, almost a bit too spicy. We both ordered fajitas. They were flavorful but to be honest the meat was tough. I don’t recommend them. Order something else, like maybe tacos!
On the way out I asked the hostess if they sell the
salsa. She said yes, 16 ounce
containers, however it isn’t canned so it only has a shelf life of about two weeks. We might get some before we leave, depending
on when we get outta’ town.
On to the Old Bisbee Ghost Tour. Our guide was EPaul and he was great. Paul was a little concerned that he wouldn’t be able to hear him with the mask requirements. A lot of voices are muffled, but EPaul had a very legible tone and great pronunciation. When we arrived the tour before ours was gathered and he couldn't understand the guide. Glad we got EPaul. There were 12 on the tour (that’s their max now with distancing requirements). He started off telling us he’s a story teller, not a historian, however he’s confident he’ll be able to answer all our questions and if not, he’ll make something up! Although he did mention the owner of the company is some kind of specialist in paranormal investigation (I don't recall the title) so I'm sure she has passed on reliable information to her guides. On to a little history of Bisbee and a non-ghost story about the copper mines. Two men on the Calvary searching for quality water actually made the discovery. At the time, service members were not eligible to stake a claim. They met George Warren and made a deal for him to stake the claim on their behalf. George did not hold up his end of the bargain and when the service men got out they discovered they had no stake to the claim. Karma caught up to George. He went to Tombstone one night and got intoxicated. He bet a man at the bar that he could outrun the man’s horse. And that’s how George lost his claim to the mine. Karma wins. Then we started the walking tour. Most places were closed so it felt like we had the entire City to ourselves, which kind of added to the ambiance.
He told us a lot of stories about ghost sittings the most haunted places in Bisbee.
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| Not my photo. Provided by the tour guide. Ghostly image lingering above the bar |
One about a little girl who has caused many tenants to move out because of the child’s antics. The first tenant had his office in the basement. He'd hear crashing noises and upon investigation nothing was out of place. This happened several nights in a row. Other times things would be scatter about. He could hear a child playing at the front door. Research of the building revealed it was the mortuary, the basement was the crematory, now his office. The building had a fire and the six year old daughter of the owners died in the fire. That was enough, he moved down the street. A few more tenants were chased away by sounds and images of a little girl. An artist leased the space and stayed late one night to get her window displays together for a showing the next day. When she left she drove by the front of the building to admire her work. A little girl was sitting on the steps. She rolled down her window to talk to the girl and the girl stood up, turned around, walked through the door into the building. The artist moved out!
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| Not my photo. Provided by the tour guide. Said to be the little girl playing by the entrance |
The most current tenant is a wine and cheese
shop. The owner of the Ghost Tours talked to the tenant to give her a heads up about the paranormal visitor.
The tenant was intrigued. They tracked
down an old man who still lived in town who knew the little girl when he was young. The tenant asked what she liked. He said she always had a rubber ball that she
would bounce and throw. The tenant
bought a ball and placed it in the shop.
As the story goes, the ball moves from place to place inside the store
at night. Wooooo oooooo oooooo.
We walked through narrow passages and down alleys.
The tour was entertaining and I would recommend it. EPaul gets an A+.
Earlier Paul thought after the tour we’d go back to the brewery for a nightcap but we were exhausted and went back to the room and straight to bed. The bed and pillows are very comfortable but I didn’t sleep well. I was up with leg cramps several times during the night.
Monday October 5, 2020
Monday morning on the back patio. It’s almost 6 a.m. and
it’s so peaceful and quiet with only the sound of the water fountain cascading
a serenade. One little bird hopped over
to see what I was doing, probably looking for a crumb, sorry dude. He flew off without offering a song.
We don’t have anything in particular scheduled for today. Breakfast somewhere and then more exploring. The ghost tour met in front of the Bisbee Mining and Historical Museum. “Underground mine tours with history exhibits & a crystal cave are the draw at this notable museum.” EPaul said they are open by appointment only. I’ll see if we can schedule an appointment.
No luck with that. We walked over and The Bisbee Mining and
Historical Museum is closed Mondays and Tuesdays so if we want to see that
we’ll have to come back another time.
We walked through the City streets looking for someplace to have breakfast. No luck with that either. The lady at the Copper Queen where the Spirit Room is, which is only open for breakfast on weekends, recommended the Bisbee Breakfast Club which is a short drive down the main highway. We walked back to get the car and headed down. The Town of Lowell was incorporated into Bisbee in the early 1900's. All that’s left is Erie Street. Most of the residential area was demolished to widen the mining pit. The preservation society is trying to restore Erie Street it to its 1950’s charm. Now it’s mostly what appears to be abandon vehicles and empty stores as if the town folk have vanished. Almost like a movie set. Breakfast was good. Paul had the Special of the Day Eggs Benedict and I had a Grilled Cheese with Bacon, Tomato, Avocado (avocado on the side because I like it but I don’t like it hot).
After breakfast we walked up and down the one and only street in town. Only a couple of stores are still in business and only one was open (besides the Breakfast Club). It was originally a Harley Davidson repair shop which is now chucked full of old parts, memorabilia, and some other treasures. The other is Old Lady Pickers and it's only open on weekends.
Then we stopped at the lookout over the Lavender Pit.
It wouldn’t be a vacation (mini or otherwise) without a picture of Paul reading a historical marker.
Back to the hotel to park the car, then we walked into the City again. We did find the Angels I'm obsessed with so here's a daytime version of the photo I took the night before:
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| On the second floor of the old Post Office is the Library. That table at the top of the stairs has brown paper bags with books. Curb Side Pickup! |
I think by noon we’ve seen it all. Most places are closed on Monday.
Back to the hotel for some
R&R. Paul went to the back patio and I stayed inside to read a little before
joining him. The patio is just as
peaceful in the afternoon as it was first thing in the morning. We skipped lunch. We’re going to have dinner at the
Table which seems to be the only restaurant open except the Mexican restaurant
we went to last night and the bar in the Spirit Room which only has bar food
(burgers and wings).
But first a repeat beverage
at the Brewery up on the top deck. We walked over around 4-ish.
The weather was perfect but there a few annoying bugs buzzing
around.
There is nothing in the way of Fine Dining in Bisbee by the way. Dinner at the Table was good. Service was great.
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| Drunken Mushrooms to start |
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| Paul had Pasta with Sausage, Chicken, and Spinach |
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| I had Beer Battered Fish and Chips (cod) |
Everything was good. We skipped dessert and walked back to our home-away-from-home.
Paul watched some football
and then switched to the news because the game was a blowout. I was in my [for now] favorite spot, the back
patio.
Today we head back home. I told ya it was a mini-vacay! Since there is no real place to eat breakfast in Bisbee, we’ll stop somewhere on the way home. Maybe in Tombstone or Benson.
Here’s some pictures of the Eldorado Suites. I would definitely stay here again. Two advantages to staying on the first floor.
1 – No schlepping luggage
upstairs for these old folks (it's old, no elevator);
2 – The back patio.
Even though it’s a shared patio we
pretty much had it to ourselves. There is nobody in the room to the left of us. Around to the right (the picture above with the fountain and patio lights),
the first night the owners were out having drinks and listening to music. He
was grilling. When I looked around she
said “come join us for a glass of wine”.
I said thank you very much but we’re going to go out and explore. I never saw anybody out there the rest of the trip. The staff is super friendly and although the
office is open with limited hours, at check-in she said if we need anything
when the office is closed, the phone number is on the door, just call.
Another nice thing about the Eldorado, our unit is actually a two bedroom but they lock off one bedroom if you don't need it. Most places you'd pay the two bedroom price but here they can convert it to a one bedroom with a turn of the key. This unit also has an adjoining door to the suite next door so if you are traveling with a family or friends that would be perfect.
The first three photos are from their website with better angles then I could get:
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| ElD's photo of the living room |
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| My photo of the wall mural on the back patio |
Blogger is not cooperating so I'll try the kitchen and bathroom photos again later.
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| View of the residential area from the front patio |
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| The road from the hotel of OK Street, heading into the City |
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| "1878 - Welcome to Boothill Graveyard and Jewish Memorial This Property is on the National Register of Historical Places" |
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| A little shop with memorabilia,t-shirts, and I imagine a good selection of tchotchkes! The "pay here" entrance booth |
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| They weren't open yet so I took pictures through the fence |
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| Not my photo cuz they were closed. This is from their website |
