Today was a truly perfect day. We woke up late (7-- ha!) got ready and ate breakfast at the hotel next door, the Copper Queen. After several coffees to get us going, Laura, Barb's daughter, met us. We followed her to Xo's property in the outskirts of Bisbee. Xo is an artist that Laura and her boyfriend, Timothy, know. They are interested in her property, and are here to see if they'd like to buy it. It's 40 incredible acres off the grid. Power is by solar panels and a backup generator, water from a well. It's quite rustic but charming. There are two houses on the property, one is a two roomed place now used for a guest room and studio (Xo is an artist.) It's a wonderful space with great light, and would be perfect for Barb when she retires. We were greated by dogs, as there are four here right now. Laura and Timothy's two, Xo's dog, and her partner, Rita's dog. All were really wonderful (and i have quite a soft spot for dogs!) I also love cats and there were two, including a feisty little calico, and a gorgeous, HUGE hunky orange and white tabby boy. Oh, my favorite!! Xo's dog, Roscoe, is a big hunky boy, and what i think is a rottie golden mix. He's gorgeous and really sweet. I'm wondering if I can sneak him away with me!
We were joined by another couple that live nearby, Marti and Larry. Jera, Timothy's mom, who lives in Tucson, also joined. It was one of those perfect meshes of people. Everyone was just wonderful and we had a really teriffic time. We all helped prepare either cooking, setting up, or whatever, drank wine, ran with the dogs and had a fun time. Everyone was really interesting and we traded stories.
Not much for sightseeing today, but a perfect Christmas here in Bisbee! It was just a perfect day!!
Did I mention the fabulous hippie mobile we saw last night? Oh my God, it was fabulous. A wagon that was painted from end to end, and covered with different colored bottlecaps. There were pez dispensers glued to the top, caps on the wheels, and stuff all over the inside too. Well beyond anything I've ever seen, and amazing. We saw it at night, so I'm hoping to see it again during the day. You certainly can't miss it!!!
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Day 3 started with a fabulous breakfast at the Bisbee Breakfast Club then a guided tour of Bisbee from Timothy, who grew up there. We saw another of the Bisbee Art Cars, which includes the fabulously funky car that we saw on our first day with the bottle caps all over it. Apparently there are around 20 around town, each unique. We drove by the big Lavender Pit mined by Phelps Dodge, and drove through each of the little neighborhoods that formerly consisted of the mine workers and their families. The supervisors, or bosses and their family lived in the larger homes by the mines, and each of the neighborhoods was named after the mine it was by. We saw the house Timothy grew up in, and the places he used to play as a kid. There are large canals by many of the roads that used to be runoff and pumped from the mines. The water once supplied the parks, which, in their former glory were full of plants and trees. The canals are now dry, as are the parks. We drove through these huge pipes that were the only way in and out from one of the mine areas.
On our way back into town we stopped at the Shady Dell, a trailer park consisting of an adorable tiny diner called Dot's Diner, and 1950's RVs. They were really incredible and we walked around a bit. The place had a tiki bus, and also a yacht that people can stay in! Many were tiny but the place was really quaint.
We then drove back into town, which is so incredibly quaint and well kept. Many of the houses are just propped on the mountains, and we parked and walked up a few of the large hills. Bisbee is supposed to have over 1,000 stairs, and we walked a bunch of them on our way up and up and up! It's amazing when you think that the stairs were put in over 100 years ago, before there were cars or machinery to do the work! Some of the houses towards the top were really cute, and many are brightly painted. We walked around above the town for a while, taking in the beautiful views carved in the hills and mountainsides below us. We went back across the town to the church we went to on Christmas Eve to admire the beautiful stained glass that was inside. It was really gorgeous. There is a little bit of snow on the ground-- I do love visiting snow, then leaving it!!
Timothy and Laura left us, and Barb and I decided to browse in the shops and galleries in town. It was surprisingly expensive, but a lot of fun to walk around. We had planned to go back to Dot's Diner for lunch, however, we weren't hungry after our breakfast until 2:30, which is when Dot's closes. So we found a cute little sandwich place called Cafe Cornucopia. I got a cup of soup and half sandwich and Barb got a salad and half sandwich. We got pots of tea, and split the most amazing lemon tart I've ever had!
We then decided to stop by the Bisbee Blue turquoise place on the side of the lavender pit. We had high expectations, as we'd heard that it was family run for several generations, but it was really small, not quaint at all, and didn't have great merchandise. So, we went back into town. Since we had dinner reservations for 6 and it was 4, it wasn't worth going all the way back to the house we were staying at for the evening. We decided to go to St. Elmo's, which is supposed to be the oldest continuously operating bar in the US (early 1900s), however it looked like a place of rather ill repute. So, we headed back to the Bisbee Grande Hotel and Saloon for some wine and people watching. We were joined by Timothy, Laura and Timothy's son, Bud, and headed over to Cafe Roka for our reservation.
Cafe Roka is a five star restaurant. It was beautifully decorated for the holiday, and we were walked up to the third floor. Dinner was quite good- Barb and I had duck, Laura and Timothy seafood (scallops, lobster ravioli, and sea bass) and Bud got short ribs. We got a gingerbread cake and tiramisu for desert. Wonderful dinner, great service and I'd highly recommend it!
We went back to Xo's house, where we stayed for the evening. The cats were bothering Barb's allergies, so we stayed in the guest house instead of the main house. In the morning, we got up and had a snacky breakfast, picking at fruit, cranberry bread, bagels, etc. We put food out for the birds in the garden, and watched them for a while. There were amazing colors in blues, reds, yellows, and lots of quail. Apparently the mountains we were looking at in the distance are actually in Mexico!! Xo came back at around 10 so we watched Roscoe, her gorgeous dog, playing with Laura's two, Karma and Ernie. They were so cute!!
Around 11 we headed out, with a stop in Tombstone. Tombstone, AZ is known for the OK Corral and gunfights with famous people like Wyatt Earp. I'll confess that the old western stuff doesn't really have much appeal to me, but it was cute, well kept and fun to walk around. There was the Shady Lady store, a house of 'ill repute', lots of fun little places and reenactors who were hilarious!!
It was a great trip, and Bisbee lived up to expectations! It's a very cute, quaint little town and worth the visit!! As much as I love traveling, I'm glad to be home with my furry critters.
Bye, until the next trip!!
Sam
