Day Trip To Bisbee
I love history, especially of the Old West. One of my favorite shows is Old West Tech, on the History channel. Whenever I get a chance to head out to a town ripe with historical stuff, I'm so there.
Yesterday, the local gals in my critique group and I drove down to Bisbee, an old mining town turned tourist destination at an elevation of 5,300 feet, which means it's usually about 10 degrees cooler than Tucson, and as much as 20 degrees cooler than Phoenix. When the temps in those northern/lower elevation cities is over 100 degrees, every degree cooler counts!
We had a great time and I have pictures to show you--I think these'll be especially neat for those of you who haven't experienced a town like this.
First things first, though. One of the things my critique groups does really well is eat. LOL We stopped at a refurbished 50's diner for lunch:
Then we went on into the heart of Bisbee. The town was established after a civilian scout with the calvary in 1877 spotted mineral deposits that suggested to him the presence of lead, copper and possibly silver. Over the next several years, other prospectors came and filed claims. Many of the main buildings that currently stand were built in the early 1900s after a fire destroyed many of the earlier wooden structures. Most of the residential houses are original to the area.
A not uncommon sight: in between two building are steps leading up to a house (you pretty much have to climb steps to get to any of the houses):
The library (seen on the left in the picture below) was built in 1902 or thereabouts:
Here are some of the shops from one of the streets:
And the outside of the Copper Queen Hotel:
And here's a couple of pictures of the old mining houses (most of which are being lived in today), built on the sides of the hills. In this first pic, you can see a portion of the Copper Queen in the lower left corner (see the green-trimmed windows?):
And here's a more panoramic view:
The mine company executives lived farther away from the mine in what's now known as the Warren section of Bisbee. The picture below is of the mine president's house:
Hmm. Big difference between the mining president's house and the miner's houses, wouldn't you agree? Guess not much has changed in 100 years...
Now, if you'll pan back up and look at the sky in the first two pictures... then take a look at this:
This is the weather we drove home in. At least I got a rainbow. You can't tell from this picture, but it was a double rainbow--absolutely beautiful.
I love day trips in Arizona! *VBG*
"A little bad taste is like a dash of paprika." ~Dorothy Parker
8 comments:
I haven't been to be Bisbee in years, but it looks like it hasn't changed much. :) Very cool place! Then again, a lot of places in Arizona are cool (in appearance if not temperature *g*). Where's that diner? We always ate at the hotel when we were there.
*sigh* Now I'm jonesin' for Arizona.
Tori, you have to go past the downtown area of Bisbee--the diner is closer to the Warren section of town, by the roundabout.
And you're right. There are a lot of cool places in Arizona... though not always in temp, especially in the summer months!
Have never been to Arizona. The pics are great!
Hey, Estella. I love, love, LOVE Arizona. I'd really hate it if I had to move back East.
Glad you had fun. I wish I can escape somewhere and breathe fresh clean air. The haze's been really bad here.
There are days when the haze is bad here, relatively speaking. It's nothing like LA, I know, but when you're used to seeing clear air... A lot of times it's dust that's gotten kicked up by the wind, but there's pollution there, too. But a half-hour drive takes me up on the mountain, so I'm good. *G*
Did you know that in its heyday during the silver mining Bisbee was the LARGEST town between St. Louis and San Francisco
I live in Arizona and I would recommend you take a day-trip to Jerome, another famous mining town north of Phoenix
Joye, I found that out when I was reading up about the town after our trip. And I've been to Jerome--was just there earlier this year. It's rather more than just a day trip from the southern part of the state, so I don't get up there as often as I can get to sites down here. But thanks for the suggestion--I really like Jerome, too!
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