Susie and I returned to Apache Junction, Arizona, after a delightful Christmas with part of our family in California. Then on December 28, we drove between 3 and 4 hours to Bisbee, where we spent the night in the Bisbee Grand Hotel. The next morning after breakfast, we wandered around, visiting shops and museums. Of course, I was also gathering material for stories.
That afternoon we drove half an hour to Tombstone, one of our favorite places in Arizona. We stayed two nights in the Tombstone Bordello, a bed and breakfast near the edge of town. When we arrived in town, we spent the rest of the afternoon looking in some of the stores on Allen Street. After eating dinner at The Long Branch Saloon, we headed for the bed and breakfast.
The next morning we had breakfast and then headed for the historic courthouse. This time we were dressed in our period clothing. After we had toured the courthouse, we walked on the wooden sidewalks in our cowboy boots from shop to shop, stopping to do some target practice with six-shooters and have lunch at The Chrystal Palace. We took some of our own photos and then stopped at an old fashioned photo parlor to have a professional photographer take a picture of us.
Big Nose Kate's Saloon was our choice for dinner, and then we returned to the bordello. We felt as if we had stepped into the past for a day.
We had breakfast the next morning, loaded the car, and then took another walk through town. This time one of our main stops was the office of the Tombstone Epitaph, the town's newspaper.
The entire time we were there, I was soaking up the history of Tombstone and its inhabitants. One of my stories will be set in or around this old western town.