From Tombstone, Arizona, we continued south on Highway 80 to the town of Bisbee. I’d heard a lot of fun things about this former mining community and was really looking forward to exploring this quirky little town. Al and I anticipated Bisbee being similar to the town of Jerome, which we loved thus we were excited to experience Bisbee.
The previous four days my energy had been low and I had a scratchy throat. I just wasn’t feeling like myself. As opposed to my usual go go go enthusiasm, I found myself having to push just to get out the door for any explorations. So as I share my thoughts on Bisbee, bear in mind my state of health.
During its heyday, Bisbee was a bustling mining community centered around the Queen Anne mine. Today Bisbee is a tourist destination complete with art galleries, gift shops, museums, and mining memorabilia. Once the Queen Anne Mine ceased mining activity it was quickly turned into a tourist experience. Each mine tour is guided by a former miner.
We thought we’d take one of these interesting mine tours after lunch. First we explore the town and shops. I love the old buildings and architecture. The town is also known for its abundance of stairs and even conducts a race every year.
Many of the shops were closed the day we visited and the ones that were open were vastly overpriced. $95 for a cotton blouse seems a tad much to me. Moving on, we couldn’t wait to have lunch at Santiagos and boy it did not disappoint. The food was great. I would consider going back to Bisbee just to eat at Santiagos.
After lunch we strolled around town a little more. I wasn’t feeling up to touring the mining museum or doing the Queen Anne Mine tour. We decided to hop in the truck and drive around…..I just wasn’t “getting it” and I was trying really hard to like this quirky Arizona town. What was I missing?
Driving Bisbee’s side streets in a F250 with extended bed proved to be a bit of a challenge and probably not the smartest decision we made that day. At one extremely narrow point there was concern we’d be stuck between two buildings. Thank goodness we’re not a dually because we definitely would not have fit. I felt like we were driving through a small village in Europe…..tight squeeze. The architecture was enjoyable.
Al and I were disappointed with Bisbee. Was it because I wasn’t feeling well? Was it because we didn’t tour the mine or museum? I don’t know, but just because we weren’t ‘feeling the vibe’ doesn’t mean you won’t. Check out Amanda‘s take on Bisbee. She and Tim had a great time in Bisbee.
There’s so much more to see and do in southern Arizona and if I had been feeling better you bet I would’ve taken in more of the sights…sights I was really looking forward to seeing since last year. Oh well, guess we’ll just have to catch some of these sights on the next time through. We have an appointment in Phoenix on Feb. 19th we need to get to……. (remember; due to illness I’m behind in my blog posts but catching up)
Arizona Mining Towns
Bisbee (AZ) (Images of America)
Panasonic Lumix ZS20 14.1 MP High Sensitivity MOS Digital Camera with 20x Optical Zoom (Black)
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Live Laugh RV 