Authors Note – Warning: Another picture heavy post today…
On Wednesday; my Mom, Stepdad, Brother Steve and Cheryl; drove down from the “dirt farm” in Casa Grande to pick us up at the Saguaro Escapee Park in Benson. From there; we piled in their car and drove the ~22 miles to Tombstone AZ, labeled as “The Town Too Tough to Die“.
Here we all are! From L to R; Myself, Stilla, Steven, Cheryl, Mom, and Jimmy.
We found a convenient parking spot near the “Good Enough Mine”. Then we bought tickets at the adjacent “Old Tombstone Western Town” for the comedy gunfight and town trolley tour. Since we had time to kill before the trolley tour started, we walked up to Allen Street. Here’s Mom in front of her namesake store… you guessed it, her name is Arlene.
They, (Arlene’s Store) had some very nice (and rather expensive) southwestern items.
Have you ever seen a wall rug made out of metal? It can be yours for only ~$900.
My Mom and Stepdad took a quick tour of the World’s Largest Rosebush. The rest of us sat this this one out… we were starting to see a trend, every other building or attraction we stopped at; required an additional $5 to $10.
The town’s streets were often filled with period-correct characters, such as this guy… Richard Blake recently celebrated his 90th birthday and is even on Youtube. Click HERE.
We all boarded the trolley for a tour around town.
Our driver / tour-guide entertained us with his wit and humor.
The trolley tour was very informative. Our driver / guide pointed out all the historical buildings around town while he put in a few advertising plugs for the local attractions… follow along:
After our town trolley tour, we got back in time for our first gunfight of the day. This was included in our ticket price for the trolley tour.
The comedy gunfight is located in the Old Tombstone Western Town. We wandered around the mini-western town / mini-golf area until it was time for the gunfight.
The gunfight show was entertaining but the quality of the acting seemed to be a step down from the shows we saw last week at Old Tucson.
We stopped for a quick lunch and refreshments after the gunfight in their adjacent restaurant.
Then we toured the Gunfighter Hall of Fame Museum. Click HERE for more images from google. This self-guided museum is relatively new and is still in the process of being completed; for instance, the display cabinets aren’t lit up… my Mom borrowed a flashlight from the front desk to help light up some of the many artifacts. Follow along:
After our tour of the Gunfighter Hall of Fame, we walked over to the OK Corral for their tour and gunfight (re-enactment) show.
Here we were able to use the coupon book (once again) that we bought at the FamCamp Office for $15. We got in for half-price and paid $10. That coupon book sure paid for itself 🙂
We walked quickly through the OK Corral museum entrance to make the next showing of the infamous gunfight re-enactment.
The actors tried to depict the events that led up to the gunfight…
and then came the final show-down:
After the gunfight re-enactment, we all poured out of the bleachers and toured the rest of the enclosed OK Corral area.
Here’s a full-size mannequin display:
I think these guys have been out in the weather a little too long:
Follow along now as we tour of the rest of the OK Corral area:
We posed for pictures in one of the out-buildings at the OK Corral in front of a convenient back-drop.
The “Cribs of Tombstone” display at the OK Corral:
More OK Corral pictures:
Cheryl bought a custom horse-shoe for the “dirt farm” from a vendor at the OK Corral.
We went back into the OK Corral museum building to attend a very well-made theater show.
They didn’t allow pictures in the theater during the presentation. The show included a very cool rotating diorama behind the curtains with narration by actor Vincent Price.
After enjoying the OK Corral, we walked around town some more to check out the local stores. Here’s some more actors walking the streets.
We stopped briefly at the infamous Bird Cage Theatre but didn’t take the full tour. It would have been another $10 per person. Click HERE for more information from Wikipedia. Maybe Stilla and I will come back here later… it’s supposed to be haunted.
Of course we had to stop at a range located inside one of the town shops. These six-shooters fire blanks with a little paint ball.
After Steven and I demonstrated our gunfighting prowess… we stopped for refreshments and an appetizer at the Crystal Palace Saloon:
And finally, after a full day of touring the town, we piled back into the car and drove over to the edge of town to visit Boot Hill Cemetery.
Here’s a nice view from inside the graveyard. The Dragoon Mountains are in the background.
More gravesites at the Boot Hill Cemetery:
And of course, I had to take pictures of the old car (hearse?) that’s parked next to the Boot Hill Trading Post.
We then drove back to the Escapees Park and my family dropped us off… they still have a long drive ahead of them to get back to Casa Grande.
We said our sad farewells… and thanked them for visiting with us for the day.
Then we took little “Coach” for a long, well-deserved walk 🙂
Hope you enjoyed today’s tour… stay tuned for our next adventure…