A window to Arizona's Wild West

We spent a day/night in old Tombstone, Arizona.  It was a bit hokey, with several actors playing the Earp brothers, Doc Holliday and their victims wandering the main street of Tombstone in between re-creating the famous shoot-out at the OK Corral.  We declined to pay to watch the action, but did enjoy wandering the streets and thinking about how difficult it is for some of these old towns to economically survive on such tourism.  We did enjoy a visit to the Tombstone Courthouse, now a state park and museum.  We also stopped at Boot Hill, Tombstone's famous cemetery before we headed to Bisbee.

Bisbee, we learned, is a 'mile-high' city, established in the late 1800's as a mining town, nestled in Tombstone canyon.  We stayed at a RV park adjacent to the Queen Mine and overlooking the open-pit Lavender mine.  We spent several days wandering around the old town.  The Queen Mine is now a visitor center and provides underground tours.  This mine, noted for its copper production, is now closed, like many in Arizona, and the town of Bisbee has re-invented itself as a haven for artists, musicians, old hippies, old miners and others.  There were fun murals and artsy graffiti all around the town and plenty of small, winding streets to explore.  The old homes and businesses cling to the hillsides, some of which have been restored or rebuilt, some in disrepair.  There are thousands of steps that help link Bisbee's streets and homes and the town hosts an annual race up a selected 1000 steps.  Bisbee was delightful and quirky - just our kind of town.  Unfortunately, cold weather and snow on December 26th drove us back to Tucson for a few days.     Posted are some photos of Tombstone and many from Bisbee.