Tombstone, Arizona ~~~~~ Lady LaDonna

Vacation continued

Our next stop was Tombstone, Arizona. This is perhaps the only place in Arizona that I had not visited before. Therefore, it was on my "must-see list". When we arrived in Tombstone our first stop was at the old Boothill Cemetary, where the men gunned down at the OK Corral were buried.

Unfortunately we arrived at Tombstone too late the see the re-enactment of the Gunfight at the OK Corral. But we found the old Birdcage Theater. This is one of the original buildings from old Tombstone. It is an old theater where singers of the day performed. They had a room for gambling (they still have the original old Faro table where Doc Holiday used to gamble). They also have tiny rooms (cubicles) along the upper wall where the "girls" used to take the men. These cubicles all look out over the stage area.

They tried to keep this as authentic as possible. No fresh paint jobs on these walls! They still have many fixtures that were in the building originally, including the old piano, an old bar, wood burning stove, etc. Along the bar they even have many of the old whiskey bottles and glasses that were actually left in the building when it shut down (I think that was in the 1930's).

The Birdcage Theater has a reputation for being very haunted. We had arrived about 6:00 pm. The lady who runs the place told me that we had arrived at the perfect time of day. She said that this is when their spirits become active in the old theater. She alao said that their ghosts like to have their pictures taken and encouraged me to take all the pix I wanted, cause you never know what might develope! I used 2 and a half rolls of film going through the Birdcage. I hope I got something good on film. I didn't see or hear anything, but everytime I felt drawn to a particular spot, I snapped a picture. Unfortunately, we live in a tiny town, so no 1-hour photos! I have to wait a week. And on the whole trip I used 20 rolls of film...that's gonna cost me!

It was growing dark as we left the Birdcage Theater, wandering up the street to Big Nose Kate's Saloon. I said I wanted to go in, but Denver said it was getting late, and we wanted to get as close to Texas as we could before stopping again. Then he heard the music coming from inside and said, ok, maybe we could go in just for a minute... we wound staying there for 2 hours!

Like so many old towns through Arizona and New Mexico, Tombstone had started out as a mining town. Big Nose Kate's is the home of the only indoor mine shaft there. But the shaft was closed for the evening, so we didn't get to go down there. But I didn't mind, because we still had lots of fun there. The staff wears period costumes, and were all very friendly, stopping to chat and crack jokes often. Most of the jokes can't be told here, because most were a little off-color.

The live music at Big Nose Kate's is worth the trip to Tombstone on its own. Denver used a lot of videotape there, so we could show everyone what they were missing. Like all good things though, our visit to the saloon had to end. By now it was 10:00 pm, and we still wanted to get as far down the road as we could. In fact, he got so anxious to get home that he wound up driving 22 hours straight before we arrived back at my mom's house in Midland, Texas. We spent the night there, just as we had on the way out, and returned home the next day.

All things considered it was a very fun and satisfying vacation. But I am glad to be home.

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