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The Historic Mining town of Bisbee

Bisbee Travel Blog › entry 9 of 40 › view all entries

This blog is dedicated to my current home base of Arizona: travels to Sonoita, Patagonia, Sierra Vista, Benson, Bisbee, Tombstone, Phoenix, Gilbert, Scottsdale, wickenburg, Nogalese, Casa Grande, Quartzsite, Gila Bend, Flagstaff, Buckeye, Wintersburg, Vicksburg,Summerhaven, Sedona, Camp Verde, Wilcox and Safford.

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The Historic Mining town of Bisbee

March 28, 2008

March 28, 2008 (With my baby girl, we were tourists for the day). A clear and bright Saturday morning with nothing much to do. My daughter and I decided to plan our day starting with tea for me, Milo milk mix for her. Beside the park and taking her to her dad's there was nothing I could come up with that would excite her more than the later (both of which I dreaded) ha-ha! We decide to go to Bisbee! As spontaneous as always, I decided on Saturday morning that rather than take my daughter to spend a day with her dad or play at the park (known of which I fancied), that we would just go to Bisbee. Bisbee is about 90 miles from Tucson, however for us it was further because we decided rather than drive on the freeway, we would take the scenic Santa Ritas and go onto Hwy 83 through Sonoita.

The peace wall

Along the way, we of course made stops as we captured sights that are worth sharing (you can see those in the photos). The ride was smooth, the skies were clear and the sun HOT. The breeze kept the heat from burning our skins to cancer, for that we were very grateful. Anyhow, here we go with Bisbee . . .

Bisbee was founded in the 1800's (1880 t0 be exact), interesting the name of the city belongs go a Judge named DeWitt Bisbee. Bisbee is a historical mining town popular for Copper mining. The mine was called the Old West mining Camp (now known as the Queen Mine): no longer an active mine, the town of Bisbee uses it commercially as a tourist attraction. The town's Main street plays host to most of the business - from restaurants to pubs, to hotels, art galleries, the Bisbee Museum, Wall of peace, the 1000 stair way, to mention but a few.

My daughter and I

I was impressed by the art: as an art collector I get drawn to any place that has pieces I can appreciate. It looks more like the town has more artists and more of an older community of people. The architecture is amazing; we saw amazing historic buildings that were formerly ravaged by fire favorably restored. Incredible Victorian and European-style homes perched miraculously on the hillside and the sun beautifully setting hit the hillsides as if to commemorate an era long gone by. My daughter was extremely excited when we came to the 1000 stair climb. At my age such stairs can easily torment my bodily functions (I have not exercised in a while, lol!). The 1000 Stair Way is one of the most popular attractions in Bisbee: an event organized to raise funds used to maintain and repair the stairs in Old Bisbee. At a mile high altitude, trust me it is something to do, if you are ever in Arizona, visit Bisbee and attend the 1000 stair event.

My daughter enjoying being a tourist

More information on this event is available at www.bisbee1000.org

Sadly, we were not able to go on the Queen mine tour because we arrived at exactly 3:30 p.m. when the last train leaves. Beside that we did not have a reservation. We were advised to make reservations prior if we were ever to return. Here is a contact number for those who might visit Bisbee - 1 866-432-2071 (toll free within the USA), or book online by going to www.queenminetour.com I must make mention of the coffee shop - after the long walk sight seeing, the aroma of coffee and the taste of delicious ice cream at the back of the coffee shot is such a welcome treat. We sat down to coffee and Ice cream and were pleasantly surprised when the lone musician decided to play heavenly tunes. It did not last long as it was time for us to take the long road home by 5:30 p.m. It is a must see!

2 comments

4 smiles

YantiSoeparno says:

I am glad to read that you had a great time with your daughter. I always try to bring my 2 daughters to travel. I want to show them the world! Of course as long as I can afford it :D

Posted on: Aug 15, 2008