After visiting the cold war yesterday, this morning whilst working out where to go next, I notice that Tombstone and the OK Corral are only about 70 miles from where I am.
Now everyone loves a cowboy show, so Charlotte and I giddy up and mosey east to the old wild west.
It’s an easy drive and we’re there by lunchtime. OK I slept in a bit!
The main street, E Allen, is just a block or so off the highway. It resembles what you will have seen in the movies, or at Sovereign Hill for Victorians. Today is Sunday so there are plenty of folk about, with the tourist traps lurking everywhere.
I wander the length of the street, where spruikers are calling out that the next re-enactment of the Shooting will take place in 10 mins. Sure it’s a tourist trap, but (a) I’m a tourist, and (b) you would have to be a supreme tightwad not to shell out 10 bucks to see the most famous moment from Tombstone’s history.
So I buy my ticket and get in line for the show. It’s in an open air arena, fenced off so you can only see it from inside of course. The whole show runs around 20-30 mins. It’s a bit kitshcy – the audience are asked to cheer for the good guys and boo for the bad guys, so instead of being an historical re-enactment, it feels more pantominey. Probably great for kids, who i suspect are the target audience. Its full of bad dialogue, and loud gunshots. The 4 guys from above are part of the show – they play the good guys despite their black attire.
I shot a fair bit of video – here’s the final shootout!
After the show I wander around the site – I was starting to make the association of this as a poor man’s Sovereign Hill without the gold mine, when I came across Tombstones version – a mineral mine! Still not a patch on Ballarat’s efforts!
After that it’s a wander up the other end of Allen St – its full of the usual trinket shops and the like. There are 2 notable exceptions, however.
The first – a live shooting gallery where kids as young as 3 are allowed to shoot. I kid you not – live bullets!
The second – the delightful Silver Strike Winery. I dropped in only to quench my thirst with a little tasting before heading back to the road, but soon enough I had started up a conversation with the owner Jann, a charming 60 something woman, who makes all the wines by hand right on the premises in Tombstone. Most of the grapes are from Arizona, right in the area, but the most interesting part is that she uses an old hand press for everything. Yes her runs are limited – sometimes only 20 litres or so, and she tells a great tale of not knowing a ting when she started, but her wines are ridiculously good. in particular their Pinot, which I bu a bottle of for NYE!
I get a quick tour and a photo out back after a lengthy tasting of each wine – I’ve ended up spending over an hour with her, but it’s been an absolute delight.
With it being early afternoon, it’s back to the road. Now anyone who has ever driven on I-10 in Arizona will testify to the huge number of billboards hyping the roadside attraction “The Thing”
I’m a sucker for oddball attractions, especially one with such mystery, so I make my ways a little further east in an effort to make it before sunset.
I do – the location is a large gas station cum trinket shop near the Highway, with a museum of oddities out the back.
Entrance to the museum, where “The Thing” is housed, costs $1. After filling up on gas, I dutifully pay my dollar and head through the doors to the attractions outside. To be honest if it only costs a buck to get in, I’m not expecting too much.
It’s a collection of historical oddities and artefacts, some of very questionable provenance, like an Old Rolls Royce that purports to have had Adolf Hitler ride in it.
The Thing itself is, well, not what I expected. I won’t ruin the mystery here – if you want to know what it was feel free to google it.
Dusk is coming and since I don’t like driving at night, I leave to find a place to rest my head for the night, content with yet another day on the road.
Now I have to Google The Thing! Great day though by the sounds of things.