Saturday Road Trip

Kristen and Chris love to take road trips around Arizona.  One of their first dates was a trip to Prescott.  They took us there yesterday.  Prescott is about 1 1/2 hours north of Phoenix but it really is a different world.  The town has a rich history from the Wild West and it is reflected in the sights and businesses there.  When we first got there, it was really cool- in the 50's.


This  photo is at the county court house.  I saw a similar sculpture in the new president's office.  

We are lunch in Hotel St. Michael, an old restaurant and hotel from the 1800's.  It still has many of the original features from 1903 when it was rebuild after a fire.The lobby is like stepping back in time.

Teddy Roosevelt stayed there during the dedication of the statue you saw in the first picture.
They have a thriving artist community in Prescott and we saw beautiful work in several galleries but didn't purchase anything to bring home.  We took a liking to a life-size bear sculpture that we thought would look nice at the cabin but the $16,000 price tag changed our mind.


We traveled from Prescott to Jerome on 89A-the 12 mile drive has 158 curves.   I was glad Chris was experienced at driving the road because in many places there weren't any guard rails and we were looking straight down the mountain.



Jerome was a silver mining town until 1953 when the mine closed and the town became a ghost town.  Thanks to a hippie artist community that moved into Jerome in the 1960's the town has made a comeback.  It sits right on the side of the mountain.
The streets are narrow and curvy and it really helped that Kristen and Chris knew their way around.  

Jerome was known as the 'wicked city in American' in 1903 because of the wide-spread saloons and assorted vices available everywhere.  Today there are lots of bars and on the main corner, there was music playing and always lots of people of the sidewalks.  Smoking isn't allowed in restaurants or bars in Arizona, so people stand outside smoking.  





On the drive back to Phoenix we stopped at the Rock Springs Cafe which is also home to the Rock Springs Pie Company.  I think there was a comment made by someone, "Your parents sure like to stop and eat a lot."  But I can't be sure.  Anyway, the pies  are legendary and we were not disappointed and even brought a pie home to enjoy today.

It was very fun day.  Chris & Kristen really know their way around both Jerome and Prescott.  A year ago they even went  to Prescott on Christmas because after gifts and dinner, they were a little bored so they took a road trip.  

Comments

  1. AnonymousJanuary 25, 2009 at 3:22 PM

    That sounds like so much fun. Old time historical ambiance and for a few hours no technology - oh it's there - but just doesn't show. I love to visit places like that with rich history.

    ReplyDelete

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