We are splitting up today in two, whereby we will first check out Tombstone until midday, and then drive to Tucson in the afternoon.
At 8.30am or so, we have checked out from our motel, parked our car almost around the corner and walking through the centre of Tombstone pretty much by ourselves. Things do not really pick up here until 10am or so, and that goes for shop owners, tourist operators as well as for the punters.
Di "owns" the street below...
This town ain't big enough for both of us...
Suitable street name for Tombstone... The old court building is in the background to the left.
Do something wrong and get caught you ended up in front of the judge and jury... Inside that Court building, which is now a museum.
If the verdict is guilty of murder (or in some cases horse stealing), then...
Below is the story about Tombstone's founder and how Tombstone got its name. Not what you would think...
After our visit to the Tombstone Courthouse, we walk up Allen St to the infamous Bird Cage Theatre. It has not been restored but kept as it was as the place was locked up tight for 45 years, bar some safety measures.
Below is just inside the shop front, the bar is authentic and was shipped over from Pittsburgh, PA.
Check out that bar at knee height....
They have not patched any of the bullet holes nor dug out the bullets from where they struck.
This set of narrow stairs leads to the 14 "cribs" overlooking the theatre, used not only to watch the show but also for other purposes...
BTW, The human fly picture above has a bullet hole in the left side frame.
This oil painting has hung here since 1882. Two belly buttons? No, one is a cut from a knife.
You can go inside the shop front at see all of the above for free, but if you really wander to explore the inner belly, you have to fork out $10 per person. It was worth it.
You enter the theatre from the side of the bar and you are met with the below... The old stage in the middle.
Some of the greats of that time performed in this stage - Caruso, Ethel Barrymore - with a mix of dance hall girls (aka part time prostitutes)
The theater's box seats below... The sign says that the old circus posters underneath the stalls were all smuggled out from...Sweden. Why smuggle...?
This old hearse is apparently worth something like $1M these days as it has gold and silver linings and carried all but 6 residents to their Boothill graves. Love the sign...
Below is the original table and the exact hands of the players at the time, when this very long card time finished after 8 years in the late 1880s. $1,000 to enter the game.
The sign below says it all... Plenty of old bullet holes in the old Bird Cage theatre.
Wyatt Earp's shady lady... At least she was licensed, so all good. BTW, shady lady was apparently a common expression for these women at the time...
Moving right along to Boothill graveyard. Fascinating as well...
These are the graves of the losing team from the OK Corral shoot out.
Shit happens... See below.
For every identified grave there is one of these...
Most of the people buried at Boothill graveyard seem to have been either murdered or been hung. "Shot" is a common epitaph. Some suicides, some accidents but few seem to have died from natural causes. Of course, data about many of the people buried here is just not available any more.
A few graves from the Chinese section of Boothill Graveyard, long before any political correctness...
Just after midday, as the wind started to whip up even more with more dust clouds (which did give the whole experience a real Wild West feeling), we decided to call it quits and move on.
Tucson, AZ is our destination and we decided to take the smaller, more scenic roads of 82 and 83 as recommended by the owner of Tombstone Budget Inn, rather that go directly back to I10.
We are glad that we did. Very scenic and very Wild West like landscapes as the road first went further west and then north. Eventually, you do end up on I10 some 20 miles and exits before our turn off on the aptly named Speedway Boulevard.
We are staying at University Inn, not surprisingly in the university district. After checking in and getting organised, we take a drive to the supermarket to get some provisions as we are staying here for the next 5 nights. And, a weather warning has been issued for tomorrow Wednesday, snow storms are possible on higher altitude, but strong winds and showers are likely were we are. We are prepared...
Microwave oven dinners in the motel room after last nights extravaganza in Tombstone. Just one glass of red...
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