Tombstone

I'm skipping two days as our computer is not playing nice so I'm not able to get the pictures off my parents CD yet. I will go back to those days once I beat the computer.

After my parents headed back to Green Bay, we headed down to Tombstone for a day. It's touristy and cheesy but sometimes I like that kind of thing.

One of the main reason I wanted to go was to visit one of the most haunted buildings in America, the Bird Cage Theatre, which allegedly hosts as many as 31 ghosts. It is one of the oldest original buildings in Tombstone and most authentic, still containing original wallpaper, curtains and other fixtures. The saloon was the scene of 26 deaths, which can be attested to by the 140 bullet holes still viewable (and even touchable) in the walls and bar. Historic figures such as Wyatt Earp, Doc Holliday, and Bat Masterson once walked on the very floorboards that you can.

Inside, it is very creepy. Above the gambling floor and stage are 14 "bird cages" that once housed ladies of the night. The gambling parlour continues to feature the actual table where Doc Holliday once dealt faro, and lining the walls are photographs of the many who passed through its doors, as well as original paintings that hung in the establishment. Also on display is Tombstone’s famous horse-drawn hearse called the Black Moriah. I would not want to come in here along at night!

Next, Morgan wanted to ride the stagecoach tour. It cost way too much money and was way too short, but it was Morgan' highlight nether less.


We stopped at Big Nose Kate's for lunch. Big Nose Kate was Doc Holliday's girlfriend and a saloon owner. The food was mediocre and the service was down right poor. We were there for a very long hour and half. It's only saving grace was that it had a extremely talented singer performing. He was amazing and very entertaining.

Next we headed down the street to see the OK Corral. We did not go to the live re-enactment as Morgan expressed some serious fears over seeing it.

We did spend some time watching the historical presentation voiced over by Vincent Price, climbed into some old carriages, walked through a prostitutes single-room "house", bought a personalized horseshoe from Grizz the local blacksmith, checked out the much tamer mannequin re-enactment...

...and tried our hands at roping cattle.

We continued to exploring the old buildings and watch the many gunslingers roaming the streets. We weren't sure how many of the gunslingers were actual Tombstone performers and how many just got dressed up for the heck of it (kind of like people at a Renaissance Fair) but there were lots of elaborate costumes to see. We slowly made our way back to our car parked on the following roads:

And headed to Boothill where many of the famous people from Tombstone are buried. This is supposed to be the first graveyard named Boothill, so called because most of them died suddenly (murdered) with their boots still on.
The grave markers were very interesting to read with things like "Stabbed by Gold Dollar" "Shot by Curly Bill" and my favorite one:

While it is touristy, it was fascinating to a lot of interesting history about Tombstone and the people who lived there. It was definitely an different (and rough) era.