A Visit to Tombstone...Day One...

Claude really wanted us to take a little time to ourselves for our 50th Anniversary. We talked about lots of places to go. I told him I would take 4 days away from Papa. We determined we would visit somewhere in the United States and get to know it a bit better. Needed to be somewhere warmer than Kentucky in winter. We chose...Tombstone, Arizona. I booked flights and rental car and hotel. We each picked out a couple of books and read them before we went to prepare us for the history in this little town. We were ready to make our journey out West!

Tuesday, February 18th, we flew out of Lexington Airport at 7am. Claude and I have TSA PreCheck. After going through that security line, we found this sign where you gather you items that have been scanned. We got a chuckle out of it.

We flew to Atlanta and then to Tucscon, Arizona. As we waited in line to pick up our rental car, I noticed this cactus as part of their landscaping. We were not in green Kentucky anymore.

This is Claude signing for our rental car. The thing about rental cars is you get to drive something you wouldn't ordinarily drive. When I reserved the rental car, it didn't cost as much to get a 'premium' car as it did to get a 'mid-size' car at another rental company. So, I reserved a premium car. They said they had an Audi and if we didn't mind we could use that car. Okay. We can do that! It was a very nice car to drive around in. However, it sits very, very low to the ground. We found ourselves positioning ourselves in the doorway so we could drop our bodies into the front seat. Then we had to pull ourselves out when it was time to get out of the car. The other things was this ridiculous gear shift. It was a chore for Claude to get it to get into the position you were trying to get it in for reverse, drive, etc. All in all, it was a nice car but I would rather drive my Buick.

And we were off to find Tombstone. 

We checked into the Tombstone Grand Hotel, our home away from home for the next three nights. 

It was a very nice hotel. In the lobby was a billboard thing to get your picture taken in. Of course that had to be done.

Next I noticed the WiFi password on our key card envelope. This just cracked me up. It is O.K. Corral territory. 

We settled into the room. Then we took a walk around outside to see the views and the different things that grow in this part of the United States.

We had plenty of evening left. We drove into Tombstone to get our bearings. We decided to visit Boothill Cemetery. It surprised me that it also had a Jewish Memorial on the grounds.

The cemetery is laid out in rows. When you buy your ticket they give you a little booklet that has all the graves listed by row in it. Claude would read about the person buried in the graves they have identified. The actually point you to the most visited graves, that of the O.K. Corral gunfighters. 

First view is the cemetery with a valley and beautiful mountains in the distance. 

There was a grave surrounded by a picket fence. The tombstone reads, "In memory of Frank Bowles. Born August 5, 1828. Died August 26, 1880. As you pass by remember that as you are so once was I and as I am you soon will be. Remember me." 

One Row 1 at the end are the graves of people of legend that everyone really comes to the cemetery see. The grave on the end is Old Man Clanton. His name was really Newman Haynes Clanton. But he was always called Old Man Clanton. He is the father of the Clanton boys that fought in the O.K. Corral gunfight. He was a cattle man. They got the name 'cow-boy' because they often stole other people's cattle and put their brand on it. I have always thought well of the name cowboy but these guys put a bad tone to that word. 

Next to him are one of his sons, Billy Clanton, and their friends, Frank and Tom McLaury. These three all died in the shoot out at the O.K. Corral. The next picture is from behind their tombstones and shows the view from the gravesites. 

This tombstone says, "Here lies Lester Moore. Four slugs from a 44. No Les. No More." These are real graves where real people were buried.

The is the grave of Marshall White, a key figure in Tombstone history. 

Views from the cemetery. 

Claude and I would walk down to the Jewish Memorial.

Now it was time to find dinner. The thing about Tombstone is that it shuts down at 5pm. There were only two restaurants open until 8pm. We ate at The Longhorn Restaurant this night and our final night in Tombstone. Good food. Nice atmosphere. The second piece of artwork was actually on the ceiling. To get the best picture I needed to lie on my back in the middle of the dining room. I did NOT do that!

Night was falling when we left the restaurant and Allen Street was pretty much empty. I took these pictures from the same place just turned to face the opposite direction to get a feel of the street. They block Allen Street off for several blocks to cars. Only the stagecoach tours are allowed to drive on Allen Street for these few blocks. 

Back to the hotel to recharge all devices and rest our weary bodies. We only had a two hour time difference to deal with this trip. But it still makes life a little interesting.