Sunday, October 28, 2012

Bisbee Ride 2012 (Part II)

This is the continuation of a ride I took with my wife, parents, and our friend Tuyen a couple of weeks ago.  We left off just as we had arrived at our destination.  The town of Bisbee.  This is the view from the highway overlooking the city.
Like an outlaw motorcycle gang we rolled into town.  Well, perhaps more like a small, nicely behaved, group of weekend travelers. 
Tuyen, Kiri and I pulled into a parking lot across from our hotel.  My parents stayed in a hotel farther down the road and went to go check in.  Here we find Tuyen and Kiri celebrating the completion of a great ride!
We had reserved rooms at the Bisbee Grand Hotel.  It was a bit cheaper then the obvious choice, where most people stay in Bisbee, the Copper Queen.
The rooms were upstairs.  The hotel had a creepy butler greeting new guests.
Kiri and I took the bird themed room.
And Tuyen took the flower room.  The rooms were nice.  But we got to see a couple of suites as we walked through the halls.  They were much larger, more expensive of course, but we all decided it would be kind of neat to stay in those rooms next time we were in town.
After checking in, Tuyen, Kiri and I started walking down the street to find my parents.  Bisbee is built on some rather steep canyon hills.  The buildings tower over one another.  And there are quite a few steps to get from one place to another.  The town actually has a festival called the Bisbee 1000 Stair Climb where the object is to climb 1000 steps, around town, while you get serenaded by musicians.
We located the parents at their hotel, The Inn at Castle Rock.  My mom said the place had a very very rustic feel. 
There was a Triumph Tiger parked out front.  So the hotel did have some positives.
After collecting the parents we started strolling back towards the center of town.
 The city's post office.  They don't build them like this anymore.
 This guy was an odd character.  He backed his bike out of a parking space and I noticed his kick stand was still down.  I was concerned he was about to pull away so I yelled out that it was still down.  He looked at me, and then brought the stand up.  No wave or smile or anything.  Then he took off.  Neat looking Moto Guzzi though.
 Typical brick style buildings found through out town.
 One of the most famous landmarks in Bisbee.  The Copper Queen hotel.
 Neat looking church right next door.  Also a nice selection of Harley's parked out front.  We  talked to some of the bikers in the hotel and they said they had just driven in from New Mexico.
 We stopped at the hotel bar for a few drinks.  In a strange coincidence we ended up at a restaurant later that evening and the bartender was having dinner at the table next to us.  She filled us in on all the cool places to visit around town.
 Kiri grabbed an artistic shot of the hotel's room key's.
 Notice the Sweet Midnight sign.  It's a Halloween store right next to the hotel.  Kiri stopped in and bought a cool skull bracelet for herself, and one for her sister.  From what we heard Bisbee fills up during Halloween and everyone dresses up.  The streets turn into one big party.  Kiri and I may have to come back here and check it out one of these days.
 Pretty life like.  One of the manikins in the store.  Supposedly Kiri took a picture of Tuyen making out with this sweet looking babe.  But I'm not allowed to show it.  Something about having to maintain a level of public image..blah blah blah.
 Taken in front of a store on Brewery Ave.
 This part of town has a history of local breweries.  From the looks of it this one had just recently opened up.  They have a small history page which can be found Here.
 Lot's of different bars and local restaurants to choose from in this part of town.
 I like buildings with old signage painted on.  Reminds me of small towns back east.
 The Bisbee Bicycle Brothel.  We thought it was a typical bike shop but it ended up being more of a museum.  Check out their website to see images from inside the store.
 Kiri operating a ore train outside the Bisbee Mining and Historical Museum.  Unfortunately it was closed for the evening so we didn't get to explore inside.
 Ummm, my excuse is that I had a couple of beers.  I'm pretty sure Tuyen had only had a coffee at this point.  So much for that public image to maintain:) 
 More pictures to come.  Stay Tuned!

3 comments:

  1. That looks like such a quirky and fun town to visit. I love it when everything is within wandering distance.

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  2. Nice report! I reminds me of my trip on my bonnie to Bisbee! Gotta get back there soon!

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  3. @Trobairitz - Same here. Kiri and I will sometimes take our vacations to cities where we can walk to most locations or take local subways or buses.

    @SOAZ - Thanks! Yeah this trip was kind of inspired by one of your posts back in ~2011 I think.

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