Tubac and Old Tombstone

Tombstone, Arizona
March 18, 2009

This morning we awoke, ready for a new adventure. So, we got out the map and plotted a day trip south on Hwy 19 to the artist's colony at Tubac, Nogales and Tombstone. These are all a short distance from Tucson.

Tubac was a surprising find. About 45 miles south of Tucson is a small village full of little shops, galleries, and cafes mixed in among the historic mission. We spent the afternoon walking the streets, stopping in interesting shops and pricing the huge clay pots.

At the moment, we have no place to store these finds or I would have bought several for myself. When we finally settle down again, I plan to add more color to my life.

We were surprised at the number of people who live this far south of Tucson, and between Tubac and Nogales. There are, apparently, a lot of jobs in this area, probably because of its proximity to the Mexican border.

We drove south to Nogales. I had read of quaint shops and cafes in this town, but we did not find them. We did see the border fence, however, though I could not get a picture of it as we drove through town.

We took Hwy 82, a scenic route, towards Tombstone. This area is very rugged, with deep canyons and arroyos and jagged mountains. We followed the scenic highway almost all the way to Tombstone.

The first historic site we came to in Tombstone was boot hill where we walked through the cemetery and learned that a large number of Tombstone residents died of shotgun wounds or were hanged.

In the main part of town we found the road blocked off to through traffic. We parked and walked the streets, looking in the shops and stopping at Big Nose Kate's Saloon for lunch.

Kate, as you may know, was Doc Holiday's common law wife. We ate hamburgers and watch the staged fights between gun slingers and listened to western ballads.

On the way home we stopped in Benson and found a cemetery that we hoped might be where my aunt was buried. Unfortunately, we did not find here so need to get some further clues about where she might be before we go back and look again.