Bisbee, Arizona

Before we even got up this morning I asked Bill what he had in mind for the day.  He said, "I was thinking of taking everyone to Bisbee today."  Good idea!  He had been there once, but I never had, and of course neither Conor or Carolyn had been there either.

Copper mining began in Bisbee around the turn of the 20th century and was always done mechanically.  No pick axes and mules.  The mine closed in the mid-70s and the town started to turn into a ghost town before it was discovered by artists and Bohemian free thinkers.  Today it is mostly a tourist town with lots of antique and junk shops next to art galleries and jewelry shops.  Quite a number of raucous bars as well, even on a Saturday afternoon.

 

Two of its famous features are the narrow, steep streets and houses clinging to the rocky mountain sides.  Some were shacks and others were nicely renovated little Victorian homes, with everything in between.

 

There is an annual festival to celebrate all the stairs around town and we decided to take part even though the festival is a month and a half away.  This is what we came across:

181 stairs.  I'm not in great shape, but decided to go up because there was art on the walls and I could see some interesting houses on each side and there was a bit of mystery about it all.

On my way!

I thought there was an interesting house at the top, but that was NOT the top!  The path went around the side of it and kept going up and up!  I stopped several times to catch my breath enjoy the view on the way up, and celebrated with the girls when we got to the top.

We all counted the steps coming back down.  Carolyn and I came up with 181 if we counted both the top and bottom surfaces.  The three girls came up with different numbers, but I'm pretty sure 181 was correct.

 

Gonna be sore tomorrow!