Featured Touring Three Days Touring Southern Arizona: A Mother Nature "inspired" Change Of Plans

"We plan. Mother Nature laughs". We've all heard that and it's only too true. Steve, Russell, and I had a three day-two night motorcycle trip planned up to the northern part of Arizona last weekend. Alas, the weather turned inhospitable and we scrambled to come up with a Plan B. We did...and it was a good plan at that. Instead of riding up to Winslow and Williams and the South Rim of the Grand Canyon, Steve booked us two nights in Tombstone, a favorite day destination of ours. While we've been to Tombstone many times over the years on our bikes, this was the first time that we'd spent the night there much less two. And we enjoyed it so much that we agreed we'll definitely do it again!

Here was the original plan. I will admit that we probably weren't too smart (just too hopeful) to plan a trip up into the mountains in northern Arizona in mid-November! Duh.



And here was Plan B. A wonderful new plan....and right in our back yard! I guess we could have just cancelled our plans to do a riding trip. But we already had our dog sitter booked and we were already packed. Plus, we're no quitters!



I was in charge of cancelling our northern AZ hotels and was pleased at how accommodating the proprietors were. Even though both hotels (one in Winslow and one in Williams) had cancellation policies stating that there was no refund for cancellations less than 5 days out, one hotel refunded our entire amount and the other noted our "predicament" in my file and said that we could come stay in our same prepaid room anytime other than a holiday weekend We thought we were going to be out a fair amount of $$...and we were out none.

Steve was in charge of finding us new lodgings on VERY short notice. Here in the U.S. it was a holiday weekend--Veterans Day was on Monday. Our trip plan was to depart from Tucson on Saturday and return home Monday. Yeah, along with a whole bunch of other people who had Monday off! At first we tried to find a place in Bisbee but there were zero rooms available. However, Steve found a great little place in Tombstone right on the old main street (Allen Street) about two blocks from where all the action is happening. There were only two rooms and we got both--one for Russell and one for Steve and me. Plus there was a perfect little concrete pad that fit our three Harley touring bikes perfectly! No coincidences....



Our buddy, Chas, had trailered his bike down to Tombstone earlier in the day for a car and bike show that he had entered. So our first order of business was to find the show and to find Chas and his bike. The population of Tombstone is only about 1,300 so is wasn't to challenging to find them. We meandered up Allen Street and only had to walk about four blocks before we ran right into the show and to Chas.



Evidently the guy who usually runs to the show had his panties in a knot about something so had pulled all the ads to register for the show according to a friend of Chas' who had helped sponsor the show. The upshot to that for the "bike show" part of the show was that Chas was the only one who had entered a bike! So he went home with a trophy, a new battery (compliments of Interstate Batteries, the main sponsor) and a bunch of other swag.



Chas joined us for lunch and then he loaded up his Harley CVO V-Rod and headed home. He just recently bought this little Stinger trailer so we had to check it out before he left for Tucson.



A few more car show photos....









Day 1 in Tombstone to be continued in my next post

 

Day 1 continued:

No day is complete in Tombstone without at least one meal at The Longhorn. Plus it was right next to where Chas' bike was parked.



That's Steve, Russell, and Chas in the middle.



The Longhorn is a gem with lots of great old posters and decorations and some very cool stained glass. There's definitely an "American West" theme going on.



After lunch we wandered along Allen Street taking in the sights and checking out the stores. Tombstone is very touristy--but there's something quite charming even in all the kitchyness of it all. There are gunfight shows throughout the day and we learned there are "ghost" gunfight shows at night and even a Comedy Gunfight. Here's more info if Old West gunfights pique your interest.



These gunslingers were getting ready for a show.





Russell in front of Doc Holliday's Saloon. Which we did not go in, BTW. Next time!



Like many things in Tombstone, we'd seen the Bird Cage Theatre from the outside but had never gone in. According to the gentleman telling us about the place, this is the oldest original building on Allen Street.



A bit from Wikipedia + a link...

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bird_Cage_Theatre



We went inside to take a look and got to hear a bit about the place which is quite interesting. They do tours (of course) and we'lll probably do that the next time we ride down to Tombstone.



There were tons and tons of motorcycles all around southern Arizona during the entire weekend. Here were a few of them parked in front of the Four Deuces Saloon about two blocks from our inn.



Day 1 continued in my next post.

 

Day 1 continued:

Steve and Russell had discussed having a cigar on the Allen Street Inn patio after dinner so we went in search of cigars. Steve thought to ask the proprietor (who was not on the premises at all during our stay) if it was permissible to smoke on the patio. Yep. It seems there are fewer and fewer places where smoking a cigar is allowed in public. Not that we need those places all that much.....

And we found Smoke Signals, home of many, many cigars. And several guys smoking cigars as we entered the shop. Actually, I'd noticed this place earlier as we went in search of the car & bike show because I have an eagle eye--well, eagle nose--for the scent of cigars. I don't smoke at all. Never have even had one puff in my life. But I absolutely LOVE second hand cigar smoke! Go figure. And if Steve's gonna have a cigar it's typically gonna be a good one. I like Steve's "seconds" so much that I'll even switch chairs if the breeze changes so I don't miss out on a single waft.



The proprietor helped Steve make his selection because few of the brands were familiar to him. Evidently the owner goes to the "Smoke Out" cigar convention in Las Vegas every year and buys for the shop for the following year. This shop likes to get brands that are not readily available in southern Arizona so people can try something different and to set the shop apart. Steve bought two Placencia's and he really enjoyed his. Russell opted to abstain so Steve now has another one in his desktop humidor.





The Allen Street Inn patio during the day. It became the Cigar Patio by night.

 

Oops! I accidentally hit "Post Reply" a bit early. Out of practice I guess. Day 1 continued. This is the last Day 1 post and I'll continue with Day 2 -- Douglas and Bisbee -- tomorrow.

Steve did a bit of research prior to this trip and learned that Tombstone has a local brewery. I thoroughly enjoy finding local breweries when we travel and trying whatever IPA's the place has to offer. Conveniently enough, the Tombstone Brewing Company was only a block from our inn. As I said previously, no coincidences.



We got there fairly early and the place hadn't yet started hopping. But we also wanted to be sure to get in the door without a long holiday weekend wait when it came time for dinner. This brewery is beer only--no food to be had.



I'm still working on that IPA in the foreground but Steve was pretty darned happy after polishing off his 14.1% ABV stout! It was only a 10 oz. pour, thank goodness.



Time for dinner! We went kitty corner across the street from The Longhorn and found a relatively short line for The Crystal Palace. The wait to be seated was short but the wait for our food was not--1 1/2 hours! But the beer was good, the ambiance was swell, and the company was excellent. Plus we'd cooled our jets at the brewery just prior. And our meals were outstanding! Definitely worth the wait.



But...no dessert was on the menu at The Crystal Palace so we asked our server where we could go. She said that most places were closing up for the night. That really surprised us as it was only 8:00pm! And on a Saturday night! And on a holiday weekend! Small towns....sigh. However, our server said that Big Nose Kate's Saloon would be open for quite some time as it was primarily a bar. And she also said they had a really good chocolate chip cookie with ice cream. So off we went in search of sugar.

Big Nose Kate's is an institution in Tombstone and one of the most fun places in town. We were seated at a little round table that's up off the main floor and provides a great view of the goings on.






Shortly after we arrived, a four-man band filled up the stage and began playing some excellent upbeat country western music. There was a small dance floor in front of the small stage and that began to fill up, too. Interestingly, there was no shortage of children in this SALOON!



Tomorrow we're off to Douglas, Arizona to show Russell the Gadsden Hotel and then to Bisbee, one of our favorite small towns. And more fun in Tombstone, of course. This Plan B trip turned out to be terrific fun!

Day 2 mañana...stay tuned.

 

Day 2:

We "slept in" until 6:00am this morning. That's what sleeping in is when you get to "that age", I guess. So both mornings we were the first folks in the door for breakfast at the OK Cafe. Good little breakfast and lunch joint just one block up the street from our lodging. No food pics but I had the green chili and cheddar omelet. Green chilis are big around here (the southwest that is) and for good reason.



Two women pulled up on bikes as we were heading back to our hotel after breakfast, one on a Harley Sportster and one on an Indian Scout. I loved the tank paint job on the Sporty--it's the Arizona flag!



We realized that the stagecoach teams are housed further to the west on Allen Street down from our hotel. So each morning we saw two teams go by along with folks in their western work costumes walking to work to the touristy area of town.



The temperatures were in the mid to high 30sºF in the morning so we just hung out for another hour or so after breakfast before mounting up to head to Douglas, Arizona to show the Gadsden Hotel to Russell. Douglas is 50 miles from Tombstone and today's route took us through up Mule Mountain and through Bisbee. Douglas has a border crossing with Mexico at Agua Prieta and a history of mining. The population was 16,531 in the 2020 Census.(source: Wikipedia) In addition to mining, Douglas was and continues to be a key border crossing to bring cattle from Mexico into the U.S. In the "old days", they were herded across the border by cowboys. Today they are driven across the border by semi drivers.

Our primary reason for riding to Douglas (in addition, of course, to simply riding in perfect riding weather!) was to show Russell the historic Gadsden Hotel. Russell has lived in Tucson for decades so Steve and I were a bit surprised that he'd never been there. I posted a thread about a stay at the Gadsden that Steve and I did about four years ago and since that time the hotel was sold to new owners who are working to continue restoration of its upper levels and guest rooms. Today we just wandered about a bit, took some photos, talked to the clerk on duty, and had a cup of coffee before heading back to Bisbee.

I took this photo back in 2021 when Steve and I were there. They've changed the parking configuration in front of the hotel and we had to park elsewhere this time around.


That "landscape" at the top of the stairs is all beautiful stained glass! I was taking a picture of Russell taking a picture.


This was taken from the top of the stairs in the previous photo.



The Gadsden restaurant where we relaxed over coffee.


Onward to Bisbee! Bisbee and Douglas are 25 miles apart distance-wise but miles apart in terms of the "vibe" of the two towns. Bisbee is busy and vibrant, a community that recognized that its mining days were over and they had to reinvent the place. So now it's filled with galleries, restaurants, and many types of lodging. There are festivals of many types during the year including a really cool chopper show called The Prowl.

Here's a link to the thread I posted after we attended last year's Prowl. https://www.thetriumphforum.com/thr...-prowl-chopper-vintage-motorcycle-show.41009/

Douglas, on the other hand, seems a bit like a dying town, especially the historic downtown area other than the Gadsden. The people who used to own the Gadsden told Steve and me that there's a small contingent of folks in Douglas who recognize that they, like their neighbor Bisbee, may need to do the same reinventing that Bisbee has done.

Bisbee was hopping today, I'm sure both because it was a weekend--and a holiday weekend at that--and because the weather was downright perfect. Sunny skies and temperatures around 70ºF. Parking was at a premium but we found a stray spot in the pay parking lot. We put all three bikes in that one spot and were charge for the space--not the number of bikes.



The park next to the museum in the previous photo. This sign makes us laugh every time. Yep, it IS a grassy park.



These two buildings were terribly damaged by a fire not too long before The Prowl last spring. When we were there, several blocks of the main drag, Tombstone Canyon Road, were closed to all types of traffic including pedestrian. Now the road is open and they've cleaned up the area but the buildings are still in a sorry state.



Day 2 continued in my next post

 

Day 2 continued:

One of the many fun--and funny--store fronts in Bisbee



Walking along Tombstone Canyon Road





We (well, I) had to make a stop at this wonderful bakery. The only item I deemed "travel worthy" - read, not a squishy mess when we got back to Tombstone--was a big cookie. I saved it and had it after dinner. It was outstanding! Dang, no photo of this either. Where is my head these days forgetting to take food pics?

This sculpture was is a really neat gallery that had lots of creative items made from things that had been repurposed. I definitely want to go back there and spend more time. I took this particular photo of this particular item because my best girlfriend, Dena, is an avid seamstress. I might drive back down and buy it for her birthday, but it DEFINITELY wouldn't fit in my saddlebag!



This metal sculpture is in the Bisbee Social Club, a very hip basement bar on Tombstone Canyon. We went to this place when at The Prowl and it's a hopping spot with live music on the weekends.



After having a big, late lunch in Bisbee we aimed our bikes back towards Tombstone. I was itching to go back to Spur Western Wear to try on a Stetson cowboy hat I'd tried on yesterday. Steve and Russell have been on a cowboy hat kick lately and I wasn't interested....until now. Now I've gone down the rabbit hole, I'm afraid. Well, hats are cheaper than motorcycles. I like this hat even more the second time around. The upshot is that Steve bought it for me for Christmas (or my birthday which is two days prior) and is having it shipped to Tucson. It won't be a surprise but I won't open it until then.



I'm having fun learning about cowboy hat "etiquette" and other lore, and it was cool to watch TJ at Spur steam my hat to fit my head and to even up the front brim. Now I've gotta break out my boots and get my wild west on!





When we got back to Tombstone we had changed out of our riding gear and into our walking shoes and comfy --and warm -- hang out clothes. Since we'd just had a huge lunch in Bisbee, we decided to head back to Tombstone Brewing Company (at my urging, I have to admit) for a beer or two. Since the brewery is a block off Allen Street, we figured we'd stroll along a "new" street to check out the non-tourist neighborhood nearby. Here's a smattering of what we saw on the way......

Well, I guess these first two are a little bit touristy.





Day 2 continued in my next post

 

Day 2 continued:







You probably noticed the dog. Do you see the cat??







And back to the brewery. More excellent beer. And we met "Sarge" (that's the dog, not the guy).





We sat on the outdoor patio this evening to drink our beer and recap the day. While we were sitting there, we saw several deer in the adjoining lot. The couple next to us said there's a herd of 20 or so that appear pretty frequently, sometimes in their backyard! After getting a bowl of soup at The Longhorn, we saw evidence of deer right by our motorcycles. Yep, lots of little hoof prints! I'm sure they were checking out our motorcycles.



Tomorrow, Day 3. Home via Patagonia and Tubac.

 

Day 3:

On the final day of our little three day southern Arizona getaway, we again found ourselves the first to arrive at the OK Cafe for breakfast. When I got out of bed, I peeked out the window and saw this glorious sight. The these two photos were taken only a minute or two apart which shows how quickly the colors morphed. I love the Arizona skies!





Steve left our inn about 10 minutes before I did so I walked the two blocks to breakfast on my own. As I was walking I heard a noise on the street to my left. Imagine my surprise to see a small deer right in the middle of the road! She was scrambling madly to cross just down from me but to the same side. I'm quite certain she was startled and scared--she was alone and looked quite young. By the time I got my phone out to snap a photo, she had made her way to this house and in short order ran into the back yard and out of sight.



As we watched out the window during breakfast, three bikes pulled up and parked in from of the OK Cafe. The riders were still inside eating when we left but--of course--we had to scope out the motorcycles which all hailed from Texas. The red bike, a H-D Road Glide 120th Anniversary Edition, has the same paint job as Russell's Street Glide. In fact, Russell liked that paint job and badging so much that he bought not one bike with it but TWO! A 2023 Street Glide touring bike and a 2023 Heritage Classic Softail cruiser.



Since it was still too chilly for us to hit the road and since we were really in no hurry to get home, we decided to go for a morning stroll and see a bit more of the sights on Tombstone's side streets.

I've never seen The World's Largest Rose Bush Tree even in all the times I've been to Tombstone! I still haven't seen it as the building that houses it (yes, it's indoors!) wasn't open yet.





Here are another couple of areas we'll check out when we return to Tombstone. One of the store proprietors told us the Gunfighter Hall of Fame is a must see. Our friend, Chas, who had the H-D V-Rod I told you about earlier in this thread, actually lived in Tombstone for years and was in one of the gunfight shows. He played Doc Holliday.





We've never done this particular mine tour. I did one in Bisbee many years ago so I think it may be time for another. The name of this mine always makes me laugh. They should add the word "Just" to the name, I think.



Day 3 continued in my next (and last!) post

 

Day 3 and the conclusion of our southern AZ tour:

Our last leg of this short trip took us through the little town of Patagonia and on to Tubac. The first 2/3 of this days mileage was all beautiful backroads. The final stretch was up Interstate 19--still beautiful in its own way and very quiet on this day since it was Veteran's Day. Again, this particular route took us right near the Mexican border.



We made a stop in the town of Tubac to get a bit of lunch but mostly to go to Tumacookery, the best kitchen store in the world! That name is a play on the name Tumacaccori, the Spanish Mission just to the south of Tubac. Sorry, no pics. I will probably drive down there before Christmas for some stocking stuffers for friends.



This was the temperature when we arrived back home. In the Sonoran Desert, warmer temperatures always feel about 10ºF cooler than stated thanks to the dryness. Perfect!



We clocked only a bit over 300 miles on the weekend--a far cry from the 850 or so we'd planned. But those 330 miles were fun-filled and adventure packed. And they reminded us what wonderful opportunities we are blessed with right in our back yard!

 

Thanks for the feedback, @Oldskool. Glad you enjoyed the write up. Yes, we do tend to think we have to travel far to have fun but you're absolutely correct...now always necessary!

 

@joe mc donald

Hey, Joe. I wondered if anybody would notice the song that was up in my music queue. Glad you’re enjoying our trip report.

 

Thanks, @Bikerman! And the "to boot" was a cowboy boot.

 

@learningtofly
Thanks, Tony. It truly was a wonderful trip! And maybe it was made even more wonderful by the fact that it WAS plan B?! I'm such a planner that this trip being quite spontaneous is, I think, what made it so fun. Plus I really appreciated just being able to (still) do a trip even though the original plan fell through.