1 Septiembre 1999

Bisbee, AZ

Breakfast downstairs next to the mineshaft. One gets big happy breakfasts downstairs.

The Inn rocks; we sign up for another night at the Inn. There is another place on the list-o-hotels that intrigues me: The Jonquil Motel, up Tombstone Canyon, sounds to be an authentic retro motor court. But we like our cozy room in The Inn. After breakfast, we go out to walk around Bisbee.

Walking down Main Street, we stop in at Bisbee Bob's. Bisbee Bob has lots of "rare blue calcite" called Bisbee Ice. I buy a small rough piece with some deep blue for $5. It's a lot for a piece of calcite, but I don't find another piece I like as much and one needs souvenirs, right?

At the Bisbee Coffee Company I ask how they make their espresso, do they make it in the Italian style, very short? The barista says he can make it any way I want it so I ask for a very short single espresso. It is just the way I want it. This is as close to a miracle as happens. This is more unusual than a tortilla with Jesus' face in it; this is the stuff of legend.

We sit at the BCC for a while before exploring up the hills and stairs (B. is built in a canyon so lots of climbing is involved. There's an annual race, the Bisbee 1000, up the staircases.) It's a million degrees in the lowlands, but Bisbee is at 5000 feet. They advertise that they have the best year-round weather in Arizona, and their late summer weather is awfully nice.

We get in the car to go to Lowell on the other side of the giant mine pit to the Bisbee Food Co-op for lunch. The food isn't inspired, but it's nice to have a choice of vegetarian stuff. Then we poke around Lowell Plaza, which seems largely lifeless.

It does have an old Indian Motocycle Co. sign painted on one of the buildings, but no old Indian Motocycles in sight.

Two PM mine tour at the [Copper] Queen Mine. We are suited up in yellow jackets, hard hats and miner's lanterns and ride this funny train thing into the mine. Our guide, Toby, stops at different points to explain mine stuff. It is rather cold in the depths of the mine, 52 degrees F. As we wait for Toby to turn the train around at the last stop, 500 feet in, Stopwatchgirl discovers two pieces of turquoise in the dirt. Rockhound merit badge!

Dinner at Cafe Roka = way fab. Artichoke & Portobello lasagna for me, tortellini for Stopwatchgirl.

We step outside to discover rain in progress and make our way back to the Inn.