Tombstone & Tucson : Harley-Davidson Tour Seeing the Old West on a Harley-Davidson motorcycle.

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acting out the events that lead up to the historic 1881 battle.

The other must see spot at Tombstone is the infamous Bird Cage Theater. This place is a time capsule that was sealed in 1889, just after its heyday ended. When reopened by the new owner in 1931, he wisely kept everything as it was, except for putting up barriers so visitors could not damaged the artifacts. When you walk through the door you get to see how things were over 125 years ago, complete with 140 bullet holes. All the original gambling tables, rooms, stage, and even the Tombstone Boothill horse-drawn hearse, are just as they were left in 1889. No movie props here! Going through the Bird Cage was exciting and a bit eerie (it’s haunted!), but well worth the $10 admission.

Bisbee Grand Hotel
After a short ride, we stopped at Bisbee and our accommodations for the night, which turned out to be a very special bed and breakfast. Most of the Bisbee Grand Hotel’s rooms are decorated to a theme. Mine was The Western with an actual wooden wagon, complete with cloth canopy, as the bed. (Though tempted, I didn’t yell “Wagons Ho!” when I climbed in.) The other five suites are The Victorian, The Oriental, The Captain's, The Hacienda, The Hollywood, and The Garden. A stay in a themed room will cost you $119-$175, while a regular room is $79-$99. And like the Bird Cage, the Bisbee is rumored to be haunted.

Copper Queen Mine
After breakfast, we decided to tour the Copper Queen mine before heading back to Phoenix. Closed as a mining operation back in the 1930s when the ore ran out, it has been a tourist attraction for years and a great place to get a small taste of what it was like to be a miner. Like Tombstone, the mine is as it was left, complete with rails, mining cars, wooden posts, drills, etc. all as they were used back when the mine was in its prime. In fact, our tour guide had worked the mine for a few years. After paying the $13 admission, on went the hard hat and yellow slicker. I then boarded the original mine train to go 1,500 feet into the mine for the 1-1/4 hour tour.

Unfortunately, all too soon the trip was over and it was time to return to Phoenix and everyday life. However, being a greedy dude, as well as a lazy one, I’m coming back to Arizona to take Twisted Trailz’s Awesome Arizona tour. This one will be a much longer loop and I’ll being riding it with my two new buds, Ron and Elaine.

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