En route to Tombstone from Phoenix, we stopped at the famous fast food chain called eegee's in Tucson for their signature freezes.
The Eegee is a frozen drink with actual fruit inside. It pairs well with ice cream!
I put some mood music on in the SUV rental as we continued on to Tombstone, AZ.
Tombstone looked like an old west town straight out of the movies.
We went inside the Gunfight Palace to see an old fashioned gun fight set in a bar. The weather was very pleasant in Tombstone since the elevation is higher than Phoenix and Tucson.
Apparently, most gun fights back in the 1800s in Tombstone took place in bars.
The actors shot blanks.
We went over to the OK Cafe for some great lunch!
I got their famous buffalo burger with some hache chili topping! It was delicious!
I got a bottle of the famous saspirilla that is sold in Tombstone after lunch. Saspirilla is a type of root beer.
This is the historic courthouse in Tombstone which was built in 1882 before Arizona became a state.
The courtroom on the 2nd floor was well preserved. I made sure to count the number of chairs in the jury box to verify that the number was still twelve back then.
There were some prisoners who were hung on the gallows here at the courthouse.
This was a display about Wyatt Earp, the famous deputy marshall in Tombstone who was featured in the movies about Tombstone.
Joy and I took a stagecoach tour of Tombstone after checking out the courthouse.
Masks? No, the pandemic was over a while ago. The liberals just kept it going. Besides the CDC announced around the time of this trip that vaccinated folks did not have to mask anymore.
Tombstone has Wyatt Earp Days during Memorial Day weekend. The main street in Tombstone looked like it was out of the movies.
I am pretending to "drive" a horse drawn cart here at the O.K. Corral.
We saw a re-enactment of the famous gun fight at the O.K. Corral also.
"Doc Holiday" is finishing up the story about the gun fight here with the Earp boys in the background.
I enjoyed a whiskey drink at the Oriental Saloon to wind down the day in Tombstone.
They had can can girl shows here at the Oriental Theater before.
When we got back to Tucson, we enjoyed dinner at a famous Mexican place called El Charro Cafe. Although I hate Clinton, he made the place famous and got a platter named after him at the downtown location.
I got a trio of Mexican favorites that night including a tamal, enchilada, and a shredded chicken taco.
Joy and I are playing hide and seek here with the saguro cactus at the hotel in Tucson in the morning. LOL.
The next day, we headed back to Phoenix and went to the original Bikini Beans for some drinks. Our bikini baristas did not have to mask anymore!
We headed to the Wrigley Mansion next for their famous Sunday Brunch to kick off my birthday week!
The valet took the rental SUV as we pulled up to the mansion.
The views of the Phoenix valley from the top of the hill where the mansion was built is amazing!
No more masks needed to enter the Wrigley Mansion! We loved Arizona. They embraced the end to the mask recommendations by the CDC.
The staircase at the Wrigley Mansion is so amazing.
They seated us in the best table in the house! We had an amazing view of downtown Phoenix and the mountains from our table!
"Under A Cherry Moon" is one of my favorite drinks of all time. This has Traverse City cherry whiskey from Michigan in it. The toothpick has a metal bead on it too.
Cheers to my wife and I. The $54 per person brunch was amazing!
Our brunch started off with fresh fruit including dragon fruit and fresh baked pastries.
The "roving cart" brings the appetizer courses to each table. All the items are all you can eat.
We tried all the entrees which were cooked to order. This is the prime rib! I have eaten at Lawry's before in Vegas, but this is the best prime rib ever!
It was fun seeing all the expensive cars like this Ferrari and the SUV limos drive up and down the curved driveway to the mansion from our VIP table.
This was the pesto pasta and brioche French Toast.
The omlette with the fresh lump crab was good too!
Dessert anyone? One does not go hungry at the Wrigley Mansion's Sunday Brunch!
Since we liked these Oreo like desserts, the waiter brought us four more!
The valet brought up the SUV we rented after we enjoyed our brunch.
Joy and I had just enough time to swing by Old Scottsdale too. The old Misson was cool.
Joy loved Scottsdale.
I saw New Mexico One at the Phoenix Airport. This was one of the special state livery planes that Southwest has in their fleet.
On my birthday eve, we went to Twin Peaks so I could get the signature photo. LOL. I also tried Jefferson's Ocean Aged At Sea bourbon. It was so good that I got a bottle at BevMo.
We went to my parent's house for my actual birthday.
My nephew was on the video call to celebrate with us too!
Later that week, I went to Joe's Crab Shack with some buddies.
We had a nice view of the river from our table.
My wife got me this froyo cake from Menchie's. It paired well with the Jefferson Ocean Aged At Sea bourbon!
To finish out the birthday cake, we went to Father Paddy's Irish Pub in Woodland. Their whiskey vault was amazing. This was an old bank building so the vault was an actual bank vault.
Joy and I enjoyed Father Paddy's a lot!
Father Paddy's had the best shepherd's pie and corned beef ever!
Since I had a few too many whiskeys from the vault, Joy drove the Jag home! LOL.
My birthday was on a
Wednesday in 2021 so I decided to fly out to Phoenix with my wife to go
explore Tombstone the weekend before. I was watching that Wyatt
Earp movie earlier in 2021, and I thought this would be a fun trip for
my birthday. During the month of April, we did not have much
planned since I was not sure what the training for my new job would
entail so I wanted to stay closer to home. As a result, I was
very excited to be back in the air since Joy and I usually leave
Sacramento monthly by flight. We do not care about our carbon
footprint. LOL.
We flew out to Phoenix pretty late on Friday evening, and we landed around 10:30 into the Valley of The Sun. Luckily, I have Fastbreak with Budget so our rental SUV was waiting for us downstairs at the rental car facility so we were able to drive off to our hotel in Chandler. I booked a Hampton Inn in Chandler only because it was off the I-10 which is what we had to take to Tombstone. This Hampton Inn was still stuck in the old Covid protocols with the grab and go breakfast and lack of snacks for Diamond guests which is odd since the Doubletree across the street where we stayed during Spring Training had the welcome cookies back along with the breakfast buffet. Oh well, I guess they are all run by independent operators, and some of the operators are using the pandemic to cut services to make more profit!
The next morning, we departed for Tombstone via Tucson, but we enjoyed a real breakfast first at Waffle House in Chandler. We stopped at a famous fast food place called Eegees in Tucson to refuel on their famous fruit freezes called eegees! I got a sugar free strawberry one which paired with ice cream. The drive to Tombstone was scenic as we saw lots of saguro cactus which are native to that part of Arizona.
After arriving in the old west town of Tombstone, we saw the historic downtown as we pulled into the nearby parking lot. Tombstone looked like it was straight out of the old Wyatt Earp or Tombstone movies with the dirt roads and raised wooden "sidewalks." There were also stage coach tours going around the historic area. As we walked into the old town area, some guys dressed in western garb recruited guests to come inside the Gunfight Palace to watch the next "gun fight." We bought our tickets and sat comfortably unmasked indoors as we waited for the show to begin. I would say that all but one guy was unmasked inside! There was so social distancing bull shit either. Our host was making fun of the Covid protocols too and said that their rural county told Arizona to not mess with them! LOL. I liked our host! The gun fight used the same blanks used in movies. We saw a few scenes of "gun fights" that were based on historic events in the 1800s when gun fights were common in the saloons in town. Almost everyone in Tombstone carried a side arm with them as it was the "wild, wild west." Tombstone was the most heavily populated town in the west for a while too during the mining boom for silver.
We enjoyed lunch at the OK Cafe after the show. This place was known for their buffalo burgers. I ordered a buffalo burger with some hatch chili on top! The cool thing was that the staff was unmasked also inside! It was like prepandemic conditions! The funny thing was that there was a leftist freak family who insisted on being masked and eating outdoors so people inside the restaurant were making fun of them and saying they must be Californians. LOL. California has become a joke thanks to the pandemic restrictions imposed by the idiot Newsom and some leftist counties and cities like Santa Clara.
After our delicious lunch, we toured the old historic courthouse in town, but first I had to stop at the sarsaparilla stand, which is the old west's root beer! This place had the old fashioned gallows where criminals were hung. Apparently back then, they would send out invitations to the general public to have them come and witness these executions.
We enjoyed the O.K. Corral's gun fight next which recreated the famous gun fight between the Earp boys and Doc Holiday with the cowboy outlaws. The O.K. Corral had lots of cool historic artifacts too, and I was able to sit in an actual horse drawn cart and pretend like I was driving the horses. We also got great weather so being outdoors was not an issue. It was very mild with temperatures in the 80s with almost no humidity.
Joy and I took a nice stagecoach tour as well in Tombstone. I was surprised that the stagecoaches only went about four miles per hour. The driver said the scenes in the old movies tend to exaggerate how fast the stagecoaches can travel. We had a few other people inside our stagecoach with us. None of us were masked. We also toured the Arizona Rangers museum. The Arizona Rangers are a volunteer law enforcement branch. Like the Texas Rangers, they are allowed to carry weapons, but this group is not paid. They supplement the other public safety agencies in Arizona. The host at the museum was really nice. He was a major supporter of our 2nd amendment rights, and he was saying I tell Californians - "Don't California My Arizona." LOL. That means leave your bull shit liberal politics in California if you moved to the Great State of Arizona! I hope they find that Maricopa County officials cheated because we need to return Arizona to the red state column!
To finish off our day in Tombstone, I got a nice stiff whiskey at the Oriental Saloon and Theater. This famous establishment goes back to the Wyatt Earp days. Can can girls danced here too.
After returning to Tucson, we checked into our Hilton Garden Inn and got some time to relax and work out. I love how the hotels outside California are so relaxed with the bull shit mask "policies" the hotels put in place during the pandemic to please the mask Karens. We had dinner reservations at the famous El Charro Cafe, but the original one downtown was booked so we had to go to their newer location in the upscale suburbs of northeast Tucson. This area had lots of large homes. We had a pretty waitress at El Charro, and the food was amazing! Joy said she over ate! LOL.
We returned to Phoenix the next day as we had 2:00 Sunday Brunch reservations at the Wrigley Mansion. I wanted to get my iced latte however at Bikini Beans so we went to the original location in Phoenix. The cute bikini baristas were not masked anymore! Yay! I would take the nice pictures of them without the stupid masks.
As we pulled into the Wrigley Mansion, Joy was so amazed at how nice it was. The valet took the SUV rental, and we took some cool pictures of the valley from the high vantage point we were on since the mansion was built on a hill. Upon entry into the mansion, the hostess said our VIP table was being prepared. We told her we were in no rush and could explore the mansion first. I loved how they had no more mask requirements indoors at the mansion. Back in March, they provided guests with masks as they walked around. Joy and I explored the two levels of the former home of the gum tycoon, William Wrigley.
When our table was ready, we were escorted to the best table in the house. This table was in the corner of the dining room with amazing views of downtown Phoenix and the surrounding mountains. It is reserved for their top VIP guests. I have eaten here before, and I believe it was put in the reservations that we flew in from California for this brunch so they figured we had money! Speaking of having money! From our table, we could see the luxury cars like a Ferrari and the SUV Limos that were going up and down the driveway with the elite guests of the Wrigley. This was an amazing experience so far! Our waiter was great, and the whole staff provided us with good service!
The $54 per person set menu brunch was all you can eat. We were offered fresh fruit including the exotic dragon fruit and freshly prepared pastries to start. I also ordered my favorite drink of all time, "Under A Cherry Moon," which has Traverse City whiskey in it. The toothpick for the orange rind and cherry for this drink had a nice metal bead in it too. They pay attention to little details like that at the Wrigley Mansion. The ice was also made with a special mold of the symbol for the mansion. Complimentary juices are offered as well. Another waiter rolled a cart around with appetizers including jumbo lemon poached shrimp, house hickory smoked salmon, tomato and cucumber salad, and a charcuterie plate. Afterwards, we were able to order cooked to order items including french toast with mixed berry compoe, crab and roasted tomato omelet, braised chicken hash, pesto pasta, and slow roasted prime rib. To finish our feast, we were offered an assortment of desserts.
We went to Old Scottsdale before we had to fly back home so Joy could see how nice Scottsdale was. At the airport, I saw New Mexico One which is a special Southwest livery plane.
My birthday week continued with dinner and drinks at Twin Peaks on my birthday eve. I went to my parent's place for my actual birthday. We had some additional celebrations with friends later in that week including a frozen yogurt cake from Menchie's which I paired with a bottle of Jefferson Ocean Aged At Sea that I got at BevMo. This bottle normally goes for $125, and it is aged at sea!
We flew out to Phoenix pretty late on Friday evening, and we landed around 10:30 into the Valley of The Sun. Luckily, I have Fastbreak with Budget so our rental SUV was waiting for us downstairs at the rental car facility so we were able to drive off to our hotel in Chandler. I booked a Hampton Inn in Chandler only because it was off the I-10 which is what we had to take to Tombstone. This Hampton Inn was still stuck in the old Covid protocols with the grab and go breakfast and lack of snacks for Diamond guests which is odd since the Doubletree across the street where we stayed during Spring Training had the welcome cookies back along with the breakfast buffet. Oh well, I guess they are all run by independent operators, and some of the operators are using the pandemic to cut services to make more profit!
The next morning, we departed for Tombstone via Tucson, but we enjoyed a real breakfast first at Waffle House in Chandler. We stopped at a famous fast food place called Eegees in Tucson to refuel on their famous fruit freezes called eegees! I got a sugar free strawberry one which paired with ice cream. The drive to Tombstone was scenic as we saw lots of saguro cactus which are native to that part of Arizona.
After arriving in the old west town of Tombstone, we saw the historic downtown as we pulled into the nearby parking lot. Tombstone looked like it was straight out of the old Wyatt Earp or Tombstone movies with the dirt roads and raised wooden "sidewalks." There were also stage coach tours going around the historic area. As we walked into the old town area, some guys dressed in western garb recruited guests to come inside the Gunfight Palace to watch the next "gun fight." We bought our tickets and sat comfortably unmasked indoors as we waited for the show to begin. I would say that all but one guy was unmasked inside! There was so social distancing bull shit either. Our host was making fun of the Covid protocols too and said that their rural county told Arizona to not mess with them! LOL. I liked our host! The gun fight used the same blanks used in movies. We saw a few scenes of "gun fights" that were based on historic events in the 1800s when gun fights were common in the saloons in town. Almost everyone in Tombstone carried a side arm with them as it was the "wild, wild west." Tombstone was the most heavily populated town in the west for a while too during the mining boom for silver.
We enjoyed lunch at the OK Cafe after the show. This place was known for their buffalo burgers. I ordered a buffalo burger with some hatch chili on top! The cool thing was that the staff was unmasked also inside! It was like prepandemic conditions! The funny thing was that there was a leftist freak family who insisted on being masked and eating outdoors so people inside the restaurant were making fun of them and saying they must be Californians. LOL. California has become a joke thanks to the pandemic restrictions imposed by the idiot Newsom and some leftist counties and cities like Santa Clara.
After our delicious lunch, we toured the old historic courthouse in town, but first I had to stop at the sarsaparilla stand, which is the old west's root beer! This place had the old fashioned gallows where criminals were hung. Apparently back then, they would send out invitations to the general public to have them come and witness these executions.
We enjoyed the O.K. Corral's gun fight next which recreated the famous gun fight between the Earp boys and Doc Holiday with the cowboy outlaws. The O.K. Corral had lots of cool historic artifacts too, and I was able to sit in an actual horse drawn cart and pretend like I was driving the horses. We also got great weather so being outdoors was not an issue. It was very mild with temperatures in the 80s with almost no humidity.
Joy and I took a nice stagecoach tour as well in Tombstone. I was surprised that the stagecoaches only went about four miles per hour. The driver said the scenes in the old movies tend to exaggerate how fast the stagecoaches can travel. We had a few other people inside our stagecoach with us. None of us were masked. We also toured the Arizona Rangers museum. The Arizona Rangers are a volunteer law enforcement branch. Like the Texas Rangers, they are allowed to carry weapons, but this group is not paid. They supplement the other public safety agencies in Arizona. The host at the museum was really nice. He was a major supporter of our 2nd amendment rights, and he was saying I tell Californians - "Don't California My Arizona." LOL. That means leave your bull shit liberal politics in California if you moved to the Great State of Arizona! I hope they find that Maricopa County officials cheated because we need to return Arizona to the red state column!
To finish off our day in Tombstone, I got a nice stiff whiskey at the Oriental Saloon and Theater. This famous establishment goes back to the Wyatt Earp days. Can can girls danced here too.
After returning to Tucson, we checked into our Hilton Garden Inn and got some time to relax and work out. I love how the hotels outside California are so relaxed with the bull shit mask "policies" the hotels put in place during the pandemic to please the mask Karens. We had dinner reservations at the famous El Charro Cafe, but the original one downtown was booked so we had to go to their newer location in the upscale suburbs of northeast Tucson. This area had lots of large homes. We had a pretty waitress at El Charro, and the food was amazing! Joy said she over ate! LOL.
We returned to Phoenix the next day as we had 2:00 Sunday Brunch reservations at the Wrigley Mansion. I wanted to get my iced latte however at Bikini Beans so we went to the original location in Phoenix. The cute bikini baristas were not masked anymore! Yay! I would take the nice pictures of them without the stupid masks.
As we pulled into the Wrigley Mansion, Joy was so amazed at how nice it was. The valet took the SUV rental, and we took some cool pictures of the valley from the high vantage point we were on since the mansion was built on a hill. Upon entry into the mansion, the hostess said our VIP table was being prepared. We told her we were in no rush and could explore the mansion first. I loved how they had no more mask requirements indoors at the mansion. Back in March, they provided guests with masks as they walked around. Joy and I explored the two levels of the former home of the gum tycoon, William Wrigley.
When our table was ready, we were escorted to the best table in the house. This table was in the corner of the dining room with amazing views of downtown Phoenix and the surrounding mountains. It is reserved for their top VIP guests. I have eaten here before, and I believe it was put in the reservations that we flew in from California for this brunch so they figured we had money! Speaking of having money! From our table, we could see the luxury cars like a Ferrari and the SUV Limos that were going up and down the driveway with the elite guests of the Wrigley. This was an amazing experience so far! Our waiter was great, and the whole staff provided us with good service!
The $54 per person set menu brunch was all you can eat. We were offered fresh fruit including the exotic dragon fruit and freshly prepared pastries to start. I also ordered my favorite drink of all time, "Under A Cherry Moon," which has Traverse City whiskey in it. The toothpick for the orange rind and cherry for this drink had a nice metal bead in it too. They pay attention to little details like that at the Wrigley Mansion. The ice was also made with a special mold of the symbol for the mansion. Complimentary juices are offered as well. Another waiter rolled a cart around with appetizers including jumbo lemon poached shrimp, house hickory smoked salmon, tomato and cucumber salad, and a charcuterie plate. Afterwards, we were able to order cooked to order items including french toast with mixed berry compoe, crab and roasted tomato omelet, braised chicken hash, pesto pasta, and slow roasted prime rib. To finish our feast, we were offered an assortment of desserts.
We went to Old Scottsdale before we had to fly back home so Joy could see how nice Scottsdale was. At the airport, I saw New Mexico One which is a special Southwest livery plane.
My birthday week continued with dinner and drinks at Twin Peaks on my birthday eve. I went to my parent's place for my actual birthday. We had some additional celebrations with friends later in that week including a frozen yogurt cake from Menchie's which I paired with a bottle of Jefferson Ocean Aged At Sea that I got at BevMo. This bottle normally goes for $125, and it is aged at sea!