1/11/08 We Visit a Ghost Town

We were on the mini golf course by 9:20 this morning and it was chilly! I had a pretty good day on the course. I had two holes that I got that little round ball into in only two shots! The most it took was four but that was only one time. Right now my partner and I are tied for second place with another team. I bet that doesn't last long!

We rushed back to the rig as soon as we were done because Dale and Karen were coming to pick us up for a day long adventure. We had thought we would go to Tombstone but then realized it was a little over two hours away and decided to save that for another day.

We actually started the day earlier than planned because the person who was supposed to take them on a tour of the resort they are in called in sick so their 90 minute spiel has to be rescheduled.

So by 10:30 we were on our way heading north. We decided to drive up to a ghost town we heard about from our neighbors Dave and Darlene.

We arrived at Goldfield Ghost Town after an hour or so drive.

Goldfield was a busy town at one time. Its situated atop a hill between the Superstition Mountains on the east side and the Goldfield Mountains to the west.

First order of business was to get a picture of Dale and Karen by a giant Saguaro cactus.

It was 1892 when the first gold strike was made and it was only shy of a year for this town to come to life. One rich strike after another supported the town and the 4000 people that called this place home. The town had three saloons, a boarding house, a general store (known as the mercantile back then) a blacksmith shop, brewery, meat market and a schoolhouse. Just when the townspeople thought the town was outgrowing the area they settled in, the gold vein dried up and the town died a slow painful death. Several attempts were made to reopen the famous mines to no avail.

Although the buildings have been updated by adding electricity and water, for all intents and purposes these are the original buildings.

Wagons and other equipment, such as this, are all throughout the town.

Here's Dale taking it easy in a chair of made of tree branches.

Bob and Dale in front of the jail. See Dale with his six-shooters drawn?

I really don't know what is holding this small building upright!

This building houses the local pottery maker's business.

Next stop was the church. While it is true that this building was built in later years it is still an active church today and is used for weddings quite often.

This next building is one we spent quite a bit of time in. Can you guess what it is? Maybe the red light will be a clue to you.

That's right! The local bordello! In this case, Lulu's Bordello.

It was here that we met our tour guide for the bordello, Miss Trixie.

Miss Trixie told us what it was like back in the day. The ratio of men to women was five to one so places like this were very busy! In the "parlor" there was a bronze bust of Miss Lulu the propriertor of this establishment and Karen and I couldn't help but notice that the bronze was wearing thin in some areas. It didn't take us long to figure out why as you can see in these next photos! Look at those smiles!

Miss Trixie was especially proud of the solid copper bathtub! Can you imagine what this would cost today?

It was soon time to leave this "establishment" and move on to the Mammoth Saloon.

Now, I've been to Dick's Last Stand in Chicago and have seen all the bra hanging from the ceiling there. I was a little taken aback when we walked in here and saw what was hanging from the ceiling in this place.

BOOTS! All kinds of boots, some with holes in the soles, some that looked brand new!

Karen and I met this cowboy who agreed to have his picture taken with us.

We really enjoyed our day in this old ghost town, learning what it was like the people who lived all those years ago.

On the way home we stopped at Cracker Barrel for dinner and made plans for Sunday.