Bisbee, AZ
We spent our family Christmas in the old mining, now artsy, town of Bisbee, AZ!
Did you know that in the early 1900s Bisbee was one of the largest, must bustling towns between St. Louis and San Francisco? Yes, because of the beautiful hills and mining industry that they provided, Bisbee was THE place to be.
The whole crew!
With an eight hour drive and a Dec. 26 check-in date, we decided to leave on Christmas afternoon to make a dent in the drive by reserving a dog friendly hotel outside of Phoenix. Although fast food and hotel rooms don’t speak “Christmas” to most people, that is how we spent our Christmas night. Fortunately, the rest of the trip made up for it.
With family hailing from AZ, NM, NV, and UT, we had three full days to soak in the town and each other. We spent our first day there celebrating Christmas, opening presents, exploring Bisbee on the electric bikes, and eating really delicious food.
One of the highlights of the trip was visiting nearby Tombstone the next day. I had never been to this historic town. With 11 people and two dogs there was a lot to figure out, but we did it. We were able to watch the famous OK Corral shootout reenactment between the law abiding Earp family and the rebellious Cowboys. Fun fact: one of Scott’s acquaintances, Todd St. Marie, played Wyatt Earp in the reenactment so we felt super cool that we knew THE ‘good guy.’ In addition to walking about the town, we were able to take a stagecoach ride around to learn about all of the historic sites.
After a full day at Tombstone, we had a slow morning of exploring Bisbee some more and topped off the day with a tour the Copper Queen Mine. Unfortunately, Ella and Miles were too young to go, so my parents, who had on a couple of mine tours in other places, stayed at the house with them. The tour brought us 1,500 feet into the mountain on a track and at one point, we had 800 feet of rock above our heads! What made the tour even cooler was that our guide, Neil, had worked in these exact tunnels himself in the 70s before the mines were closed in 1975.
In addition to all the exploring we did, we also had some good laughs over family games like Slapzi, Cups, and Uno. Ella, Miles and Tyler played countless games of hide and seek throughout the incredibly unique house we stayed in with hiding places around every corner. They laughed, drove RC cars, and were able to have another trip of shared experiences that we hope they remember. And after an eight hour drive, basically through the entire state of Arizona, we made it back to Las Vegas (thanks to Scott) in record time!
AirBnBs really do provide the perfect getaway for our family; a place we can all gather, make our own food, and explore a new area year after year. Who know where next year Family Christmas will take us?