Two Churches and a Western Fail

A wide gap between adventure exploring in AZ makes for some dull days, so Tulip and I decided to change that! We packed ourselves up and headed to Tucson! Tulip had read about some lovely churches in the area and we decided to check them out.

We had some different scenery as we drove south. We started to see green grass take the place of the desert landscape and some familiar looking trees. Made us think of back home a little bit! 

Picacho Peak State Park was another pretty sight.

Our first stop in Tucson was the Cathedral of Saint Augustine. There was a lot going on in town that day including the big gem show... or so all the signs said, and all the large groups of people were walking that way. 

I didn't think the outside much matched the inside of the church, but it was very big on the inside! 

Our next stop was San Xavier del Bac, a Spanish Catholic Mission church built between 1783-1797. Extensive renovations have restored this beautiful church to much of it's original beauty.

Holy water dispenser

As the clouds rolled in the day was still young, so we decide to make one more stop.... Tombstone! One of my favorite movies and a bucket list item since moving to Arizona. I had set my expectations too high, Tombstone was not what I had imagined.

City Hall

What I found when I arrived was a far departure from the picture I had in my head. I was hoping for a more historical destination, instead I was met with a giant tourist trap. (sad face)

I was at the least expecting the downtown 'historic' area to at least look like something out of a movie set. There were a lot of people walking around in historic attire (you could rent costumes to walk around for the day) and stagecoach wagons for tours of the town.

Sign at the OK Corral

You had to pay to enter any of the historical sites, which I understand to help maintain what exists, but I was a little bummed out that basically every historical place was made up into an amusement like attraction. Pay $10 to see the OK corral and watch a gunfight.. bah humbug! 

View looking down the street of the 'historic' district

The Tombstone courthouse was a nice piece of history to see with several nice displays inside. We went about an hour before closing so some of the upstairs exhibits had closed for the evening.

Our final stop on the way out of town was at the historic Boothill Graveyard, where some of the residents of Tombstone came after they died with their boots on. Residents of the cemetery include those who died in the famous shootout at the OK Corral.

As an Arizona resident I felt I had an obligation to visit Tombstone and I would go back with out of state visitors who wanted to see it for themselves, Tulip and I however recommend having another destination in mind and make it a two-for day. Afterall, I did get this cool Harley shirt at the Harley store in Tombstone.