Tombstone, Arizona

Each summer, I like to play tourist and also educate my boys in something new. I took them to Rawhide awhile back and posted about our adventures. Since my boys are still into the "Wild West" - we decided to take them on a trip to a real Wild West Town.

Tombstone was founded in 1879 by Ed Schieffelin who had several silver minds down there. This was prior to Arizona even being a state and Tombstone was hoping to be the capital (that honor went to Prescott). It was one of the largest cities in the nation at during the late 1800s. Hard to believe isn't it?

This old town should have died off a long time ago but thanks to the infamous Wyatt Earp and Doc Holiday... it remains a tourist attraction and town today. It is also the site of many western towns you see in movies.

Anywho...

Doc Holiday's Gunfight Palace

My little cowboys were blood thirsty so we stopped at the first place to offer a gun fight. Let me tell ya now... Tombstone is an expensive place to take a family!!! It cost us $26ish (hubby was in charge of the money) to see this indoor gun fight. If you go, skip it. The place is the size of your classroom, it is hard to see and just not worth the money. My kids missed it all. Hubby took this by raising his hand, pushing the button and hoping for the best.

We went during Memorial Day weekend not realizing it was Wyatt Earp Days. It was crowded but not overly so and we had the bonus of there being free gun fight shows in the street.

The boys had a blast with all of the gun fights... and they even got in on the action.

This is the main event and why people visit Tombstone. The OK Corral where the infamous gun battle happened. This was EXPENSIVE! When you purchase these tickets, you also get admittance into two other sites (Historama and the Epitaph Museums). It was a 45 minute show and the boys loved this.

I was particularly impressed with the Good Enough Mine Tour. First, they offer a discount to teachers, military, and anyone who services the community ($8 off) and anyone under 10 is free. It was the favorite thing we did perhaps even better than the gun fights. My middle son "stole" (the prospector told him to) the prospectors gun and held him up AND it was a real gun (loaded with blanks!).

So here are the stars going down, down, down into the mine. There are not any monsters or ghosts that live in this mine but according to my littlest one there are zombies.

No worries... he has his cap gun and his daddy!

See all that gray stuff on the walls... THAT'S SILVER! We learned a lot about minerals, mining, the way one used to see in the dark, lead and food poisoning.... hmmm... what else!

This is a pile of silver before it is made into pretty shiny things.

The last thing we did (after I shredded my knee in a blonde moment) was to visit Boot Hill. What an interesting cemetery.  Just look at this gravestone. Where else would you see something like this? Almost all of the graves said how they died.

Traditionally on Memorial Day weekend, we attend a service remembering our fallen soldiers but I felt like my children were missing the history behind why our country and our state is so important. This trip allowed them to learn more about our freedoms, the birth of our state and country, and to understand why it is important to protect it. If you plan on going for the day, plan on spending $100 per person.

Thank you to all of those who serve our country! We will be thinking of you, your families, and your sacrifices as without you, we wouldn't be able to enjoy moments like this.