CAVERNS AND TOMBSTONES

Apr 22/10

Benson is a good central location for interesting sightseeing opportunities.  We drove to the Kartchner Caverns which are about 12 miles away and took a tour of the Throne Room section that houses the tallest limestone column in Arizona.  It is called Kubla Khan and stands about 58 ft high.  The caverns are room temperature and extremely humid which felt good on our parched Arizona skin.  No one was allowed to take photographs so here is link to the website: http://azstateparks.com/parks/kaca/

Today we went to Tombstone to get a taste of the old west and see a re-enactment of the gunfight at the OK Corral.  They put on a good show that portrayed the true story without all the Hollywood embellishments.  We also had a chance to shoot a single action 44 calibre hand gun at a target—instead of a lead slug, there was a paintball in the bullets, but we definitely killed the target.

The streets of Tombstone have wooden sidewalks, hitching posts and watering troughs for the horses.  They had a trolley tour as well as a stagecoach ride, but we chose to walk the few blocks of town.  There were the usual souvenir shops with Indian pottery, jewellery, artwork and plenty of hats, T shirts and collectibles. 

We had lunch at Big Nose Kate’s Saloon which is in the original Grand Hotel built in the late 1800’s.  The town of Tombstone had two fires that destroyed many of the downtown buildings but there are still a few originals left.  The lunch crowd filled the place and they had a singer who entertained everyone with country and cowboy songs that sounded like the original artists.  On the way out of town, we stopped at the Boothill Graveyard and found some interesting grave markers.  No green grass in that cemetery!