I love history and I often ask people, if you had one chance to go back in time and spend two weeks there, where would you go and what year?
It’s funny to hear answers such as “I would go back to 1985 and relive that year for a few weeks.” That’s odd. Why would you want to experience something you have already lived through?
My answer is always the late 1800s in the Old West. Tombstone has always been my favorite destination in Arizona but, a few weekends ago, my wife and I took a day trip up to Jerome.
I am afraid of heights so my first impression was that I was not a fan of Jerome as we drove up the road from Cottonwood. If you have taken this trip then you know what I was experiencing. Jerome sits 5,000 feet above sea level.
We arrived at about 10:15 a.m. and we spent the first 20 minutes looking for a parking spot. Jerome is not a big town so parking is limited. We circled the town about four times before we found a spot.
Wow, the views were incredible as I got out of the car and looked out to Cottonwood and the mountains beyond. Jerome sits high on the mountain and many of the buildings are rundown but renovated and filled with retail and restaurants to attract tourists.
We first walked around and did a little shopping. Jerome has many unique stores but what got my attention were the stores and restaurants in the original structures from the early 1900s.
When I stand in these kinds of places I think of who lived and worked there 100 years ago; its history.
Gina and I stopped at a winery where we had a wine tasting overlooking the incredible views. Following the winery we had BBQ at Bobby D’s. They smoke all the meats right there next to the patio, making the brisket so good.
We had wine and food and were both feeling great so we then went on to do a tour of Jerome. While waiting for the shuttle we noticed people walking in and getting half-price on the tour. Gina purchased the not-so-inexpensive tickets ahead of time so, while we were not happy about that, we were not going to let it ruin a great day.
This was an interesting tour since we basically were in an oversized van with nine others. On top of being squeezed in, the driver had the air conditioning on low so we could hear him talk about Jerome. It was warm, and we were packed in.
Nevertheless I learned a lot on this tour about the mining town in the early days. Miners worked for months without showers and the elevators took an hour to get down to the mine shafts. Imagine being squeezed in a small elevator with 11 others who have not showered.
I would recommend if you visit Jerome you take a few hours for one of the tours.
We finished our day with some more shopping and just enjoyed our time together. I would really like to stay overnight in Jerome at the Grand Hotel. I have heard about all the ghost stories when you stay in the hotel. Jerome is known as one of the most haunted towns in the country.
I didn’t get to see any ghosts but maybe I will get my chance if we make it back up.
Now I have yet another favorite Arizona town, and that is Jerome. We will make it back there one day. This will always be a day I will remember. I got to learn some history and, most importantly, I got to share the day with my beautiful wife, Gina.
