My neck was more sore this morning than the day before. Sara was limping more pronouncedly.It was a day like any other EXCEPT for one exception: with Kevin gone I could make my favorite flavored coffee: Vanilla Hazelnut. I sipped on half a pot all morning.
I didn't want to sit around, though. The skies were blue and rain clouds were still behind the mountains. I wanted to take a walk around Bisbee with Sadie and Sammy, get some exercise and see some Christmas lights.
After a short stop in Bisee-Warren to look at a few houses for sale, I drove into Old Bisbee to park. The dogs pulled THE ENTIRE TIME and both insisted on smelling every utility pole and barking at every dog. This was starting out to be difficult for me.
Dark clouds followed me all afternoon, but it never rained.
I meandered up Brewery Gulch, then took a narrow side street that ascended behind City Park, affording a nice panorama of the town's tin-roofed mining shacks that dot the hillsides here. I avoided all the stairs going uphill.
I came down near the old Bisbee High School, walked up Shearer, chatted briefly with a classmate from my Ed Class who was visiting her mother. The dogs never stopped pulling on the leashes.
I came down Tombstone Canyon, crossed the main street and hiked back uphill by the Superior Court building. This is where the annual Bisbee 1000 Race for the Stairs takes place in October. I continued on behind the old court house and stayed near the Quality Hill Walkway that skirted along a narrow ridge path. This is perhaps the most scenic path in town. By now Sadie was getting paranoid of the downhill stairs; she was associating the stairs with my unintentional kicks to her hind legs because the leashes were too short; there wasn't enough give.
I was glad to cut the walk short. A pretty five-mile walk around Bisbee was barely two miles. I finished the hike on Main Street along the historical business district and noticed the Bisbee Grand Hotel was open and serving a complimentary Christmas meal. Wow! A few locals standing outside the Hotel yelled at me from across the street to come "Check out the best food in town!"
Roma's Pizza and St Elmo's were also open. I wasn't expecting anything to be open on Christmas, so this was a nice surprise.
After getting the dogs back in the truck, I drove back to the Grand Hotel and checked it out. This 1906 structure was beeming with life. A sign outside even welcomed "Well-Behaved Dogs."
The bar was crowded. People from their late 20s to late 60s were in this bar. Some wore Santa hats. A few of the homeless I had seen on Main Street were now inside waiting for the free meal at 3pm. An older women with no teeth stood near the bar, wearing a white Hoosiers sweatshirt.
I sat at the bar and was impressed with the various microbrews on tap. When I asked what the beer cost, Darlene the bartender replied "They will be $3."
"What are they now?"
"I just told you, $3!"
"Oh, I'm sorry, when you said 'They WILL be $3 I assumed that for NOW they were a different price"
Darlene rolled her eyes and walked away. OK, so obviously I am not a native Bisbeeite.
I opted to try the Moose Drool Brown Ale. It packed quite a flavor, but the tap cover of a drooling moose was a bit too graphic for such a good beer. (But not as bad as the more X-rated In Heat Wheat beer label by Flying Dog Brewery out of Colorado!)
Tom, a contract respiratory therapist looking for a house to buy in Bisbee, sat next to me. We almost immediately started talking. He had driven down from Tuscon.
We started talking about Bisbee and came to a lot of agreements about this place: it is unique. It has an underground Meth problem. It attracts an eclectic variety of people, from black-dressed Goths and Vamps to the artsy folklorist. And houses are still higher here than in the rest of the state.
When Tom found out I was retired military, his eyes widened and the proverbial question I knew he was going to ask me was asked:
"McCain or Obama?"
"Obama."
"But do you think he's qualified to make important decisions on Afghanistan?"
"He has SecDef Gates on his side, and he listens to his generals, unlike Rumsfeld who fired any general who didn't agree with him."
"True ..."
"But Afghanistan could very well turn into Obama's biggest nightmare. It's got potential to turn into another Vietnam, with the delayed surge in troops and equipment. Afghanistan could become such an entangled mess that it will further tear our economy apart."
"True..."
And that's how once again I got sucked into a long discussion of current events. My hope with Obama is that he listens to Gen Petraeus; listening to Petraeus could also be his downfall. But unlike the previous years, at least now we have competent generals in charge of the wars and a SecDef who's determined to end this crisis rather than prolong it for the benefit of KBR.
I drove home at 4:30pm to let the dogs out. They had sat patiently in the truck for two hours while I was inside the bar. A lone coyote crossed the highway outside of Bisbee.
I went back to the bar where Tom still was, nursing his Coors Light. This time the bar was more crowded, and a band was playing loud electric rock in the corner.
Next to Tom stood a buff New Zealander, Pete, wearing a black beret. He talked endlessly about the beauty of Alaska, where he had spent many years.
"You can see grissly bears fighting with wolves over a whale carcass!" he cried, and his eyes revealed a longing for Alaska. "I've met more Kiwis there than anywhere else!" he went on. Next to him was his blonde girlfriend who looked a few beers passed sober, and she passionately hugged me as they left.
Tom stayed at the Grand Hotel for $69 a room. He had a 11am appointment with a real estate agent the next day to look at three properties in town.
The Grand Hotel was a nice surprise for a Christmas I was planning on spending alone. The free food was an added plus, the varied microbrews were a treat. I will have to come back here again after a shift at the high school. The Grand Hotel is what I would describe as a truly Bisbean experience.
http://www.bisbeegrandhotel.net/
I meandered up Brewery Gulch, then took a narrow side street that ascended behind City Park, affording a nice panorama of the town's tin-roofed mining shacks that dot the hillsides here. I avoided all the stairs going uphill.
I came down near the old Bisbee High School, walked up Shearer, chatted briefly with a classmate from my Ed Class who was visiting her mother. The dogs never stopped pulling on the leashes.
I came down Tombstone Canyon, crossed the main street and hiked back uphill by the Superior Court building. This is where the annual Bisbee 1000 Race for the Stairs takes place in October. I continued on behind the old court house and stayed near the Quality Hill Walkway that skirted along a narrow ridge path. This is perhaps the most scenic path in town. By now Sadie was getting paranoid of the downhill stairs; she was associating the stairs with my unintentional kicks to her hind legs because the leashes were too short; there wasn't enough give.
I was glad to cut the walk short. A pretty five-mile walk around Bisbee was barely two miles. I finished the hike on Main Street along the historical business district and noticed the Bisbee Grand Hotel was open and serving a complimentary Christmas meal. Wow! A few locals standing outside the Hotel yelled at me from across the street to come "Check out the best food in town!"
Roma's Pizza and St Elmo's were also open. I wasn't expecting anything to be open on Christmas, so this was a nice surprise.
After getting the dogs back in the truck, I drove back to the Grand Hotel and checked it out. This 1906 structure was beeming with life. A sign outside even welcomed "Well-Behaved Dogs."
The bar was crowded. People from their late 20s to late 60s were in this bar. Some wore Santa hats. A few of the homeless I had seen on Main Street were now inside waiting for the free meal at 3pm. An older women with no teeth stood near the bar, wearing a white Hoosiers sweatshirt.
I sat at the bar and was impressed with the various microbrews on tap. When I asked what the beer cost, Darlene the bartender replied "They will be $3."
"What are they now?"
"I just told you, $3!"
"Oh, I'm sorry, when you said 'They WILL be $3 I assumed that for NOW they were a different price"
Darlene rolled her eyes and walked away. OK, so obviously I am not a native Bisbeeite.
I opted to try the Moose Drool Brown Ale. It packed quite a flavor, but the tap cover of a drooling moose was a bit too graphic for such a good beer. (But not as bad as the more X-rated In Heat Wheat beer label by Flying Dog Brewery out of Colorado!)
Tom, a contract respiratory therapist looking for a house to buy in Bisbee, sat next to me. We almost immediately started talking. He had driven down from Tuscon.
We started talking about Bisbee and came to a lot of agreements about this place: it is unique. It has an underground Meth problem. It attracts an eclectic variety of people, from black-dressed Goths and Vamps to the artsy folklorist. And houses are still higher here than in the rest of the state.
When Tom found out I was retired military, his eyes widened and the proverbial question I knew he was going to ask me was asked:
"McCain or Obama?"
"Obama."
"But do you think he's qualified to make important decisions on Afghanistan?"
"He has SecDef Gates on his side, and he listens to his generals, unlike Rumsfeld who fired any general who didn't agree with him."
"True ..."
"But Afghanistan could very well turn into Obama's biggest nightmare. It's got potential to turn into another Vietnam, with the delayed surge in troops and equipment. Afghanistan could become such an entangled mess that it will further tear our economy apart."
"True..."
And that's how once again I got sucked into a long discussion of current events. My hope with Obama is that he listens to Gen Petraeus; listening to Petraeus could also be his downfall. But unlike the previous years, at least now we have competent generals in charge of the wars and a SecDef who's determined to end this crisis rather than prolong it for the benefit of KBR.
I drove home at 4:30pm to let the dogs out. They had sat patiently in the truck for two hours while I was inside the bar. A lone coyote crossed the highway outside of Bisbee.
I went back to the bar where Tom still was, nursing his Coors Light. This time the bar was more crowded, and a band was playing loud electric rock in the corner.
Next to Tom stood a buff New Zealander, Pete, wearing a black beret. He talked endlessly about the beauty of Alaska, where he had spent many years.
"You can see grissly bears fighting with wolves over a whale carcass!" he cried, and his eyes revealed a longing for Alaska. "I've met more Kiwis there than anywhere else!" he went on. Next to him was his blonde girlfriend who looked a few beers passed sober, and she passionately hugged me as they left.
Tom stayed at the Grand Hotel for $69 a room. He had a 11am appointment with a real estate agent the next day to look at three properties in town.
The Grand Hotel was a nice surprise for a Christmas I was planning on spending alone. The free food was an added plus, the varied microbrews were a treat. I will have to come back here again after a shift at the high school. The Grand Hotel is what I would describe as a truly Bisbean experience.
http://www.bisbeegrandhotel.net/
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