Tombstone, AZ

I am so excited for this post!  Last weekend we made our first 'getting to know our new home/area' outing.  To the legendary cowboy town of Tombstone!  And it's only about a 40min drive from our doorstep, how awesome is that?

{did you know that the Southern Arizona desert was SO green in the middle of the summer?!  It really is beautiful landscape here.  Summer here is also the monsoon season which brings frequent heavy rainfalls.  And since this area is considered the 'high desert' at an elevation of about 4500ft the temps mainly stay in the 90s during the summer and it's green!}  

Throughout the year Tombstone has various weekend event.  We went during the 'Vigilante Days'. 

{'The Vigilantes are a non-profit organization founded in 1946 and dedicated to keeping the historical town of Tombstone alive through reenacting events of the era'}

This made our visit extra special because the town was bustling with cowboy and horses and townspeople and saloon girls all dressed the part!

And when you're in Tombstone one, of course, has to get into the spirit!  This was definitely one of the highlights for the kiddos {ok Garrett and I too!} Gavin has not stopped talking about dressing up like a 'bad guy'!  And don't let Garrett's smirk fool you!  He was playing the part of the stern sheriff and loving every minute!

The Vigilantes were reenacting the infamous Tombstone gunfights this weekend.  

And while Garrett and I were looking forward to this spectacle...the kiddos did not love it so much! 

{this video is about 2mins long so if you just want to hear their reaction skip to the end ;) }

Garrett and I definitely had a 'bad parent' feeling moment!  While it was happening I started to think to myself 'what are we doing?  We would never let them watch a movie or show like this so why are we sitting here watching it in live action?!' And then their reaction confirmed that so we figured getting some lunch would be wiser and high-tailed it out of there! 

We ate at the Crystal Palace {originally the Golden Eagle Brewery in Wyatt Earp days.  You can read about it's history HERE}  The food was decent but the atmosphere was awesome!

They had old black and white photos from the mid-late 1800s of cowboys lined up at this very bar!  Made of rich mahogany wood {i think} this thing was beautiful!

and when you're in Tombstone one, of course, must enjoy a shot of the local favorite... tequila!

Another highlight for the kiddos was taking a ride in the old Wells Fargo stagecoach.  ps..our driver was from lakeside for all our SD readers!

On our way out of town we passed a cowboy playing his fiddle so the kiddos gave him a little tip and danced to the sweet music.

He was so kind and asked them if they wanted to have a turn!

Definitely a memorable moment!  The entire morning was in fact!  We will definitely be visiting again!