Friday I-Wish-I-Were-There... (Tombstone, Arizona)

Welcome to my Friday I-Wish-I-Were-There Blog.

One reason I enjoy reading so much is the opportunity to live vicariously in whatever world the author takes me to. From small town America, to the high-rises of New York city or the gorgeous coastlines of my own country, I love to explore a new environment through a character’s eyes. So on Fridays my blogs will be about some of the places I’ve visited, and I’d love to hear about the places you wish you could escape to, come the end of a busy week!

Today I’m wishing myself back to January of this year when we visited the town to tough to die – Tombstone, Arizona.

* Firing genuine Colt .44 handguns like the cowboys used, but loaded with paint balls, not bullets!

* Tombstone trolley tour. I loved our tour-guide’s 'Lawmaker’ western outfit of black jeans, long-sleeved white shirt, black vest, black cravat and black hat. Mmmm, sexy.

* Learning about the area’s colourful history. I couldn’t resist buying a couple of books about the town’s “Soiled Doves”. You can guess what that euphemism means…

* Allen Street’s original Birdcage theatre. Complete with bullet holes in the ceiling and the gambling table where Doc Holiday played cards.

* Boothill Cemetery. And the famous grave marker that reads: Here lies Lester Moore four slugs from a 44, no Les, no more.

* The endless blue of the Arizona sky and the wicked sharp, but strangely beautiful, Crucifixion thorn.

* The OK Corral. At the corner of Freemont street and 3rd Ave. The event is so cloaked in legend that it’s hard to know what is truth and what is myth, but the fact was three men died there, and without those deaths Tombstone wouldn’t be what it is today.

I can almost hear the swish of the Lady’s long skirts on the wooden side-walks and the click of Wyatt Earp’s boot heels… There’s something hot about a guy in a long black duster holding a shotgun… (his mustache, not so much).

If you’ve ever been to Tombstone, I’d love to hear about it… 

Tracey