Meet you at the OK Corral

Saturday, July 6, 2013
Tombstone

As we learn more about Arizona's heat and our stamina, we make modifications to our plans.  Today, for example, instead of dashing off with the expectation of spending hours and hours on our feet, we take some time in the morning to enjoy the cool morning air and watch the birds while we eat breakfast and have our coffee.

That done, we hit the road for The Old West.  Tombstone!  What a fun way to spend a day!  There are indoor shows, outdoor shows, lots of shopping and charming cowboys, rugged gunfighters and good-looking lawmen!  What's not to like??

When we first arrive there is only one other car in the major parking lot and virtually no people on the old wooden sidewalks!  We feel like we own the town and head first of all to the visitors' center.  We get a map and find that there are five different shows throughout the day and that they are all different.    The gentleman who is helping us used to be in the Shootout at the OK Corral and is amazed that they are doing five shows today, at noon, one, two, three and four!  The other shows have three different show times and two of them are indoors, definitely a plus for the actors!

As we cruise Allen Street, part of which is closed off to vehicles, we see a couple of cowboys who are extremely photogenic!  Of course we're drawn like the proverbial flies to honey, and we chat for a few minutes.  Turns out they are actors in the show at the Wyatt Earp Theater and their first show is at eleven o'clock.  That gives us half an hour to get the lay of the land.

Ooooo!  It's so big and easy to grab!

Oops!  Have to hustle to get to the theater!  It is indoors and only holds 47 people!  We are about numbers 43 and 44!  The set is brand new and is the interior or a barroom with a Keno table and another for poker.  The narrator tells us lots of history in between vignettes, complete with authentic dialogue and gun play.  The actors had told us earlier that their show is the only one that is approved by the town historian as being true to the speech patterns and events of the times.

Interestingly enough, the actors in this show work for tips!  Danny sits at the exit with a spittoon but we are asked not spit in it!

As we're leaving the theater there is a group in the street that look like they belong to the Shootout at the OK Corral!  Sure enough there is a street-front store selling tickets that include not only the show but also a free front page from the Tombstone Epitaph, the Historama and a discount at all three of Arlene's stores, with authentic Native American jewelry and crafts.

The noon show is about to begin and we are lucky enough to get good seats.  Although the show is outside, which is really hot for the actors, the tiered seating is under a fabric cover, which is great for us!  There is a large cast, as you'd expect since we see all the Earp brothers, Ike and Billy Clanton and the McLaury brothers - and of course, Doc Holliday and his lovely lady, Big Nose Kate! The show is a delight, with lots of laughs, history and gunplay.

The Earp brothers trying to keep the peace.  Only lawmen were allowed to have gun in town.

Lots of fighting in the Old West!

Doc Holliday is always gracious to Kate!

Ike's brother, Billy, steals his gun to keep him from shooting Wyatt.

Get away from that door!

Ike's big mouth keeps getting him in trouble!

Why do we always have to back him up?  We're all gonna get killed!

And sure enough, they all do!

Just making sure!

 The actual shootout is over quickly, as it was in real life, and after it's over everyone freezes in place while Kate tells each person's eventual fate. They leave the set as their lives come to an end.

After the show we are free to wander the area within their boundaries which includes the actual site of the shootout, a vacant lot next to the OK Corral.  As we were told, it sounds much better to say "shoot out at the OK Corral" instead of "shoot out at the empty lot next to the OK Corral"!  There is also an old buckboard for photo shoots, cows to rope, a working smithy, a "crib" or shack in which the ladies of ill-repute plied their trade, and other old-west memorabilia.

Black smith at work.  You could purchase his wares and a DVD of him demonstrating his craft.

Susan, this one's for you!

Marilyn is always so good about taking other people's photos!  The dad didn't want to be in the picture because, "She always posts 'em on Facebook, and I don't like that!"

A different take on the family decals!

And, Tom, this one's for you!

We're starting to get hungry and wander back to the car for our lunch.  WOW!  The lot is packed now!  Good thing we got here when we did!  And our car is still in the shade, of which there is precious little!  There are two large vans belonging to the Parks Department, Fire Patrol, and after we finish eating we see about a dozen men and women returning from their lunch and going back out on patrol.  There is a high danger of fire due to the high temperatures and the lack of rainfall and even fireworks were banned on the Fourth of July.

It's just so much prettier from the inside!

Love this bench!  We saw one on a roadside the other day with a big purple cactus as the side piece.

Back to town, which means walking about a block.  The whole area is only about four blocks square, so it is easy to feel like you've seen the whole thing in one day.  Of course we decided that we didn't need to see all five shows, or eat at one of the restaurants, so many people would want to spend a leisurely two days.  We're now in shopping/photo mode and go in and out of the most promising stores and duck into The Crystal Palace and Big Nose Kate's for photos.  

How thoughtful to protect his poor little pads from the heat!  And many of the store owners put out bowls of water for the animals.  One lady said, though, that she is seeing fewer dogs as people leave their pets home in their cool homes.

She died with her boots on and her tongue out!

One donkey has a sign on his side that says, "Help feed my sorry ass!"

Geez!  Look at the time!  We've been here five hours and that's about our limit at these temperatures.  Driving out we realize that we haven't seen Boot Hill yet!  And there it is, and it's even on the right side of the road.  The land belongs to the City of tombstone, so there is no admission charge to wander among the graves of those old timers.  The epitaphs tell a story of desperate times, murders, lynchings and even death by doctor error.  Some things never change.  There is also a Jewish memorial at the bottom of the hill and a small Chinese section.  The tombstones are all neatly maintained, with fresh lettering, and each grave is covered by a mound of rocks and the hill is dotted with the ever-present cacti.  Visitors wander among the graves with an air of both reverence and amazement.  After hearing about Boot Hill all one's life, it is almost unnerving to come face-to-face with the actual place.  It is almost like finding out that Alice really did go to Wonderland!  But without the Red Queen.

As we drive out there there are two deer walking along the low ridge beside the road across the way!  We stop in the drive to capture them on... hmmm, not film but cards?...then double back for one last photo op of Wyatt Earp's Old Tombstone.

Driving back and what the heck is this??  Oh, that's right, we noticed them going south, but now that we're heading away from Mexico we have to go through the Border Patrol's check point!  They have a black German shepherd who sniffs under each car while the the border guard on the driver's side asks us if we are US citizens.  We've already gotten out our driver's licenses, so I don't know if he would have asked for them or not.  He seemed satisfied with our answers, and the fact that the dog didn't alert, and sent us on our way with a, "Have a nice day." (There are no pictures of the guards and the dog - I may be dumb but I'm not stupid!)

Then it back home with a stop at the Safeway to replenish Auntie Edna's stores which we have greatly diminished!

I am starting to understand all those paintings of mountains that are just different shades of blue and purple!