Travel tips and memories
ALOHA: Aloha is a value, one of unconditional love. Aloha is the outpouring and receiving of the spirit.
We enjoyed the north shore more than Honolulu.
A couple of musts: Polynesian Cultural Center
Pearl Harbor
USS Arizona
Trail hiking
Waterfalls
Local eateries
Jerome, AZ
Jerome’s known as America’s Most Vertical City. In 1875, the first mining claims near the Town of Jerome at the base. The hills were later name Cleopatra Hill and Woodchute Mountain. The camp was named Jerome for Eugene Jerome, a major financier of the United Verde Copper Company. The town thought to have been lost to abandonment is a unique weekend get away. The city was home to more than 10,000 people in the 1920’s and as of 2010 census, its population was 444. Jerome made news in 1917, when strikes involving the Industrial Workers of the World (IWW) led to the expulsion at gunpoint of about 60 IWW members, who were loaded on a cattle car and shipped west.
Haunted Hotel
Founded as the United Verde Hospital. The Jerome Grand Hotel is well noted to be the highest commercial building in the Verde Valley,
being at a height of 5240 feet above sea level.
The hotel is said to be haunted. Many guests and hotel staff have heard and seen what appears to be a 4 or 5 year old child running down the hallway on the 3rd floor, sometimes crying or laughing. Rumor has it that this child also likes to appear at the foot of the bed in various rooms, staring at the bed’s occupant.
Many guests have reported seeing the apparitions of two ladies, one in a white gown, and another one in a nurses outfit, as well as someone who appears to be a doctor or nurse, in a long lab coat carrying a clipboard, roaming the halls.
A Spirit Cat is a frequent visitor to the hotel. Its origin unknown, the cat has been heard meowing, hissing and scratching at
doors and walls.
Room 32
One former miner confined to a wheelchair reportedly climbed over the balcony railing to this death, and a businessman Thomas Taylor shot himself there.
The trip would not be complete without dinner at the Asylum. The Rocky Point Shrimp with the Tomatillo Salsa is a 5 star hit. Plan ahead and reserve a table with the view.
Other fun facts Bobby D’s is in a historic English Kitchen building, the oldest operating dining facility in the state of Arizona.
The earliest military presence in the area was former Camp Goodwin, constructed in 1864 and named for Arizona’s first territorial governor, John N. Goodwin. The camp was abandoned after a short time due to failed buildings and malaria from a nearby spring. In 1876, the current site of the community was chosen as a “new post on the Gila,” selected to replace Camp Goodwin. Initially, the site was named Camp Thomas in honor of Civil War Major General George Henry Thomas. Until 1882 the area would be known by several names including Clantonville, Camp Thomas, Maxey and finally Fort Thomas.
At its peak, the fort consisted of 27 buildings, all constructed by the occupants of the fort and made of adobe. Malaria remained a problem throughout the occupation of the area, and led to Fort Thomas being called the “worst fort in the Army.” The fort also had no government funding until the year 1884. After the capture of Geronimo in 1886, the Army gradually removed the troops stationed there until the fort was handed over to the Department of the Interior in 1891.
The early town had a poor reputation, and was home to several houses of prostitution and saloons. In 1895, the community grew significantly when the Southern Pacific railroad’s construction in the area was halted due to native Apache people refusing to let the railroad continue construction through their reservation.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Fort_Thomas,_Arizona
The Haynes Copper Company dug a 1200-foot-deep shaft in search of copper instead the miners hit gold. Population of 301 in 1901 it had its own post office. By 1914 only 14 called this place home. Today there are several buildings including a blacksmith shop, a 19th-century sawmill and adorable farm yard animals. This gem is located 1 mile from Jerome and will not disappoint. Plan on spending an hour or 2 walking around and visiting the past treasures.
Bonita was the town that catered to the soldiers and ranch hands in the area as well as Fort Grant. Its post office was established in 1884 and lasted until 1955. The store was also known as DuBois Mercantile Co. History has it that Billy the Kid’s first killing occurred in Bonita in August 1877. Frank P. Cahill, a local blacksmith was killed after a fight with Billy.
Crescit Eundo”
This New Mexico state motto is a Latin motto and in English it may be translated as “It Grows as It Goes.”
Shakespeare ghost town is located a short drive outside Lordsburg NM. The town has had several names through the years and only acquired its present one in 1879 at the beginning of its second mining boom. It is located here because there was a small but reliable spring located in the arroyo west of the town. text credit http://www.shakespeareghostown.com
Deming New Mexico
The city, founded in 1881 and incorporated in 1902, was an important port of entry on the US-Mexican border until the Gadsden Purchase of 1853. A nickname was given to the city at the time of its founding, “New Chicago.” It was expected that with the surge of railroad usage, that the city would grow drastically and resemble Chicago, Illinois.
Deming is named after Mary Ann Deming Crocker, wife of Charles Crocker, one of The Big Four of the railroad industry. The Silver Spike was driven here in 1881 to commemorate the meeting of the Southern Pacific with the Atchison, Topeka & Santa Fe railroads. This was the second transcontinental railroad to be completed in the United States. Credit wiki
Stop by the museum and the port of entry house for customs across the street. St. Clair is the largest vineyard and winery in New Mexico. The tasting room is gorgeous and full of flavors.
Ruby Ghost Town: Mining started around 1877. The Montana Mine produced gold, silver, lead, zinc and copper. At its peak in the mid-1930s, Ruby had a population of about 1,200. If you want to take a step back in time this is an excellent day trip or a stellar spot to go camping.
The town had electricity powered by diesel engines and a physician, Dr. Woodard, hired by Eagle-Picher in 1930.
A concrete jail was erected in 1934 as a temporary holding cell for prisoners who were transported to Nogales. Before the jail was built, prisoners were secured to a mesquite tree. Remains of the jail still stand.
Between 1928 and 1940, 773,197 tons of ore were milled from the Montana Mine at a profit of $4.5 million. Eagle-Picher built a 400-ton flotation mill and developed the workings to a depth of 750 feet with six main levels extending several thousand feet along the ore vein.
Ruby Ghost Town: Mining started around 1877. The Montana Mine produced gold, silver, lead, zinc and copper. At its peak in the mid-1930s, Ruby had a population of about 1,200. If you want to take a step back in time this is an excellent day trip or a stellar spot to go camping.
The town had electricity powered by diesel engines and a physician, Dr. Woodard, hired by Eagle-Picher in 1930.
A concrete jail was erected in 1934 as a temporary holding cell for prisoners who were transported to Nogales. Before the jail was built, prisoners were secured to a mesquite tree. Remains of the jail still stand.
Between 1928 and 1940, 773,197 tons of ore were milled from the Montana Mine at a profit of $4.5 million. Eagle-Picher built a 400-ton flotation mill and developed the workings to a depth of 750 feet with six main levels extending several thousand feet along the ore vein.
Who got the idea for Elvis to buy Graceland?
His parents, Vernon and Gladys saw it first and placed a $1,000 down payment on March 16, 1957.
Did you know?
On January 8, 1935, Elvis Aron (later spelled Aaron) Presley was born at his parents’ two-room house in East Tupelo, Mississippi, about 35 minutes after his identical twin brother, Jesse Garon, who was stillborn.
He was distantly related to former U.S. Presidents Abraham Lincoln & Jimmy Carter.
His father, Vernon, worked a series of odd jobs, and in 1938 was sentenced to three years in prison for forging a $4 check.
In 1964, Elvis paid $55,000 for the Potomac, the 165-foot-long vessel that served as FDR’s “floating White House” from 1936 to 1945.
Elvis wore a cross, the Hebrew letter chai, and a star of David around his neck. “I don’t want to miss out on heaven due to a technicality,” he said.
He also joined his high school boxing team.
“Scatter” was Elvis’s pet chimp. He also had a pet turkey called “Bow Tie.”
Elvis’s nicknames, other than the “King of Rock ‘n’ Roll,” included “The Memphis Flash,” The King of Western Bop,” “Big E,” “The Chief” and “The Hillbilly Cat.”
Facts about Memphis:
-Named for its Egyptian sister on the Nile means Established and Beautiful.
-Memphis is mentioned in more songs than any other city in the world – more than 400 according to Billboard Magazine.
-Memphis is the site of the first Welcome Wagon, founded here in 1928.
-Martin Luther King Jr. was shot in Memphis. There is a museum that preserves the Lorraine Motel where James Earl Ray assassinated
-The Peabody Hotel in downtown Memphis, is where the parade of ducks walk to the central fountain of the hotel everyday.
-The creator of the famous Tennessee Whiskey, Jack Daniel’s died after and kicking a safe and hurt his toe. This ultimately lead to a blood infection that would be his demise.
-If you’ve ever heard a Tennessean referred to as a Butternut, it dates back to the tan color of their uniforms during the civil war.
Let’s talk BBQ.
Memphis-style barbecue is mostly made using pork, usually ribs and shoulders. Their key to tender, tasty pork, the trademark of the Memphis style, is a dry rub and smoking it slowly over a low fire.
Another technique common in Memphis-style barbequing is “mopping”. A mop can be created by adding water to the dry rub, creating a thin sauce. Mopping is key in the process of smoking the pork because it keeps the moisture of the meat.
The Birthplace of Rock N’ Roll and home to the ‘Million Dollar Quartet’ – Elvis Presley, Johnny Cash, Jerry Lee Lewis and Carl Perkins. Located on 706 Union Avenue plan on taking a tour which is about an hour. Leading the studio to claim status as the birthplace of rock & roll with artist Little Milton, B.B. King, James Cotton, and Rosco Gordon recorded there in the early 1950s. The list is long including Johnny Cash, Elvis Presley, Carl Perkins, Roy Orbison, Jerry Lee Lewis, recorded there throughout the mid-to-late 1950s until the studio outgrew its Union Avenue location.
Mallory Neely House
An insert from wikipedia states: Around 1852, the mansion was built in the Italianate style as an early Victorian villa. From 1852 until 1969, the mansion was home to the families of Isaac Kirtland, Benjamin Babb, James C. Neely, Daniel Grant, and Barton Lee Mallory.
In the 1880s and 1890s, the house was extensively renovated. During the renovation, the original two and one half stories of the building were extended to three full stories and the tower of the building was enlarged. After the renovation, the house consisted of 25 rooms. The Neely family decorated the mansion in the Victorian style, with parquet flooring, ornamental plasterwork, and ceiling stenciling.
In 1969, the last resident of the mansion, Daisy Neely-Mallory, died at age 98. According to her wish, the house was deeded to the Daughters, Sons, and Children of the American Revolution.
Isaac and Lucy Kirtland bought the property in 1852 and built the two-story home for their family. In 1883 Columbus and Frances Neely bought the house and moved in with their five children. The Neely’s made significant changes, adding a third floor with an additional level for the tower and were responsible for the magnificent period interiors we still see today. The décor and furnishings date to circa 1890 and include pieces the family bought at the World’s Colombian Exposition in Chicago in 1893 and later from the St. Louis World’s Fair in 1904. – See more at: http://www.memphismuseums.org