Category: Travel

Travel tips and memories

Chinatown Washington, D.C.

Chinatown is a small historic neighborhood of Washington, D.C.
The area was mostly populated by German immigrants however Chinese immigrants began migrating to the area in the 1930’s after being displaced from the original Chinatown along Pennsylvania Avenue.

Alleged member of Abraham Lincoln assassination conspiracy. Born Mary Jenkins in 1820 in Waterloo, Maryland. Mary Surratt has the dubious distinction of being the first woman executed by the U.S. government. She was hanged for treason in 1865.

According to Wiki:
After Lincoln was murdered, Surratt was arrested and put on trial the following month, along with the other conspirators. She was convicted primarily due to the testimonies of Lloyd, who said that she told him to have the “shooting irons” ready, and Louis J. Weichmann, who testified about Surratt’s relationships with Confederate groups and sympathizers. Five of the nine judges at her trial asked that Surratt be granted clemency by President Andrew Johnson because of her age and sex. Johnson did not grant her clemency, though accounts differ as to whether or not he received the clemency request. Surratt was hanged on July 7, 1865 and later buried in Mount Olivet Cemetery. She has since been portrayed in film, theater and television.

Read more about her story at:
http://www.surrattmuseum.org/mary-surratt

Her house is now a restaurant pictured above.

Other popular attractions include:
Capital One Arena
National Portrait Gallery and Smithsonian American Art Museum
Washington Convention Center
German cultural center Goethe-Institut
Marian Koshland Science Museum.

Best places to eat:
https://www.tripsavvy.com/restaurants-near-chinatown-in-washington-dc-1038456

Jerome AZ Ghosts and more

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.

 

 

Fort Thomas, AZ

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

Haynes, AZ Gold King Mine

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, AZ

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.

New Mexico Adventure

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 AZ

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

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.

Elvis Presley Graceland

How did Graceland get its name? The Graceland property was originally established as a 500 acre farm during the American Civil War (1861-1865) by publisher Stephen C. Toof (Owner of the Memphis Daily Appeal). Mr Toof named the property after his daughter.

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.”