Road Trip! (Bisbee...again!)
I drove out to an SCA event to pick up ickaimp so we could do a mini-roadtrip to Bisbee. We really do love this little city and each time we go we discover something just a little different. The people are super friendly, the stores are neat, and they pride themselves on "Keeping Bisbee Weird!"
The parking gods smiled upon us and we got a prime parking spot right by the life endangering ditch.
Apparently it had rained something like 2 or 3 inches the night before. There were little waterfalls on the mountains on the way into town and raging alley creeks in the town. I mean there were puddles and running creeks every where you looked! Wearing sandels was not the best idea. Oh well.
The weather was lovely from all the rain. Just fantastic! It was actually nicer outside then inside many of the shops.
The first stop was inspired by my having been on a salad eating frenzy lately: Bisbee Olive Oil. They sell a plethora of various olive oils and balsamic vinegars. Oh, and these things called "frog balls," which are spicy pickled mini-Brussel sprouts. Very tasty, but rather intense.
The sales man started us out on a mission: Eat at the Screaming Banshee. Apparently the restaurant features his products and the food is amazing. It's also on the other side of town. After buying two small bottles of the classics we headed up towards the restaurant.
Being easily distracted, but managing to keep on in the general direction of our goal we discovered:
Beautiful Murals!
Which were directly across from a photography studio that does tintypes. The photographer gave us a quote on a sitting and I am going back in October to do this! It's been forever since I've had a portrait done and his work is very appealing to me.
A tea shop run by a lady that had some of the best teas, including a chai tea based on an Afghanistan family recipe. Super spicy and made Icka gleeful! I had a cup of a maple tea that was beautiful smooth and buttery.
A shop that supplies people with the stuff to make their own beer and cheeses. I've decided that I must try making my own cheese! Consider yourselves warned!
There was a delightful looking chocolate shop... that was closed! Bastards! Next time!!!
A Halloween shop called Sweet Midnight that run ghost tours and hearse tours.
That our favorite vegan restaurant was closed, permanently.
And eventually we made our way to the restaurant. The Screaming Banshee is a gas station that they turned into a pizzeria. You can sit inside or outside. They made some pretty potent drinks. Icka and I split a Red Headed Step Child which is a combo sangria and margarita. The goat cheese stuffed peppers were my favorite. I could've eaten another plate of them.
The pizza was also very good, but needed salt (we asked for no sausage, which typically comes on the pizza and probably takes care of that need). Very tasty. And the bathrooms are worth a visit whether you need to use them or not. Definitely want to eat there again*.
On the way back we scoped out some of the hotels. We've got an idea that we want to go back in October and spend a weekend for Halloween. Halloween in Bisbee is apparently a very big deal. It's an excuse to party, zombie walk, dress up, and do a pub crawl (There's a lot of pubs! None of which I've visited because I've been the driver.)
One of the hotels in town was a brothel and another has different theme in each room. We stumbled upon the themed hotel (The Inn at Castle Rock), which has a candle shop, but no tea room (despite what the sign says).
The lady making the candles was normal. The Inn Keeper was not.
Icka and I in our many travels have met a lot of colorful characters. The Inn Keeper has topped the list as possibly one of the creepiest. Imagine, if you will, a large man with a mullet, mutton chops, and an affinity for Elvis (he even had the gold glasses!). Icka and I both found him kind of smarmy/pervy. Not in the harmless flirty way, but in a way that would make us block the door at night and check the room for hidden cameras. Sooooo...yeah, we may skip this place in favor of the former brothel. A shame really because the building is amazingly neat and cozy.
(Update: Apparently Icka is sick. Not sure if it's the food because I'm perfectly all right and we literally split dishes.)
The parking gods smiled upon us and we got a prime parking spot right by the life endangering ditch.
Apparently it had rained something like 2 or 3 inches the night before. There were little waterfalls on the mountains on the way into town and raging alley creeks in the town. I mean there were puddles and running creeks every where you looked! Wearing sandels was not the best idea. Oh well.
The weather was lovely from all the rain. Just fantastic! It was actually nicer outside then inside many of the shops.
The first stop was inspired by my having been on a salad eating frenzy lately: Bisbee Olive Oil. They sell a plethora of various olive oils and balsamic vinegars. Oh, and these things called "frog balls," which are spicy pickled mini-Brussel sprouts. Very tasty, but rather intense.
The sales man started us out on a mission: Eat at the Screaming Banshee. Apparently the restaurant features his products and the food is amazing. It's also on the other side of town. After buying two small bottles of the classics we headed up towards the restaurant.
Being easily distracted, but managing to keep on in the general direction of our goal we discovered:
Beautiful Murals!
Which were directly across from a photography studio that does tintypes. The photographer gave us a quote on a sitting and I am going back in October to do this! It's been forever since I've had a portrait done and his work is very appealing to me.
A tea shop run by a lady that had some of the best teas, including a chai tea based on an Afghanistan family recipe. Super spicy and made Icka gleeful! I had a cup of a maple tea that was beautiful smooth and buttery.
A shop that supplies people with the stuff to make their own beer and cheeses. I've decided that I must try making my own cheese! Consider yourselves warned!
There was a delightful looking chocolate shop... that was closed! Bastards! Next time!!!
A Halloween shop called Sweet Midnight that run ghost tours and hearse tours.
That our favorite vegan restaurant was closed, permanently.
And eventually we made our way to the restaurant. The Screaming Banshee is a gas station that they turned into a pizzeria. You can sit inside or outside. They made some pretty potent drinks. Icka and I split a Red Headed Step Child which is a combo sangria and margarita. The goat cheese stuffed peppers were my favorite. I could've eaten another plate of them.
The pizza was also very good, but needed salt (we asked for no sausage, which typically comes on the pizza and probably takes care of that need). Very tasty. And the bathrooms are worth a visit whether you need to use them or not. Definitely want to eat there again*.
On the way back we scoped out some of the hotels. We've got an idea that we want to go back in October and spend a weekend for Halloween. Halloween in Bisbee is apparently a very big deal. It's an excuse to party, zombie walk, dress up, and do a pub crawl (There's a lot of pubs! None of which I've visited because I've been the driver.)
One of the hotels in town was a brothel and another has different theme in each room. We stumbled upon the themed hotel (The Inn at Castle Rock), which has a candle shop, but no tea room (despite what the sign says).
The lady making the candles was normal. The Inn Keeper was not.
Icka and I in our many travels have met a lot of colorful characters. The Inn Keeper has topped the list as possibly one of the creepiest. Imagine, if you will, a large man with a mullet, mutton chops, and an affinity for Elvis (he even had the gold glasses!). Icka and I both found him kind of smarmy/pervy. Not in the harmless flirty way, but in a way that would make us block the door at night and check the room for hidden cameras. Sooooo...yeah, we may skip this place in favor of the former brothel. A shame really because the building is amazingly neat and cozy.
(Update: Apparently Icka is sick. Not sure if it's the food because I'm perfectly all right and we literally split dishes.)