Last Day

Saturday morning: rain out of buckets and cool when we left Prescott after a quick stop at our favorite supermarket, Sprout's (pic). Wish our supermarkets - especially the veggie/fruit department - would look like that with about 10 different variety of onions, even more of potatoes, chiles, tomatoes,,,!

The day before it was crisp in the morning, but it warmed up from about 40 deg. to 65 deg. later. Not so today. We drove on Scenic Hwy. 81 through the mountains, narrow curves and probably spectacular views, if the clouds wouldn’t have hung on the pavement. Didn't see anything. At least we stopped at a Memorial for the Granite Mountain Hotshots, 19 young firefighters who lost their lives in 2013 when they fought against a fire threatening a nearby community.

Wickenburg, a western town on the way, was fully worth the stop for one main reason: the Desert Caballeros Western Museum. There was not only an interesting art exhibit of artist Ed Mell (pics below)


,,, but also a reconstruction of the historic town in the basement (pics) and lots of information about the history of this town, which was founded by Prussian prospector Henry Wickenburg (pic above, right), who discovered the Vulture gold mine.

Also, we didn’t know that the bola (or bolo) tie was invented in Wickenburg by a silversmith named Victor Cedarstaff. We spent about an hour in the museum and checked out the Western town itself on a quick driving tour - it was still raining hard.

Arrived to our North Dakota friends’ apartment in Phoenix on Saturday afternoon and enjoyed a warm welcome, good conversation, a superb art show, a neighborhood tour (with a private mansion surrounded by a fantastic cactus garden, see pics) and a great Mexican dinner.

On Sunday morning we departed for PHX Airport at about 8:30 am. It only took us about half an hour to get to the car return. We have driven 512 mi (800+ km) in only six days (in Hawaii we had 670 mi/1070 km in 12 days). A shuttle bus brought us to the Terminal and check-in and security check were quick and easy. Plane was on time, too, and we had no hurry in Houston to get our connection to MUC, which was equally smooth and on time. The plane was, same as on the way over, at least 2/3 empty in Economy Class, enough place to spread out (if we only could sleep on planes,,,). Food,,, as usual,,,: "chicken or pasta". Portions are shrinking and quality is bad. Not worth the amounts of plastic wraps.

Pics taken from the plane at start in Houston and this morning somewhere over Europe:

Culinary Prescott

Prescott not only is a great destination for history buffs and outdoor freaks, but also for „foodies“. The culinary scene is superb. For example, this town of only about 50,000 people has two local breweries, half a dozen or so of saloons and some nice restaurants.

Superstition Meadery was one great discovery. Never tried mead (honey wine) before and always thought of it as super-sweet. Not so at this meadery where we not only were treated to a couple of tasting flights, but also met with the highly successful owners, Jenn and Jeff Herbert. Founded in 2012, the couple was just recently named „2019 National Small Business Persons of the Year“ and invited to Washington, DC. Also, they were already pouring their products all-over the world in competitions and during events. With the mission “to reintroduce the world’s oldest fermented beverage to mankind“ ” they create a huge portfolio of mead and cider - off-dry traditional hard cider aged on oak, tropical session meads and barrel aged meads among many other fancy concoctions. Right now, there is only this tasting room in downtown Prescott, in the basement of the Old Capitol Market with „Spice Traveler“ on the first floor, but soon there will be the first mead and food pairing restaurant opening in downtown Phoenix.

On the first evening we had dinner at Farm Provisions, a restaurant owned by a husband and wife team as well. Their slogan is “ simple food elevated“ and their menu consists of seasonally changing dishes, utilizing local farmers and ranchers to not only serve delicious fresh food, but to also support the local community in Prescott. Also, their offers of vegan and gluten-free dishes is extensive. We had a delicious salad with goat cheese, beets, walnuts, etc. (a full meal!) and a burger with blue cheese and sweet potato waffles. Never before we had the choice between a „grass-fed local“ or „corn-fed“ beef patty for the burger.

Prescott Brewing Company - where we had a plate of „fully-loaded nachos“ - is a full-service restaurant, founded in 1994, whereas Granite Mountain Brewing is only about eight years old. It’s a „nano brewery“, with a three barrel brewing system right behind the bar plus two seven-barrel fermenters in a back room, where mostly wine barrel-aged Belgian dark ale is produced. No canning or bottling (yet). We had a tasting there, but stayed afterwards and got to love their barrel-aged Bootlegger Imperial Brown. A local country band was doing a Hank Williams Tribute and it was a great atmosphere.

Thumb Butte Distillery is a little further apart from downtown, but it was an easy walk for us, though there was no real walkway for pedestrians. We joined a tour and tasting and met with the owners: he a former artist and furniture maker and she a baker. The warehouse is pretty unusual, with lots of artwork on the walls and distilling equipment inbetween tables, with a little stage for live entertainment on weekends and a bar for tastings and cocktails. They produce whiskey, scotch, vodka, and gin in small batches.

Enough of eating and drinking. We were fortunate and stayed on Historic Whiskey Row - a perfect location. We didn’t need the car for two days and enjoyed the historic ambience of the Grand Highland Hotel. The two-story Grand Saloon & Hotel building opened in 1903. Originally, there was a store on street level, the hotel on the first floor. In the 70ies a fire damaged the building and it was completely redone in 2012, with 12 newly created historically themed rooms, each with a private bathroom and an old-fashioned bathtub. Breakfast is delivered to the room in the morning, there is a guest lounge and the rooms are tastefully and modern equipped, though with a historic flair. Excellent hotel!

Prescott – Everybody's Home

Virgil Earp was a lawman there and Doc Holliday called Prescott home for a time. All of them sat in the saloon, at the bar, pictured below. Prescott is your typical Old West town and was therefore, just recently, elected #4 among True West Magazine’s 2020 Top Western Towns. There are many reminders, especially along "Whiskey Row" - with its famous strip of saloons including the Palace – and around the Courthouse Square, of the wild old days.



Besides there is the new Western Heritage Center (pics below), the Sharlot Hall Museum, Arizona Territory’s first governor’s residence, Fort Whipple, the Phippen Museum (Western art).

Prescott was founded in 1864 as the Territorial Capital of Arizona. The Capital moved to Tucson from 1867 to 1877 and permanently to Phoenix in 1889. Mining (gold and copper) was the main industry, followed by a rapid growth of cattle ranching. Many of the neighborhoods, e.g. along Senator Hwy., still showcase the wealth and taste of people with beautiful houses in diverse Victorian architectural styles from around 1900.






In 1900 a disastrous fire destroyed a lot of downtown Prescott and many buildings were replaced by concrete, brick and stone buildings. Today, the city is florishing thanks to its "healthful" climate, which many retired snowbirds appreciate. Situated about 5.300 ft. high with cool nights and seasons invite people to spend time here and families from Phoenix often have summer homes. Lots of hot rods and classic cars on the streets in downtown, many affluent people in the area!

We had a fantastic tour with Tour Prescott, two young guys who bought a parking lot and rent it out to foodtrucks and give tours at the same time. They not only showed us around town - including the rodeo arena (Prescott Rodeo is considered the "World's Oldest Rodeo" from 1888), but also introduced us to the beautiful landscape around. All is situated very close to the city and easily reachable, lots of outdoor sports possible: hiking, boating, climbing,,,

Other stopps on our tour were the "moonscape" of Granite Dells und Watson Lake,

,,, Goldwater Lake, Thumb Bute and Granite Mountain (photos below). Great views everywhere, partly all the way to Flagstaff (unfortunately it was a bit hazy). Big advantage of Prescott is its great location, its climate and the air quality compared to "The (Phoenix) Valley". And, its only about 2 hours away!

Archeology and baseball in Mesa

Mesa Grande Cultural Park, our first stop, was related to the ancient Hohokam, ancestors of today's O'odham people. They built and used the Mesa Grande platform mound between AD 1100 and 1450 as the public and ceremonial center for one of the largest Hohokam villages in the Salt River Valley.
The Hohokam were the only cultural group in prehistoric North America to rely on massive canal systems, irrigating huge fields of corn, beans and squash. Mesa Grande was one of the two largest mounds of the Hohokam. Its sister mound, Pueblo Grande, is nearby the City of Phoenix.

After our archeological excursion, we still watched the Chicago Cubs' spring training for a while (wondering about all the retired people gathering there and talking shop), and, Peter got his cap, of course.

Via Old Scottsdale (pics)


we arrived to Prescott late afternoon.