We picked the perfect day to visit Tombstone, Arizona. It was a windy day and this only added to the ambience of the town. The wind was whipping up the old dirt Main Street and made it feel like we walking through an old western movie set. We hadn’t read up about what to do in Tombstone, Arizona before we arrived so we thought our best bet was to take a trolley tour.  The first thing we wished we had known, is this town really likes cash. We had failed to pack any extra cash before we went on this outing. John and I had to scrounge through our wallets to come up with the cash to pay for the trolley tour. The trolley is dog friendly, and thankfully they ride for free. The first tour of the day starts at 11 AM. We had about an hour so we decided to see the Rose Museum. We were thankful that if you pay for two admissions you can use a credit card. The Rose Museum is right across the street from the trolley. This museum houses the worlds largest rose tree, a Lady Banksia Rose from Scotland.  In addition to the rose there is a museum inside the building, it takes about 30 to 40 minutes to view. The rose tree was planted in 1885 and now spreads over 8000 square feet on supports. I can only imagine how impressive it is in April when it covered with millions of white blossoms. Gizmo was allowed in the Rose museum with us, and again, no charge for dogs.

The trolley tour takes about 30 minutes and is definitely worth taking. We learned a lot about Tombstone’s  history during the tour. The tour helped us figure out what we wanted to visit on our own later in the day.

We really wanted to do the silver mine tour. We were afraid they would say that no dogs are allowed. Instead, they said of course he’s allowed inside and there’s no charge for him. The only reason we didn’t end up doing the tour is we did not have enough cash with us. I guess that means we need to come back on another day to visit this mine.

We spent several hours walking around the town and going into the various shops and buildings. There are a lot of small museums and interesting sites that you can pay to visit. I think we could make several trips to tombstone and see one to two sites each time. 

Wyatt Earp’s Home

Bird Cage Theater- I would love to do a tour here.  Lots of history about this bar/brothel/gambling hall.  

We found a small micro brewery at the outskirts of town. Tombstone Brewing Company allowed Gizmo  to come in and sit with us as we tried a flight of beer. They had excellent beer at a very good price and we returned to get a growler filled later in the day.

We ended the day by visiting the grave of the original founder of tombstone

Burial spot for Ed Schieffelin- The founder of Tombstone, AZ

and Boot Hill Cemetery.  Boot hill cemetery is definitely worth a visit. You get a sense for how wild the west was. It is interesting to read all the gravestones of the people who are buried at this location. 

Do you recognize these names from the shoot out at the OK Corral?

Boot hill cemetery was the only place we visited that had a sign saying no dogs allowed. We asked inside and they said Gizmo could go with us so long as we carried him.

Gizmo was allowed in if carried.  

So it’s dog friendly, if you have a small dog you can carry.