The night before we went to Douglas, Friday February 27, we went to Bisbee. We arrived early so we has some time to walked around and do some shopping. When we were done shopping, we noticed the Bisbee Social Club was open, so we stopped in for a bump. Then we walked to the Bisbee Table. It was busy but there were spots at the bar so we sat down right away. I had a tasty burger and Karla got some pasta. After supper we went to the Bisbee Grand. It was not busy yet and we sat at the bar. Frankie showed up and he introduced us to some people. We had some drinks and conversations.
The main reason we went to Bisbee was for the music at the Bisbee Grand. The Exbats played first. Next was Alex Wilkerson. Last was Fatigo. It was a great lineup and a fun night of music. We stayed until the end and then I drove back Cactus Point.
We had been talking earlier about the Last Supper Museum in Douglas and I joked that Karla would make me stay up all night and paint a last supper painting. So I did. I got a beer and started on my version of a last supper. Because I mostly paint landscapes, I replaced the people with birch trees. There was a big one in the middle, with a sun-like glow and a bunch of trees on each side. I am still not sure it is that great.
Saturday, February 28, We packed some stuff and drove to Douglas. We went straight to the Last Supper Museum. I wasn’t sure I should bring my picture in. So I gave it to Karla. I said here, this is a gift to you. You can do what you want. We went inside and it was quiet. Turns out E.B. (the manager/curator) was in back receiving a new piece of Last Supper art. It was plastic diamond, stick-on, mosaic thing. It was big and took a lot of time to complete. E.B. was excited about it. Then when Karla gave him my painting, he was excited about that. The other piece was from someone from South Dakota and when I told him I was from Minnesota, EB thought there must be a connection. We stayed there longer than I thought and EB said again and again how much he liked my painting (he said he could not do it) and how unique it was. He said he would put it up and send me a certificate. He said they are making a museum book and my painting could be in it.
When we were done at the Last Supper Museum, we walked down the block to the old Grand Theatre and looked at the exhibit in their gallery. It was a nice display of paintings from a local artist.
By this time we were now hungry and we stopped at the Original Grand Cafe between the to galleries. We got a booth right away, but there was a group of 25 waiting for their food, and it took forever to get our food. I ended up having three beers while we waited (one on the house). When we got our food, it wasn’t very good and they got Karla’s order wrong. She was supposed to have a burrito and they brought a chimichanga. I didn’t want to wait any longer and convinced her to eat it. She did not like it. The chicken had no flavor and she did not like the crunchy shell. Just about when we were going to leave, some old lady came and sat in our booth. She was really clingy and told us some stories. I really wanted to leave, but tried to be diplomatic. She started saying stuff about giving her a ride home or coming to visit. Finially I said we had to go. We were in the cafe for over 2 hours. I was sorry we did not get a chance to check out some other places, but we will be back.
When we were done with lunch we could check into our room at the Gadsden Hotel. It was close so I got our bag from the truck and we walked across the street to the hotel. We checked in and got our room. The hotel has an amazing lobby with marble columns and stain glass windows. Our room was simple but nice. Unfortunately the bar and restaurant was closed. We were not hungry, but I wanted to at least check out the bar.
It was a nice afternoon so we went for a walk around downtown. We went by Art Car World and they were not open. We kept walking and I thought there might be some thrift stores, but nothing was open. We kept walking and ended up at Cilantros. This was the original place I was thinking about for lunch. It didn’t look like much of a restaurant but it was a nice dive bar. We found some spots and had a couple drinks.
We left Cilantros and continued our walk through Douglas and ended up by the Mexico border. There wasn’t much else to see so we turned and headed back to the hotel. It was starting to cool off so we grabbed some extra clothes before heading out again.
Then we went to the Art Car event. They have a nice event space with indoor and outdoor areas.
They were asking people to draw on old fire extinguishers and they would cut them and turn them into art lights. There were a good number of people there and they were working on their fire extinguishers. I drew some trees on one but Karla did not want to do one. We hung out a bit and talked to a few people. We went in the building and there was a guy with some home brew. He had an American ale and a stout. He is planning on opening a brewery in Douglas. That would be cool. I had one of each and the ale was not memorable and the stout got a little syrup-y at the end.
Fatigo was going to play in the indoor space. When they showed we talked with the band for a bit. Once they started playing, we listened to a couple song.
By this time it had been a long day and we had not had supper. There was a pizza stand and I went out and order a pizza with everything to go. I went back in and listened to another Fatigo song. Charlie was wearing roller skates and playing the trumpet. Our pizza was ready so we got it and left. We stopped at the Circle K and I got a six pack of Dragoon IPA and Karla got some cans of pre-mixed drink. We took everything back to the hotel. We sat on the bed and ate and drank and watched a move. We would have liked to stay for more Fatigo, but it was nice to hang out at the hotel.
Sunday morning I kept waking up every hour on the half hour. I waited as long as I thought we could and woke up Karla. We were up at 5:30. It was a little over a half hour dive to the White Water Draw. The sun was coming up by the time we got there. We probably missed the pre-dawn cranes, but there were some cranes and ducks there. There were a few other people there. It looked like some of them had been there for a while and a few more were still coming. It was cold and we didn’t stay too long.
We drove back to the Gadsden Hotel. I looked for options for breakfast and El Rinconcito Del Sabor was not too far away. We walked there and it wasn’t too busy. We got a booth and put in an order for some food. Our server brought us a complimentary crispy tortilla with beans and cheesy. A nice start. Our food was delicious. Real Mexican breakfast.
We walked back to the hotel, packed up, checked out and I drove back Sierra Vista. Another fun weekend in southern Arizona.