For the past several years I've had this recurring dream where I'm driving a car on this narrow road, winding around and around this cartoon mountain to finally reach the top.
I saw that place for real when I was in Arizona. Forget Sedona. Well, don't forget it because the area is breathtaking, but the town is...well, kind of one big upscale shopping mall. I couldn't wait to get through it and out of it. I think it was maybe another ... I don't know, 25, 35, 45 miles to Jerome. I'm too lazy to look it up. But Jerome. OMG. You have to go there. It was a copper mining town back in the day, and the terrain is so steep that buildings have actually slid downhill. And just like my dream, the road winds around until you reach the town on the top of the mountain.
At one time Jerome had a population of 15,000. Today it's around 400. But on weekends the town is packed. Lots of eateries, and...well, the place is just weird. And I like weird. It claims to be the biggest ghost town in the United States. I believe it. And it's also supposed to be haunted. Well, I'm not sure I believe that. We stayed at the Jerome Grand Hotel, which has been featured on some paranormal shows. It was originally a hospital, and still had the original elevator and boiler system. And it sits on the very top of the town. Oh, and 9,000 people died there. Or at least that's what I overheard in the lobby. By late afternoon the town is almost dead. By 5:00 the shops are closed and the hundreds (thousands?) of people who clogged the streets during the day flee.
The phone in our room. It rang once. It was the guy at the front desk trying to help us find a place to get our flat tire repaired. When you're on the top of a mountain, and it's Sunday. We ended up going to a nearby town... Guess. Walmart. Walmart saved the day.
Shop window
Another shop
It was pretty grand
Elevator in hotel
A cool thing in Sedona
outside the cool thing
Chapel of the Holy Cross
Spooky chair in the spooky hallway of Jerome Grand Hotel
No comments:
Post a Comment