Hello Living 48 Real Estate Family! With Veterans Day weekend quickly approaching (How are we already almost to October?!), we thought for this weeks blog, we would give you some of our favorite ideas and places to be a tourist in our own beautiful state of Arizona so that you could plan ahead for a fun excursion! One of our many family traditions growing up was to be a tourist in our own state on long holiday weekends! We went everywhere from Route 66 in Holbrook to The Haunted Burger in Jerome. Here are some of our favorite locations and things to do while there!
1. If You Don't Want to Travel too Far From Home- Saguaro Lake
Fun Fact: Did you know that Katie, and her husband, Jason, love riding motorcycles (especially Harley Davidson bikes, is there any other way?)
One of Katie's favorite quick getaways is at Saguaro Lake, which is just a quick get away out of Mesa. At the lake they have a delicious restaurant with beautiful views of the lake (see below).
View of the lake from the restaurant
After a delicious breakfast, hop on the Desert Belle Cruise and cruise around the lake! The cruise line offers all kinds of entertainment depending on each cruise like live music, wine tasting cruises, and narrated cruises too! Check it out and buy tickets by clicking HERE.
2. If You Are Interested in Ancient Civilizations: Montezuma's Castle and Montezuma's Well
Montezuma's Castle is an amazing ancient pueblo structure that was literally carved out of the side of limestone cliffs. The dwellings were accessible only by wooden ladder. Montezuma's castle "tells a story of ingenuity, survival and ultimately, prosperity in an unforgiving desert landscape."
For more information on Montezuma's Castle click HERE.
Along with Montezuma's Castle is Montezuma's Well which is just a quick jaunt up the road from the castle. Montezuma's Well was considered a sacred place for the pueblo people and still is considered sacred by some of the local tribes. As you wander around you will notice more small dwellings carved into limestone walls and you will notice that it tends to be around 20 degrees cooler than the surrounding area! If you are interested in more information click HERE.
Montezuma's Well; Make sure you spend plenty of time exploring the surrounding area!
3. If You Like Ghost Towns: Jerome, Arizona
Jerome grew rapidly from a tent city to a prosperous town in the late 1860s due to the large copper mining rush. Jerome quickly became the talk of the territory and attracted all groups of people, giving it an extremely diverse background. Unfortunately after many fires, landslides, and variable prices of copper the mines closed in 1953 leaving Jerome a ghost time for a short time. Learn more HERE.
Now, I know you want the ghost locations, here you go:
Jerome Grand Hotel
This operating hotel is the perfect get away for those seeking some spooky stories. The hotel originally stood as the United Verde Hospital from 1926-1950 and after the official close of the mines in 1953 was left abandoned until 1994, when the owner moved in and started restorations and conversions to the current operating hotel. Is it haunted? Multiple TV shows, including Ghost Adventures, and psychics have visited the hotel and reported multiple spirits dwelling in the hotel today. "The Hotel owner will admit that if there are spirits, they must be a lot happier occupying a hotel instead of a hospital. They are dealing with a clientele that are here by choice and not necessity." Learn more HERE.
United Verde Hospital Circa 1939
Now the Jerome Grand Hotel
The Haunted Hamburger
This delicious restaurant offers a fun story while offering delicious food! This previously abandoned building was in need of great repair when first bought, and that is when the funny business starting happening. For the longest time it seemed that the spirits had an interest in hammers and they would disappear over night and would show up weeks later in the most random places. Read more about their experiences on their website HERE.
Exterior of The Haunted Hamburger
A Walking Haunted Tour for the Whole Family!
While we didn't visit anymore locations that I know of that are haunted here is the link to a website that has a haunted tour for a super awesome price! Click HERE.
4. If You are Interested in Scenic Routes with Fun Stops- Route 66
Historic Route 66 stretches from Holbrook through Flagstaff and on to Kingman. It has lots of fun stops a long the way, a few that your kids might recognize too! Starting in Holbrook your kids will recognize the "Cozy Cone Motel" from Disney's "Cars" that was based on "The Wigwam Motel" located in Holbrook. For more information and to make reservations click HERE.
Continuing on your road trip you can make stops at a meteor crater, ruins at Walnut Canyon National Monument, amazing views in Sedona, the Grand Canyon Caverns, and another ghost town in Oatman. Click HERE for a link to a good website with more information and potential stops!
If You Like to Learn About Nature: Biosphere 2
The Biosphere 2 is an ongoing experiment by the University of Arizona in order to learn more about the past, present, and future conditions of our environment. During the tour you are able to walk through different environments and learn about how they are able to be sustained and how a group of people was able to live there and sustain themselves! Learn more HERE.
Aerial View of the Whole Complex
Enjoy this throwback of Katie, Katelyn, and Jason.
We hope that some of our fun adventures have inspired you to travel around our beautiful state and see some of the awesome things that are definitely awe-inspiring! There are tons more and we are endlessly exploring and discovering new things! If you have another one that you want to share please comment below!! We would love to explore it too!!
Feel free to share this blog with anyone you think would like it!
If you haven't already check out our website at www.living48re.com.
If you would like a free home value estimate click HERE.
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