Experience before you go . . .
All right gather around and let me show ya what "FUN" looks like in retirement. You remember Scottie & Jan, of course you do.....Hoppin Brewery Tour #30 Backyard Barn Winery and Microbrewery in Wildwood, Florida on 8/3/2017. Well Scottie & Jan packed an overnight bag and flew west from Florida to Arizona to experience the desert life. The plan was in place with a lot of local stops, drinks, eats and all things desert. It's always enjoyable to experience the beauty, uniqueness and danger of the desert through the eyes of visitors.
All kinds of fun was had and a side trip by the Florida Folks up to Scottsdale to visit family for the weekend to separate the foursome was required before the Fun Police were called to make some arrests because of just way too much....you guessed it....fun! But the highlight of their visit was a Monday morning trek down Hwy 80 to Bisbee, Arizona. An artsy fartsy, very eclectic old mining town located in the Mule Mountains in Southeastern Arizona. Elevation is 5,500 feet so the air is clean and cool and temps historically are cooler than you'd think being so close to the Mexican border. We quickly engaged with the Bisbee vibe by walking up Main Street with stops at the Post Office, the Library and then lunch at Cafe Cornucopia. A cute little exposed brick, sitting for 20+, fresh viddles of sandwiches, soups, salads and quiche. Mimosas were fab and while perusing some local displayed artwork, a rather dry, direct reference to the Robot punching Bigfoot picture got us laughing uncontrollably for 10 minutes with tears running, faces twitching and bellies hurting as if there was a secret ingredient in our food....what fun!! After lunch more strolling down Main St with a duck into Look Mark Jay's Store and the purchase of a one of kind welded metal piece of art, 6 foot high and way cool. Spending money away gets me thirsty, so did someone say beer?
A quick walk back down Main with a turn on Brewery Ave and up the road through Brewery Gulch then on our right....Old Bisbee Brewing Company, situated right in front of the Bisbee Inn. Out front sign selfie, everyone smile now and in we went. Front and center are the fermenting tanks and off to the left was the bar with four available bar stools where we quickly got comfy. Amy greeted us and started pouring. A big flight of 3 oz'ers of everything they had was ready to go.....Classic Pilsner (5.8%) clean and crisp; Cooper City Ale (5.0%) golden beauty; Double Hopped IPA (6.5%, 80 IBU) smooth and balanced; Mayan Stout (7.4%) rich and smooth; El Trigo - Belgian Witbier (5.7%) coriander, witbier yeast and bitter Moroccan orange; Pomegranate Hazy IPA (6.3%); Old Man Winter - Belgian Strong Ale (limit 2) (9%) malty and smooth with a brief rest in Jack Daniel barrels for a whiskey note finish; Fancy Bear - Russian Imperial Stout (limit 2) (9.3%) nine malts and four hops, complex and a palliate pleaser.
While at Old Bisbee not only did we enjoy talking with Amy behind the bar but in true Hoppin Brewery Tour fashion I started up a conversation with Sam, Head Brewmaster and his side kick Chance to my left. And after they left, Sergio had a seat and we talked all things Bisbee. What we gathered is that to live and work in Bisbee you have to be a master of many skills. Amy bartends, paints houses, landscapes and a variety of other things and Sergio is a bill collector. Bisbee is such a cool and unique place to live, people just figure it out.....priorities baby, priorities!
Old Bisbee Brewing Company's combination of refined beer along with the cast of extremely friendly folks make this brewery a must stop while in Bisbee.
Now before I go I gotta tell you about where we stayed that night in Bisbee. We surprised our Florida friends with a night at the Shady Dell. A trailer park located on the outskirts of town with a combination of vintage trailers, a Chris Craft yacht, even a tiki bus for overnight accommodations. Everything was circa 1950's from the albums, to the coffee percolator to even Brad the manager who was wearing a 1950's bowling shirt with the name Harold on it and who later changed into a red velvet smoking jacket. Kat and I stayed in the 38' Chris Craft yacht while Scottie and Jan were in the 1951 Royal Mansion Trailer. We had happy hour on the back of the yacht and then the next morning we drank coffee followed by Bloody Mary's in our robes....it was fabulous!!
Bisbee, Arizona is the bomb....nuff said!!!
Until next time and remember.....
Go get'cha one!!!
