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Day Trip to Bisbee, Arizona by Christopher Loa

Copper Queen Mine. Bisbee, Arizona.

Me and my friends, Travis and Jake, all had a day off and decided to spend it taking a road trip to an old town just outside of Bisbee called Lowell. It is a small town that seems to be frozen in time. Settled in 1880, most of the town was demolished when the pit mine was expanded in the 1950's. Today it is not much more than a single street lined with a few old buildings that have been preserved by its care takers. The mining company owns most of the land that makes up Lowell, but allows the a few locals to preserve the town as much as possible. Most of the buildings and businesses are just for show but there is a diner there that we stopped at for lunch called Bisbee Breakfast Club. After lunch we explored the empty buildings and talked about what it would be like to live in a mining town in the 1950s. After being amazed by the work that the care takers do to preserve this street, we went to check out some local shops in nearby Bisbee. There is a lot of cool things happening in Bisbee including a lot of new unique businesses like Classic Rock Couture, Object Limited and Terra Firma. Some of them were closed when we were there but we managed to make it to a few antique shops and Optimo Hatworks, a very cool hat shop that manufactures hats right there in the retail space. After walking the down the main street, and admiring the old Levi's advertising, we grabbed some Italian ice cream from Pussy Cat Gelato and headed home to Tucson. If you ever find yourself in southern Arizona, I would highly suggest checking out Bisbee and Lowell while you're here.

Travis, me and Jake on Erie Street in Lowell, Arizona.