Road Trip! Prescott, AZ, and blurbs of other AZ places

sopas ej · #1 Posted **Oct 26, 2023, 5:51 PM**

My partner and I made ourselves a 4-day weekend this past weekend (10.20 thru 23.2023) to do a road trip to Prescott, AZ, a place we've never been to before. We used Prescott (which the locals pronounce "Press-kit") as our home base to explore other areas within a few hours of it.

We left South Pasadena on Thursday evening, took the 210 to the 10, and spent the night in

Quartzsite, AZ

Friday morning. View from our motel room window.

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Gassing up.

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The Hi Jolly monument/grave. Hi Jolly is an American Anglicization of Hadji Ali.

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We hadn't eaten yet, but we hit the road and decided to eat in

Wickenburg, AZ

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I told my partner "Five-dollar mimosas! Wow!" And he said "More like five dollar-headaches. They probably use the cheap stuff."

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Breakfast burrito. After eating, we walked around a little bit before going back to the car.

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We're glad we didn't eat here. We thought to, but we kept walking. We wouldn't have eaten here anyway, because...

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...we saw all this in the window.

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Prescott, AZ

We saw the sign for this museum, so we headed here first, the Museum of Indigenous People. I'll post a few pictures of the displays.

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Walking around downtown Prescott.

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I've never seen a parking sign like this before. I didn't think about it until I encountered the problem later the next day... Some people do park their big long pickup trucks with the back end poking into the traffic lane. And a lot of people here do drive huge pickup trucks.

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Watson Lake.

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A nice, leafy old residential neighborhood.

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Deer ass.

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Time to eat.

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Sangria.

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Hatch green chile & pork stew. This was actually pretty good.

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We shared this dessert. Molten lava cake. We usually don't order this type of dessert, but it was good. Not too sweet.

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This was a fun place. We each got several drinks here. Oooooh child! It's Whisky Row after all.

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We decided to get a drink at this place, too. You have to walk upstairs to get to it.

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I don't know why the Coors sign made me laugh.

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I don't know why I took this picture. We were both really inebriated at this point. I think I was amazed at all the pickup trucks I was seeing on the street.

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I've always liked the flag of Arizona. It somehow reminds me of the flag of Tibet. But of course you can't see the whole thing here.

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A pizza place, which we went to to soak up some of the alcohol.

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My partner's pizza. I'm not sure what's on there, aside from the olives. He said it was very good.

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Mine was pretty good too. I asked for anchovies and garlic.

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Let's get one more courthouse shot!

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It's a good thing the hotel wasn't far from here, because we were getting sleepy.

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More pics to come in a few hours. The next day we went to other towns and areas.

So, to be continued...

plinko · #2 Posted **Oct 26, 2023, 8:00 PM**

Prescott is a wonderfully sized town. I lived there from 3-5th grade. Did you stay at the Hassayampa?

sopas ej · #3 Posted **Oct 26, 2023, 8:34 PM**

Quote:

Originally Posted by plinko

Prescott is a wonderfully sized town. I lived there from 3-5th grade. Did you stay at the Hassayampa?

We did not. I actually wanted to book a room there but at the time I was looking for hotels, I thought it was a bit pricey for our budget. We stayed at the Quality Inn, about a mile away from Whisky Row, only a few minutes' drive.

sopas ej · #4 Posted **Oct 26, 2023, 10:49 PM**

The next morning, we headed to

Jerome, AZ

Such a cute town. We really enjoyed the charm and character of the place.

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This somehow gave me "small hillside town in Turkey" vibes.

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People throw coins onto the floor. And I guess they try to get them into the toilet too?

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I thought it was interesting that they used ironworks from Los Angeles.

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Time to eat.

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This was a very good French dip sandwich.

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We left Jerome and then drove to the Tuzigoot National Monument, which you can read about here: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tuzigo...ional_Monument

Indigenous Americans prefer to refer to these places as sites, not ruins. "Ruins" implies that these are no longer of value and are discarded, but they see these as structures that their ancestors built, and therefore should be revered.

Tuzigoot National Monument

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Next stop, Montezuma Castle National Monument, which you can read about here: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Montez...ional_Monument

Montezuma Castle National Monument

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We saw a number of these types of signs on our trip.

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Somewhere south of Sedona, AZ

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We were gonna eat an early dinner in Sedona but decided to turn around because the traffic was so bad going into Sedona. So we turned around and went into

Cottonwood, AZ

See the Tavern Grille on the far left? We ate there, but not before walking around Old Town Cottonwood.

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The Tavern Grille.

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We both had a cocktail called Prosecco Punch. It was the best thing we had at this restaurant... Our server was really nice, but the food was kinda weird.

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For an appetizer we ordered something called Pretzel & Bratz Bites. We were expecting a whole pretzel and sliced up bratwurst or something, but this is what we got. The pretzel (on the right) was sliced up and deep-fried, as was the sausage. We weren't into it, but we finished it.

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We both ordered the southwest chicken salad. Another weird-tasting thing. I don't order southwest chicken salads often, but usually it has a creamy chipotle dressing. I didn't taste chipotle at all, and the textures were all weird. My partner didn't even finish his salad, he said the dressing reminded him of a weird mayo or something. I felt like it was a weird ranch kind of dressing, and I don't like ranch dressing---except maybe as a dip for fried zucchini.

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Back in Prescott, AZ

Our last night in Prescott, we just walked around the downtown again for a bit.

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The day we left Arizona...

On our way home, we decided to go to Phoenix to see the Musical Instrument Museum, which we heard was a really good museum. We left Prescott without eating lunch, and we started getting hungry, so we decided to pull over in New River, at a roadside place that looked like it could've been in a movie.

New River, AZ

The Roadrunner Restaurant & Saloon.

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I got a pulled pork sandwich.

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Musical Instrument Museum in Phoenix, AZ

This is an amazing museum. And honestly, we didn't know how extensive it is. i thought we'd only be spending like 2 hours max here, but the displays and exhibits just keep going on and on and on! We ended up staying here for about 4 hours. Not only does it cover musical instruments from around the world, but also cultures, music genres, etc. AND, they give you a headset so that can hear what the instruments and music actually sound like.

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These pictures are just a fraction of the extensive collection of all things musical this place has.

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A guitar from the mid-1800s. If I didn't read the placard, I'd have thought it was a modern guitar.

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A guy playing that huge thing.

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Prince's piano.

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I love Roberta Flack.

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i love Celia Cruz.

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Bamboo instruments from the Philippines.

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This has the Lotus Sutra written on it.

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The view outside the museum.

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An actual wooden clarinet from the 1800s. They don't call them woodwind instruments for nothing. I played clarinet from 4th thru 10th grade. Mine was plastic and metal.

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At one point while in the museum, we just started rushing through the displays and I stopped taking pictures, because we felt it was getting late. We didn't get home until after 11pm or so.

What a fun road trip!

Shawn · #5 Posted **Oct 27, 2023, 2:14 AM**

This is a fantastic set sopas, there's a real sense of place coming though.

AviationGuy · #6 Posted **Oct 27, 2023, 3:18 AM**

I visited Prescott in the winter about 30 years ago. The mountains surrounding the city were completely snow covered, and there was about a 3-inch snow cover in the city. Sedona is even more beautiful. Jerome looks really interesting. I had a great Aunt who was Dutch and lived in Arizona. She loved traveling to Jerome, and always called it "Jeramo".

Murphy de la Sucre · #7 Posted **Oct 27, 2023, 6:09 AM**

road-trip word itself is trigger to my

Murphy de la Sucre · #8 Posted **Oct 27, 2023, 7:31 AM**

show us more exteriors

EastSideHBG · #9 Posted **Oct 27, 2023, 2:31 PM**

Wonderful!

Buckeye Native 001 · #10 Posted **Oct 27, 2023, 5:38 PM**

Incredible work!

I'm assuming you drove 89 through Mingus Mountain from Prescott to Jerome? Fun, twisting mountain road. I love Jerome, such a great little town.

The Musical Instrument Museum is incredible, but definitely at least a four or five hour visit.

sopas ej · #11 Posted **Oct 27, 2023, 9:47 PM**

Thanks for all the comments, guys!

Quote:

Originally Posted by Buckeye Native 001

Incredible work!

I'm assuming you drove 89 through Mingus Mountain from Prescott to Jerome? Fun, twisting mountain road. I love Jerome, such a great little town.

The Musical Instrument Museum is incredible, but definitely at least a four or five hour visit.

Yes, we took 89 to 89A from Prescott to Jerome. And yes, a fun twisting mountain road. I love twisty roads mountain and canyon roads, I'm from southern California after all. Mulholland, Angeles Crest Hwy., the drives to Mt. Baldy and Big Bear, etc... they were all my introduction to twisty roads when I first started driving as a teen.

And yes, the MIM is indeed incredible.

sentinel · #12 Posted **Oct 27, 2023, 9:10 PM**

The museum looks really cool

geomorph · #13 Posted **Oct 29, 2023, 1:02 AM**

Quote:

Originally Posted by sopas ej

Watson Lake.

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Thank you for the tour, I love this lake!

Jerome looks really creepy.

ChrisLA · #14 Posted **Oct 29, 2023, 4:39 AM**

Awesome tour, Arizona sure is pretty.

dktshb · #15 Posted **Oct 29, 2023, 6:22 PM**

Great stuff and wonderful pictures! Really neat towns. I have visited them all on previous road trips. Thanks for haring.

xzmattzx · #16 Posted **Nov 6, 2023, 6:14 AM**

Great pictures! Arizona is my favorite state out there.

Prescott and Wickenburg are on my bucket list for out west. Prescott looks like a cross between Flagstaff and Phoenix, which makes sense given the elevation for Prescott and the other two cities.

Even your pictures of Quartzite and Cottonwood are interesting. We don't see much of forgotten Arizona on here.

Jerome looks really gritty. It looks like if you took a town in the Coal Country of central Pennsylvania or a neighborhood of Pittsburgh and plopped it down in Arizona. I always think it's interesting when people say Jerome is a ghost town, because it is very busy for being deserted. It's like the opposite of the Yogi Berra quote: "Nobody goes there anymore, because it's too crowded."

It is quite impressive that you got to see a lyre guitar in the museum. There is one in the Nemours Mansion here in Delaware that I have seen. According to a guide at the Nemours Mansion, there are only 3 or 4 lyre guitars in the entire world. This article also says there's three in the whole world. If there really are just three in the world, then there's just one more to account for.

sopas ej · #17 Posted **Nov 7, 2023, 5:03 PM**

Quote:

Originally Posted by xzmattzx

Great pictures! Arizona is my favorite state out there.

Prescott and Wickenburg are on my bucket list for out west. Prescott looks like a cross between Flagstaff and Phoenix, which makes sense given the elevation for Prescott and the other two cities.

Even your pictures of Quartzite and Cottonwood are interesting. We don't see much of forgotten Arizona on here.

Jerome looks really gritty. It looks like if you took a town in the Coal Country of central Pennsylvania or a neighborhood of Pittsburgh and plopped it down in Arizona. I always think it's interesting when people say Jerome is a ghost town, because it is very busy for being deserted. It's like the opposite of the Yogi Berra quote: "Nobody goes there anymore, because it's too crowded."

It is quite impressive that you got to see a lyre guitar in the museum. There is one in the Nemours Mansion here in Delaware that I have seen. According to a guide at the Nemours Mansion, there are only 3 or 4 lyre guitars in the entire world. This article also says there's three in the whole world. If there really are just three in the world, then there's just one more to account for.

It's funny because I didn't think of Jerome as being gritty; I just saw it as an old hillside town. But I can see how it could be considered gritty. The ruins of that old hotel, I assume, are preserved in that "arrested decay" state.

The MIM is a very good museum, I highly recommend it. Not only do you see rare and old musical instruments, but it covers cultures and music and instruments from all over the world. I didn't find it western or ethno-centric at all. It's a very culturally comprehensive museum.

Obadno · #18 Posted **Nov 6, 2023, 3:55 PM**

Good tour! The northern Arizona towns are the best and the verde valley between Jerome and cottonwood are their own little wine country now. And the wine isn’t half bad !

Despite being relatively close together the cultural differences between the towns is incredibly entertaining

PHX31 · #19 Posted **Nov 6, 2023, 6:12 PM**

Great tour and pictures! I'm very familiar with all of these towns (except Cottonwood), and they're all different from each other. You really hit a number of the top spots in central/northern AZ. I'm ashamed to say I've never yet been to the MIM.

Speaking of twisty mountain roads, did you take 89 from Wickenburg to Prescott? Unfortunate that there was too much traffic in Sedona, which is common, the 89A north from Sedona through Oak Creek Canyon is probably my favorite drive in all of AZ.

sopas ej · #20 Posted **Nov 7, 2023, 2:25 PM**

Thanks for the comments!

Quote:

Originally Posted by PHX31

Great tour and pictures! I'm very familiar with all of these towns (except Cottonwood), and they're all different from each other. You really hit a number of the top spots in central/northern AZ. I'm ashamed to say I've never yet been to the MIM.

Speaking of twisty mountain roads, did you take 89 from Wickenburg to Prescott? Unfortunate that there was too much traffic in Sedona, which is common, the 89A north from Sedona through Oak Creek Canyon is probably my favorite drive in all of AZ.

Yes, we took 89 from Wickenburg to Prescott. Nice fun twisty road.

We were thinking of maybe going into Sedona some time next year, but that's up in the air. We might opt for another area; we were last in Sedona proper many years ago already.

What kind of surprised us on this recent trip through Arizona is all the roundabouts there are in that part of the state. And of course there are some drivers who don't know how to negotiate them, or they drive too slow through them.

Quote:

Originally Posted by tart777

Well, if you ask the United States outpost of the Champagne Bureau, they will tsk-tsk you at the suggestion of using expensive Champagne in your mimosa: "Champagne is best enjoyed as a standalone wine, rather than in a cocktail or a mimosa…"

Well, it doesn't have to be expensive Champagne, it can just be a better quality sparkling wine or something. We've had cheap mimosas before, and yeah, we ended up with headaches afterwards.

I don't think there's anything wrong with using sparkling wine in some kind of cocktail or mixed drink. It's like sangria; I've heard some wine purists talk like sangria is somehow sacrilege. I like sangria, it's very refreshing. Goes well with our SoCal climate.