Ms. Karen and I had not been anywhere of note in ages, mostly because of the pandemic, but more recently because of the summer heat and to celebrate Ms. Karen’s birthday. So, we decided to venture up to Northern Arizona, to cooler climates, Wickenburg and Prescott, in August 2022. Why Wickenburg, you may ask? Well, for one thing, it’s kinda on the way to Prescott. And for a second thing, we were there last year, briefly, to visit the Vulture City Mining town, but did not get to see the Desert Caballeros Museum of Western Art in Old Town. We did do a walkabout through the Old Town with friends Ron & Elaine, our neighbors here in the foothills of the Tucson Mountains, but the Museum was closed during our stay.
A year ago when we visited Wickenburg, we stayed at My Place Suites, a little hideaway tucked around the corner from a busy street. We fell in love with the place and really enjoyed it. And had a delicious pizza delivered for dinner. So we thought, “Let’s do that again”. On the way this year it rained like hell for about half an hour, so hard we could barely see the highway. But it cleared up by the time we arrived at Wickenburg. Only this time, we didn’t get the same room we had last year. And that turned out to be a big mistake. Our bed was super uncomfortable and the TV was in the living room, not the bedroom. On the other hand, there was a beautiful painting of a Madonna and her two small children beside our bed, and that was nice. I knew I should have taken a photograph of this painting to show you, but then I forgot.
That first night away from home, we ordered a pizza delivered to our room. It must not have been from the same pizzeria that we ordered last year, because this pizza was really greasy. Either that or we were really hungry the first time. Anyway, we both woke up with back aches, which is normal for me but unusual for Ms. Karen. Next time, we’ll get Room #4, like last year. Better bed, for sure. The new manager, Seth, was quite pleasant, the rooms clean and well stocked. Milla, our host from last year, had retired and sold it, but it remains nearly the same. All in all, we really like this place. It is homey and quite pleasant for more than one night if you get the right bed.
Having gotten a late start the first day, we arrived in Wickenburg around 3 pm, a time we had thought the Desert Caballeros Museum was scheduled to close. We called ahead and they told us they are open on Saturdays until 5 pm. Great! So we were on time after all. We parked in front of the Museum, Ms. Karen got my electric scooter out of the car, and we entered the building. After paying our entrance fee of $10 each, it was time to tour the exhibits, and what wonderful exhibits they were, two buildings and two floors of history and art. A docent gave us a piece of paper to write down our favorite artwork for a contest they were having for the “Cowgirl Up” Exhibit … a “visitor’s choice” sorta thing. There must have been at least a hundred paintings and sculptures to choose from. The exhibit in the main room “CowGirl Up” was produced solely by women artists. The following three photographs are a few favorites from both the art exhibits in the main building and the new building. Many of these items are for sale.
The Desert Caballeros Western Museum is very extensive and on two levels. We used the elevator to get downstairs. Upstairs is the Cowgirl Art invitational ongoing Art Exhibit. Downstairs are recreations of Old Wickenburg, the way the town and settlers’ homes looked in the 1800s.
On the main floor were paintings and sculptures depicting the Old West, many created by local artists. Some were extraordinary.
The next morning, Sunday, we headed to Prescott, passing through the Prescott National Forest, into Downtown, and on to the Phippen Museum of Western Art. This museum was recommended to us by scratchboard artist and friend, Paul Hopman, whom we’ve written about before on Southern Arizona Guide. The Phippen is located north of Prescott about 7 miles, and well worth the drive if you can negotiate the roundabouts.
The following photographs we took while visiting the Phippen.
Leaving the Phippin Museum, we went back into Old Town Prescott to have lunch and visit the Sharlot Hall Museum. Ms. Karen and I made a quick stop at Costco to pickup some undies as she had forgotten, of all things, our suitcase. Luckily it was only a 3-day adventure.
We walked, (actually, Ms. Karen walked, I road Skippy, my electric scooter), around the 4+ acre campus. There we found the original governor’s mansion of Arizona Territory. It is basically a big log cabin, furnished in period furniture. But quite interesting.
The Sharlot Hall Museum is an open-air museum and heritage site. Opened in 1928 by Sharlot M. Hall as the Gubernatorial Mansion Museum, the museum now bears her name and is dedicated to preserving the history and culture of the Central Highlands of Arizona. There are 8 buildings in addition to the Governor’s Mansion which was built on this site in 1864.
Above is the interior of the Fremont house, home of John C. Fremont, 5th Territorial Governor of Arizona, 1878 – 1881. Here, there is a docent who can explain more history of the Fremont house. The remarkable difference between this home and the Governor’s Mansion is what a difference 10 years and machine-cut wood can make.
After leaving the Sharlot Hall Museum, we checked into our hotel, the Hassayampa Inn. It’s located in Old Town and is designated as historic, having been built in 1927. The old hotel is definitely vintage, but the service is outstanding. And very expensive, at least this time of year. Trip Advisor boasts that rooms start at $104, but Ms. Karen informed me after we left, that our room cost us $267. That’s for one night, not including any meals. Also, I laughingly refer to this place as the “Inn of Many Stairs”. Lord, do they have a lot of stairs. Very hard on my poor legs and back. Luckily they have an elevator, which we made good use of.
The old Otis elevator took us to our room on the 3rd floor. It required an elevator operator, who magically was always available to give us a lift. This was a great help to me, with my bad back and weakened legs, so we tipped him $10 on the way out.
The room was small, but handicap accessible. Which helped me, particularly with showering.
Days before we arrived at the Hassayampa Inn, I called to make a dinner reservation at their Peacock Room, which is their fine dining room. We got there, after negotiating two dozen stairs, only to find that they had no record of our reservation. Oh well. We were seated right away anyway.
We ordered a Kim Crawford Sauvignon Blanc for $50 a bottle, which is reasonable for any such restaurant, despite the fact that it is a $13 bottle of wine. Our waitress returned to our table and told us they were out of Kim Crawford, but would this other selection be Okay? We assented, and she poured our wine. We then ordered. Ms. Karen ordered their salmon. I ordered Chicken al Fredo. Not my usual choice, but the steak dinner was $50 and the chicken al Fredo was only $30. Given that I had spent $101 at El Berraco for lunch the previous week, I thought it best to economize a bit.
The following photographs are of our meals and the dining room.
After a restful night at the Hassayampa Inn, we awoke early and ventured into Old Town Prescott in search of a Walgreens. Along the way, we passed the old Courthouse.
On the way back to our hotel, we passed many of the famous saloons along Whiskey Row, closed on this beautiful Sunday morning. When we got back to the hotel, rather than negotiate the stairs to the dining room again, we sat on the patio and enjoyed a really good breakfast in the sunshine. Another party on the patio had a dog by their table. The Hassayampa Inn is dog friendly. I indicated to the dog owner that she sure had a nice pup. She offered to bring fido to our table for greetings. I accepted.
Ms. Karen ordered bacon and eggs. I ordered pancakes, scrambled eggs, and crisp bacon for breakfast on the hotel patio on our last day in Prescott.
Following breakfast on the patio, we packed up and headed back to Tucson. It had been a very enjoyable couple of days but we were ready to be home. Our dog awaited us. All in all, our quick mini-vacation is one we would recommend to anyone.
To view other photographs of the Grand Museum Tour, take a look at this slideshow below.
