The Ghost Town Experience

Golfield

It was our last day in Arizona. Hannah decided that we had spent enough time in meetings and the outlet visits, and that it was imperative that we experience the Wild Wild West before we go back. 

And so, off we went to Apache Junction, where Goldfield is, for a dose of ghost town experience.

We had lunch at the Mining Camp Restaurant, which was a few minutes away from Goldfield. While I can't say much about the food, I thought the live band was memorable. It was enjoyable listening to the bluegrass/western music and lyrical songs from the resident artists, the McNasty Brothers.

I've watched enough western and cowboys movies and TV series to know what to be expected of a typical mining town. So, to be honest, I was kind of skeptical about visiting Goldfield at first.

But Goldfield was a pretty entertaining visit, I must say. The buildings - saloon, shops, church, post office, etc. - were replicated to the exact details, a reminder of how things were back then in the 1890s, when Goldfield was a booming gold mining town.

I can't share about the rides because we didn't do any. What I did mostly was walk up and down the Main Street, taking photos of the buildings, artifacts, and the beautiful cactus and ocotillo.

Ocotillo

From Goldfield, Superstition Mountains looked amazing. It was a sunny day, the light was great, and the sky the clearest blue. Superstition Mountains stood out amidst the skyline and the Arizona desert. At that point, I haven't heard about the mountain and the Lost Dutchman Gold Mine legend.

Superstition Mountains

Of course, just like the good tourists we were, we had our antique photo taken at Time after Time. We posed with sling guns, ponchos, parasols, hats and all - sans smiles!

Apparently, in those days, photographs were taken with somber, serious looks. Anyhow, looking at us Asians in the western lady/cow girl garbs reminded me of Shanghai Noon!

After much walking - we stopped at Miner's Grill and Ice Cream Parlour. The root beer plus vanilla ice cream were cooling and invigorating as promised. A refreshing finale to our visit back into the old West.