Kings adventures: A few hours in Tucson

While having breakfast this morning, I looked up from my travel guide research to discover a road runner sauntering along the wall. Jim. I hissed, Look! Jim didn't have his camera out despite me often saying always have the camera at the ready. I had both my mobile phone and my tablet to hand but it never occurred to me to take a photo. By the time Jim got the camera, our roadrunner had done a meep meep runner and had taken refuge in the undergrowth. He is just visible in these 2 photos. We will both be fully alert from now on!

It was past time to go to a Visitor Centre and find out what was recommended to visit in Tucson so we went today. The Visitor Centre is in a brightly coloured area called Placita Village. In Placita Village there is a replica of the original 1880s bandstand in the plaza where the stagecoach would gallop into town from Mesila, New Mexico, or San Diego along the old Camino Real (the Royal Road). Often Apache arrows would be embedded in the stagecoach from encounters along the way. La Placita is a collection of shops and offices built in the 1970s on the site of an old Tucson neighbourhood as part of urban renewal. The whole place seemed quite empty except for the Visitor Centre, a cafe and a snack place.

The young woman at the Visitor Centre was very helpful. She even persuaded us to buy a Tucson Passport which allows a discount of 2 for 1 in certain places and discount off items bought in others. She sent us off on a walking tour of the town called the Turquoise Trail - so called because of a turquoise painted line along the entire route. Other cities should take note as it is an excellent way for directionless people like me and Jim, who has a great sense of direction or so he says (others might beg to differ!). It has some drawbacks , however. If you deviate slightly to look at something a bit off the trail it is important that you remember the direction in which you were going or you might end up back where you started and not where you wanted to end! I deliberately didn't ask how long the route was because I was afraid I might be put off. But 2 hours later we were glad to find a nice restaurant to have a sit down and a salad!

The blossom on this was so perfect that you would think it wasn't real.

This is the Soldado De Cuera (Leather Jacket Soldier) sculpture. He is assigned to the Presidio San Agustin del Tucson and is dressed for battle.

This bronze monument commemorates the day in 1846 when Mormon soldiers entered Tucson on their way to California to fight in the Mexican War. The Spanish-speaking citizenry, in spite of being nervous of these armed outsiders, treated them to a fiesta. One of the Mormon soldiers joined in the fun by playing his fiddle. The fiddlecase can be seen in the monument. The close-up shows a rebuke to littering!

Pima County Courthouse has a beautiful mosaic dome.

A memorial to J.F. Kennedy.

This is El Tiradito (The Castaway) also known as The Wishing Shrine. It is typical of small shrines in many communities in Mexico, where people come to burn candles and pray, asking for help with their problems. One legend associated with this shrine involves a tragic love triangle in the 1870s, with a husband killing his wife's lover. A priest would not let the man be buried in the consecrated cemetery so local people lit candles at this location to pray for his soul.

I'm afraid I did not find it in any way attractive or spiritual!

There is an adobe Structure, that Jim neglected to photo, that is a small museum dedicated to the preserving of the history of the site where were situated Carillo's Gardens, Elysian Grove, El Tiradito and El Ojito. In the 1800s artesian springs were the source of drinking water for the community. A local citizen, Leopoldo Carillo, built a dam to form a lake and planted gardens with shade trees and roses. The place became a very popular site for a picnic or a Sunday stroll. However, the springs dried up but trees grew in the area and homes were built in a neighbourhood called Elysian Grove. I could not see much Elysian about it!

Teatro Carmen, an adobe building, was named for the wife of its builder. It opened in 1915, beginning as a theatre devoted to staging dramatic works in Spanish. Then it became a movie theatre, a boxing arena, a garage and Elks Lodge.

This adobe house was built in the 1860s. It is now a restaurant and bar.

These houses, which I thought were cute, are part of the Barrio Viejo streetscape. They are adobe buildings built in the Sonoran row-house style in the late 1800s. The Barrio Viejo is Tucson's oldest neighbourhood.

This 1927 theatre is built in the Spanish Colonial Revival style. It has a nice courtyard with a fountain. The buildoing was restored in 1990 and is a popular theatre venue with excellent acoustics.

One of the monuments in Armory Park. The body to the left is not one of this boy's victims!

This caught Jim's eye as we were following the Turquoise Trail.

This early 20th century commercial building once housed a spacious dance hall on the second floor. The IOOF at the top refers to the Order of Odd Fellows which has been an active social club since 1891 in Tucson. I rechristened it the Order of Old Fogeys and threatened to leave Jim there. Actually the original name suits him too!

The Senior Prom must be on soon. What a state she is in!

What a perfect orange tree!

This is St. Augustine Cathedral, a Spanish Colonial Revival style church. Strangely, we didn't go to the front or try to go in.

This is the Jacome Art Panel at the Tucson Convention Centre. It depicts the arrival of the Spanish.

All of the time we were in Tucson today it was threatening to rain. It was really heavy and felt like a storm was imminent and heavy drops of rain fell intermittently. Of course we had not brought raincoats but we were fortunate enough to avoid any real rain until we were returning to the car. When we got back here there was a shower but not much rain. But the weather has given us the most beautiful views f the Santa Catalina mountains at the front of the house.