Silvertone Files: Arizona Travels...

There's a storm on the horizon - you can see it in the distance to the west of Tucson - where I am this evening. Clouds that are supposed to bring rain cover the sky and wind is blowing the dust through the streets. The wind feels good though as I sit at the Sky Bar on 4th Street waiting for my turn at the open mic.
Yesterday I drove to Jerome, Arizona from California. It was a nice easy drive - up through the middle of the state and through towns like Salome, Hope, Prescott - and the scenery changes from desert and cactuses to pine trees and mountains. The skies were clear, it was warm out and for a lot of it I drove with the windows down.
The town of Jerome is very unique. It's an old mining town and it sits on the side of the mountain as you go into Verde Valley. The streets wind back and forth - there are restaurants and shops - and couple of bars - and I was to play at The Spirit Room right on the corner of Main Street. What was also cool was that I had a room at the old hotel right above the venue/bar - the Hotel Connor
I had been through Jerome several times before but had never stayed the night in town. It is supposed to be full of haunted buildings so I was looking forward to it - well sort of. I have stayed in several "haunted" hotels in Arizona: the San Carlos in downtown Phoenix, the Hotel Congress here in Tucson, and the Hotel Monte Vista in Flagstaff but had never had a ghost sighting. The room was nice and big and I was able to catch a quick nap before I had to go downstairs and play for the night.
The bar was cool - a classic western bar - the kind you see in the movies. The bartender was nice and some bikers from Canada were there hanging out - I would find out that they were also staying at the hotel. It started a little slow, but as the restaurants closed down for the night more people made their way in - including a friend of a friend who lived there in town. At 1am I finally made my way back to my room and passed out. If there were any ghosts around, they didn't wake me up - so I guess I can thank them for that.
This morning I was able to sleep in a bit and then got ready for the day. I decided that I was going to head down here to Tucson since I had the day off and like it down here. I went across the street for breakfast, after checking out, to Bobby D's BBQ at the English Kitchen and had an amazing breakfast. It was huevos rancheros with smoked brisket mixed in, breakfast potatoes - and it all tasted so fresh and good. The brisket tasted awesome and I wished that I had gone there for lunch yesterday and had a sandwich.
The drive down here from Jerome was also easy, I passed through Phoenix and kept on going. I found this place, The Sky Bar online when I was searching for Tucson open mics. It's a nice place - all run by solar power - and has a good patio. Now that the sun has gone down the temperature is perfect. I'm looking forward to my 15 minutes.
yours truly,
Jeremiah
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