For two nights between days at the Grand Canyon, Rababe and I stayed in Williams, AZ, 60 minutes from the park.
When we checked into our hotel, we got an earful from Scott, a fellow midwesterner, who was working the desk. He was full of suggestions on how to enjoy the area. We got our things unloaded and headed off on foot to the main town area, simple walking distance from the Red Roof Inn.
We found some fun shopping. Several shops full of any type of item with Route 66 on it you could want. The stores are blasting music from the era gone by, the 1950s, when people would road trip through small towns like this one.
We found a old west setup complete with a jail, courthouse, saloon, and more. We ate dinner in Route 66 diner, again nostalgic of the 50s.
One of the random small suggestions Scott had given us was to see the cowboy show. From Williams to the Grand Canyon is the Grand Canyon Railway. Visitors can buy round trip tickets for this one-of-a-kind historical experience. The train takes you into the park and several hours later, brings you back. Part of this experience is the cowboy show, before departure. We were not riding the train but since the show took place out in the open before passengers boarded, we could just blend and no one would know the difference. It was fun and a cool historical experience.
We left Northern Arizona from Williams on our final day of our 4-day road trip. It was suggested to us that we take a detour back and head through the mountain town of Jerome, which we were told was a ghost town. Once we got there it proved to be more of a quaint, mountain town with lots of classy and fun shops, places to eat, and nice views. As explained by a local, to constitute a ghost town a place must have 15% of less of it's original population. Jerome is small, but still alive and well. The only ghosts we saw were the Halloween decorations, which the town seemed to have in great supply due to their festive spirit. It made for a fun place to eat lunch, get some rest from driving, and experience a twisty mountain road. (The last bit being the least fun part!)
We left Northern Arizona from Williams on our final day of our 4-day road trip. It was suggested to us that we take a detour back and head through the mountain town of Jerome, which we were told was a ghost town. Once we got there it proved to be more of a quaint, mountain town with lots of classy and fun shops, places to eat, and nice views. As explained by a local, to constitute a ghost town a place must have 15% of less of it's original population. Jerome is small, but still alive and well. The only ghosts we saw were the Halloween decorations, which the town seemed to have in great supply due to their festive spirit. It made for a fun place to eat lunch, get some rest from driving, and experience a twisty mountain road. (The last bit being the least fun part!)