Last summer, we took a weekend trip down to Bisbee, Arizona to see the sights and try and escape the heat. I noticed this shop sign while we were there, but didn't know until recently that Bisbee is famous for a killer bee rampage that took place in 1998. I'm guessing maybe that's where this honey shop got its name?
The newspaper description of the incident sounds like something out of an old Hitchcock movie:
"The panic, the fear," marveled Sgt. Ben Reyna of the Bisbee, Ariz., police department, after something triggered a swarm of Africanized bees to sting everything moving on an otherwise ordinary Aug. 2 in 1998. Within 15 minutes, reports the Arizona Daily Star, killer bees had surrounded and stung a tied-up Labrador retriever, which died five hours later. The swarm stung eight pedestrians badly enough to send them to the hospital, and the bees even attacked pigeons and other birds in flight. But the most frightening experience was probably that of Debrah Strait, who was driving when bees filtered in through a partially opened window. When she opened the door to let them out - something normal bees would welcome - more bees swarmed in. Screaming for help, she stopped the car and ran to a neighbor, grabbed her hose and tried to wash the bees away. The neighbor reports: "Her hair was literally covered with bees. She had taken her shirt off, and her back and her chest were covered, too." Nurses at a local hospital said Strait had been stung up to 300 times on almost every part of the body, including her ear canals. Luckily, she did not have an allergic reaction to the bees' toxin.
Here are some of the photos I snapped around town that weekend. Bisbee's an old mining town (you can still take tours of the mine and museum) that's become a tourist destination. Lots of art galleries, B&B's, restaurants, bars, and quaint sights all around the town! And thank God we didn't see any bees! I noticed that the hotel where we stayed had a slideshow on YouTube, so I thought I'd post it in case anyone's actually interested in lodging in Bisbee. It was a cool older hotel that had been revamped and had great views of the town below.
View from our hotel room.
Door to our room.
Street view from the room!
Some cool artwork!
Architectural details.
Old advertising.
Barrel of prickly pears!
Cool dog!
Gorgeous flowers!
Cafe Cornucopia
Bisbee's kind of like Mayberry!
Old coaster wagon. Bisbee was having their Soapbox Derby trials that weekend. It's a yearly event around the 4th of July.
A truck owner with an artistic sense of humor!
This front porch looks like a Country Living photo shoot!
Another cool house!
Even the town graffiti is artistic!
Love this sign!
And I always have to snag photos of old VW Bugs!
Our favorite meal of the trip was eaten at this Mexican restaurant, Santiago's. We split the enchilada suizas and they were wonderful!
Street view from the room!
Barrel of prickly pears!
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