Came across a beautiful set of photos from Sandra Freyler on Flickr with the simple title The West. They feature Vulture City, Arizona - not high on my list of places to visit but a nice place to glance upon from the comfort of your own laptop:


Dawn breaks over Monument Valley

Taken July 1991

See Monument Valley and Mesa Verde National Park when you ride the California Zephyr train on the Page & Moy Canyon Lands tour.


I’ve spent a day or so collating a list of the Top 10 tourist attractions to visit whilst touring Arizona in January next year. The list isn’t by any means final and is subject to revisions (mine) and suggestions from anyone on the interweb with first hand knowledge and strong opinions. It’s just (for now) the list of 10 things I’d really like to go and see:

1. Kartchner Caverns State Park, Arizona
This stunning limestone cave was only discovered in 1974 and finally opened to the public in 1988. From the photos on the State Park website it looks like a promising place to swot up on stalactites and stalagmites - one up, one down?

2. Tombstone, “The Town Too Tough to Die”

This historic Wild West town doesn’t need an introduction being the location of probably the most infamous gunfight in history (the OK Corral, 24 seconds and 30 shots) and home to the legendary Doc Holliday, Wyatt Earp and of course the Boothill Graveyard.

I’ve heard it’s a bit of a tacky tourist trap with too many themed attractions for the even the most dedicated cowboy fan to take in but I quite fancy the idea of touring Tombstone on a stagecoach.

3. Take the Grand Canyon Railway from Williams to Grand Canyon National Park

The last time I visited the Grand Canyon in 1991 I slept under canvas in a campsite located directly under the flightpath of the tourist helicopters. 18 years on and this time round I’d like to arrive in style so the vintage train looks perfect.

4. Pima Air & Space Museum, Tucson

Do you remember Berlin’s “Take My Breath Away”, that 80’s classic hit from the Top Gun movie soundtrack? Well I do and I’d really like to see a plane ‘graveyard’, even if it’s not the one from the video. So a trip round the AMARG Aircraft Boneyard Tour is one reason to visit this Tucson museum. The other would be to see the Air Force One used by Presidents Kennedy and Johnson.

See the planes from above now on Google Maps

5. Go see a ghost town

Arizona is full of original ghost towns from the mining and railroad era. Jerome is probably the best known and loved and looks like a great spot to visit and take in the scenery.

Some others to consider: Bumble Bee, Cleator, Congress, Copper Creek, Crown King, Fort Misery, Gillette

Flickr - The World / Places / United States / Arizona /Jerome

6. Montezuma’s Castle National Monument

A national monument since 1906 and one of the best preserved cliff dwellings in North America. Take the virtual tour now to see the handiwork of the Sinaguan Indians who built it. You haven’t been able to climb up and go inside since 1951!

7. Arcosanti Project

“In 1970, the Cosanti Foundation began building Arcosanti, an experimental town in the high desert of Arizona, 70 miles north of metropolitan Phoenix. When complete, Arcosanti will house 5000 people, demonstrating ways to improve urban conditions and lessen our destructive impact on the earth.”

Sounds cool to me.

8. Biosphere 2

Whilst we’re on the subject of odd Arizona ‘towns’ how can I give the ultimate tribute to 70’s sci-fi cult classic ‘Silent Running’ a miss? Biosphere 2 was designed and built in the 80s as a sealed replica of the earth’s environment, a way of testing living conditions for missions into deep-space. Imagine TV’s Big Brother magnified 100 times and you get the idea. You can read about the missions on Wikipedia.

Note - I think there’s an ‘odd buildings’ theme to this list judging by the next couple of entries:

9. Taliesin West, Scottsdale, Arizona

Taliesin West, was architect Frank Lloyd Wright’s winter home and school in the desert from 1937 until his death in 1959. I love Wright’s work, particularly the Prairie Houses and the Price Tower. I drove straight past Fallingwater in 1994 on a frantic mission to reach Florida for Thanksgiving so I want to take the time to visit this desert masterpiece.

10. Mystery Castle, Phoenix, AZ

What a great tale - perhaps not for those involved - but just the name should demand a visit for kids who love Scooby Doo. Plus it’s A Phoenix Point Of Pride.

“Mystery Castle was built in the 1930s by Boyce Luther Gulley. After learning he had tuberculosis, Gulley moved from Seattle, Washington to the Phoenix area and began building the house from found or inexpensive materials. Boyce Gulley died in 1945, and Mary Lou and her mother were notified by attorney that they had inherited the property. Shortly after, the mother and daughter moved in.”

What do you think? Have I missed some obvious Arizona highlights out? Are there more places to add to make a Top 20 or even a Top 50 list? Where would you go with a week to take in the best bits of The Grand Canyon State?


If you’ve strolled south across the Millennium Bridge in London recently heading for Tate Modern you can’t have missed the enormous street art decorating the outside of the iconic former power station.

My favourite of the 6 pictures has to be the large pop art-style (in my limited art-world view) red indian chief looking out onto all those visitors heading to the Globe theatre. Gives a very nice feeling to the stroll into work!

Street Art at Tate Modern - Faile's 'In Trembling Whispers'

It was created by the New York-based ‘artist collective’ Faile and for those with some spare cash looking to purchase an original work of art to hang on the wall, check out their shop. Only 5 copies of ‘In Trembling Whispers’ - to give the chief his proper title - are available to buy for the tidy sum of $2800.

Given the money made off the back of Banksy stencil graffiti I’d think seriously about tucking a couple away for the grandkids.

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