The Hill Town of Jerome, AZ

While camped at Camp Verde, good friends of ours from Casa Grande, Stacey and Gail, were staying at the Thousand Trails park a few miles away. We got together today and decided to take a short ride to the hill town of Jerome on Rt. 89A. We took our car and I drove up the winding road into the mountains where Jerome is found. As you know, I love driving the roads with steep drop-offs and so this white knuckled adventure was just my cup of tea! (NOT).

Anyway, we parked the car (on a hill) and proceeded to walk the town. It is located near an abandoned gold mine and the locals say the mine is haunted! Makes for a good story I suppose. This town was also known for its bordello's and houses of the ill repute. With all those miners, business was certainly good! Here we see a sign to that effect where you can "get a piece" at Belgian Jennies.

We were quite high up into the mountain so the view was pretty fantastic. The town is actually built on the side of the mountain and speaking with a few of the merchants here, I was told that they have to drive the road up the mountain to their shops each day. No Thanks! They also told us that the real estate was extremely high here (no pun intended). I guess you pay for the view.

I took this photo of a yard at a house in town. Apparently, this guy is a collector....of everything! With all the "stuff" and the colorful items, it looked kind of cool. There are other "collectors" here as well. We went into one winery shop and they were perched on the edge of the hill. They have large windows overlooking the valley. I must say it was pretty spectacular.

To end our day in Jerome, Peg and I and Stacey and Gail decided to eat at the Jerome Palace, home of the haunted hamburger. It was Wednesday and each Wednesday they have a special 2 for 1 burger price. Gee, could it be we knew that? We ate on the top floor and again had a view. By the way, the jail in this town used to be on an upper street and in the 1800's the rain came and washed it from its foundation down the mountain to its current resting place, about 250 feet from its original location! Can you imagine being a prisoner in the jail that day???