Ah, Bisbee. An eclectic wonderland, filled with friendly people, antiquing treasures and about a bajillion delicious calories around every corner. There's something for everyone in Bisbee. For us, this round, it was the Letson Loft Hotel. I can assure you that all the wonderful things they boast on their website are 100% true!
Our trip began on Friday:
All packed up and ready to go!
We had a tasty leftovers lunch, that's tamales from the nice lady outside of Safeway (legit, safe and tasty, we ate every last morsel!) Once lunch was finished, we hit the road!
When we got to Bisbee we checked right into the hotel. After a short tour of the building the woman running the show asked if we had dinner plans. We didn't and she suggested the restaurant across the street, Cafe Roka, she even offered to make us a reservation. We were happy to take her up on the offer! Then, of course, I took pictures of absolutely everything.
We stayed in Room #6, and this was our luxurious bed. Kind of the view from the doorway, but that would make it seem really cramped. I'll give it that the room wasn't huge, but it suited our needs just fine!
Here's the TV and a nice lounge chair across from the bed. Oh yeah, and all of our stuff littering up the joint!
And to the left of your bed is a handy side table and your window with the view into the sun room. Which was honestly really neat, and no direct sun to heat up the room or wake you up too early! Of course if the room did get too hot or too cold, you have your own thermostat there, the little white box above the chair.
Also hanging over the chair was this neat collection of historical photos of the building itself. Turns out it's been a few different hotels in its lifetime, also served as a restaurant for a stent, and even private office space.
Next up, all the little extras that make you feel right at home and ready for relaxation!
Water,wine glasses, and even ear plugs for optimum comfort. All atop your very own armoire
Once you've hung up your clothes and moved into the room, it's time to explore your private, spacious and rather inviting bath!
Waiting for you in the bath, inside that gorgeous vanity that I managed NOT to take a photo of (tisk tisk!)
Are these! Bath time amenities, a loofa and an inflatable tub pillow!
On top of the gorgeous vanity that I managed not to take a photo of are these hotel staples
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| Adorable little soaps! <3 |
(They smelled fantastic too! Like citrus!)
I [also] neglected to take a picture of the nightstand, but it was there. Both useful and attractive. The staff at the Letson Loft prepped it with some fun reading material, which actually came in really handy. I read at least 4 articles during my stay!
Those staff members were also kind enough to make up these handy little "what to do in Bisbee" books
I love the way it's made to look like a scrapbook. This little binder informed us that Saturday night, The Big Lebowski would be playing at the Royale Theater, so we made plans!
We'd only been in the hotel about a couple of hours before we had both of our evenings set. All that was left was to go out and enjoy! We had a little time to kill before our dinner reservation, so we hit the streets where I snagged a couple of lovely Bisbee shots
Then it was off to The Bisbee Grand for a couple of drinks to celebrate our anniversary and weekend getaway
Dinner time rolled around and we were very excited. Before being seated we sat at the bar and got our drink orders in. That allowed for some time to look around and really absorb the restaurant. Like their interesting artwork
And we nabbed a shot of the excellent margarita Dylan had, the salt on the rim is smoked salt! How cool is that?
Turns out Cafe Roka offers up various menu options like any other restaurant, but whichever entree you choose - you get to enjoy a 4 course meal! We started with the appetizer sampler
From the top: Prosciutto wrapped artichokes, bacon wrapped dates, ricotta and goat cheese stuffed red peppers. All three were honestly mind blowing, but if I had to pick a favorite I'd say it was the red peppers.
Next up, the soup course
The soup of the day was black bean and potato. With a nice hunk of buttered bread, man oh man it doesn't get much better than that! At this point I was enjoying everything so much that I neglected to stop and take a picture of the salad course. It was perfect, just like the soup. Neither of which were too large a portion and they were loaded with tasty flavors!
This next part was really fun
Little bitty lime sorbet scoops and little bitty spoons to eat them with. This part was the pallet cleanser, very fancy! Dylan and I opted for the day's seafood special. Luckily, we decided to split the entree. (It's lucky because had we not, we may very well have exploded because there's no way you can't eat every last bite!)
The special included: a cod filet, lobster ravioli and a crab cake. Hands down the best crab cake I have ever had, ever, in my entire life. Dylan and I will try crab cakes every chance we get - we've had great ones before, but this one takes the CAKE heh, get it?
Speaking of cake, since we were in town to celebrate our anniversary Cafe Roka gave us a free dessert! Being beyond stuffed, we asked for the dessert to go. They packed us up an adorable little box filled with tasty!
After dinner we retreated back to the hotel to digest and relax. I decided to indulge with the loofa and bath pillow they left for me.
~aah~ A super hot bath on a cold Bisbee night, in a beautiful finished bathroom that someone else cleaned up for you. Does it get any better than that? Dylan went out to find us some hot chocolate to sip alongside our dessert. After I had a good long soak we wrapped up in our comfy robes and enjoyed our complimentary chocolate cake. In the morning we hit the streets.
After stopping at Bisbee Coffee Co. for some delicious morning brew we walked as far up the historic strip as we could, until it was all pretty residential. What we found was a cute little restaurant so we stopped in for some breakfast.
Dylan had a breakfast burrito with home fries and I had something I'd never had before - hash browns smothered in sausage gravy. Oh. My. God. They were SWIMMING and they were fantastic! I was more than pleased with my decision. After our classic vacation breakfast we ventured across the street to a little artisan chocolate shop that wasn't open yet. But we made a mental note to return.
We spent the day weaving in and out of antique shops and artist's galleries. We purchased a few goodies we may or may not actually need, found a few gifts, chatted up the locals and enjoyed the sheer amusement in some of the vintage oddities available in Bisbee. Like these salt and pepper shakers.
I liked these guys because they reminded me of Beldar and Prymatt Conehead.
Towards the end of the day we returned to the artisan chocolate shop to see what they had to offer.
I don't think there's a word - or enough words - in my vocabulary to explain this. Resplendent perhaps? Heavenly? Sublime? Combine all of these and you're almost there. From the left, here were the delectable flavors we had the privilege to enjoy. Vanilla Caramel with sea salt, citrus sage (you heard me! AHMAZING) next up - chocolate tequila truffle, and Irish cream. As beautiful as they are delicious. I can't even - THERE ARE NOT WORDS! Just, go. For the love of god, go.
http://spiritedchocolate.businesscatalyst.com/Default.html
After our magical chocolate hour, we stopped at another tasty eatery and got a late lunch to go.
Soup and sandwiches! Gobbled up from the comfort of our homey hotel room.
Next stop - the Royale Theater for a screening of The Big Lebowski.
Dylan and I donned our plush hotel robes, grabbed a couple of umbrellas to brace the little ice pellets (not quite snow, not quite hail) that were falling from the sky on our way to the theater.
The next day was Sunday. Time to check out of the hotel and pack up to go home. But the vacation wasn't over yet! We made our traditional stop at the Bisbee Breakfast Club for another classic indulgent vacation meal!
We were home Sunday afternoon. Our vacation may have come to an end - but the weekend wasn't over! We decided to invite a couple of friends over for dinner. Everyone enjoyed some spaghetti squash, salads drizzled with the delicious watermelon balsamic vinegar we got at Bisbee Olive Oil and a fun little creation called "Frog Balls." Also acquired from BOO.
(Frog Balls are spicy pickled brussles sprouts, brilliant!)
Then we all shared bites of the 4 chocolates we packed up to go home with us!
This round from the top left: chocolate rosemary truffle, Mexican truffle (I think it was dark chocolate and cinnamon plus some other magical ingredients, this was the one and only flavor I didn't get to try) Lower left was a "Berry Berry" I think it was called, tasty berry cream wrapped in chocolate. Mmmm mmm! Bottom right was my favorite, an amaretto chocolate nut truffle ~drool~
Do you think the fun stopped there? 2 days on vacation with nothing but time to kill and calories to ingest. I had already lived it up - and the fun still wasn't over. The next day was Monday. But instead of going back to the real world - I took one last day off. Venturing up to Phoenix for even more wordless splendor.
I got to go see Green Day perform at a tiny venue, their 2nd show after a 5 month hiatus.
Ya'll are reading the blog of one lucky, happy girl.
See you next time!
