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Southeastern Arizona October Events Are For The Whole Family

Southeastern Arizona October Events are many and varied. I wrote about some in my last blog. That blog had to do with events in Tombstone but that isn’t all that is the only events in Cochise County during October. There are other Southeastern Arizona October events going on in Benson with Butterfield Stage Days and the Butterfield Rodeo and in Willcox with Rex Allen Days and the Willcox Fall Wine Festival

Benson Butterfield Stage Days

There are many talented people that participate in Southeastern Arizona October Events.

Benson’s Butterfield Stage Days commemorates the Butterfield Stage route that came through the Benson area in the late 1850s. It has been 155 years since the Stage Route was started. This is some great family fun to be had during the weekend.

The Butterfield Stage Days parade is open to anyone that wishes to participate.

On October 10 and 11, 2014 the festivities start off with a parade through the streets of Benson. This year’s theme is “San Pedro Valley Education – 100+ years and counting.” Last year the Benson School District was rated the best in the State of Arizona. There are vendor booths set up around the Benson Museum and if like previous years there are members of the Buffalo Soldiers Renactors Group that have a display.

There is also a Pony Express group that takes commemorative envelopes that are sold to visitors and delivers the mail to the Dragoon Post Office. Although the Pony Express never came through Benson it was determined that this activity would lend some Old West spirit to the festival.

The Pony Express Riders are volunteers and carry commemorative mail to the Post Office in Dragoon.

After the end of the Rodeo completion on Saturday, There are fireworks in Lions Park. This is always a great time to sit back and enjoy the fireworks. This has been a tradition for many years.

On Sunday, the Butterfield Stage Days ends but not before the judging of the car show is done. This show has not be held for 2 years but in the past it has drawn a number of old beauties and is worth the time to see the entries.

Butterfield Rodeo

The Rodeo is a two day event that is held and the Arena Bar in Benson. The Arena has been the host of the Rodeo for many years. The facilities are nice and there is a lot of parking available. Besides the  adult rodeo there is also rodeo events for children. This can be a lot of fun to watch with youngsters are out there trying their skills. For more information click on the City of Benson Link.

Visit our website at Down By The River B and B if you are planning to take in any of these Southeastern Arizona October Events.

Tombstone October Events Are A Must See And Do At Least Once.

Tombstone has a cast and crew of cowboys walking the streets during operating hours. Special weekends have gun fights and other special events.

Tombstone October Events are just right for that person that would like to see an Old West spectacular celebration. Dodge City and Deadwood have celebrations but in my opinion the best time to get the most out of your “Old West” experience is to head for Tombstone. The Tombstone October events week starts off with the Wyatt Earp Vendetta Ride and culminates with the second event, Helldorado Days.

The Vendetta Ride is a historic five day ride on horseback to many sites where Wyatt Earp, Doc Holliday and his posse rode as they chased down and had shootouts with the “Cowboys”. The Cowboys were associates of the Clantons, known rustlers and killers. The horseback ride is mainly in Cochise County and you will visit sites where Curly Bill Brocius, Johnny Barnes and Johnny Ringo were killed. The rides start at a different place each day and you will be transported to the starting point for that days ride. Three meals a day are provided. To get more information, click on the link to Great American Adventures for this part of the Tombstone October Events. This year the event is held from October 12 to the 17,  2014.

Smile when you say that!

The second of the Tombstone October events starts just after the Vendetta Ride concludes. The 85 th annual Helldorado Days is held on October 17 to 19, 2014.  This is the premiere festival held in Tombstone. Where does the word Helldorado come from? Well according to some Tombstone aficionados it comes from an old miner who complained about his experience. He wrote  into the Tombstone Nugget Newspaper that most of the miners that came to find their El Dorado ended up doing menial jobs like washing dishes and only found Helldorado.

Tombstones Helldorado days takes its name from this miner’s grievance. Helldorado Days is the longest running event in Tombstone. It started in 1929, the year Wyatt Earp died. I don’t know if that was a coincidence or not. Each year this Tombstone October Event is held on the third weekend in October and is sponsored by Helldorado Inc.  If you can’t make the festivities this year keep that third weekend in mind for another time.

This year the Helldorado Days event will include a raffle for an 1851 Sheriff Brass 44 cal Black Power Revolver. The drawing will be held on Sunday the 19 th at 4 PM. Other event activities include a parade, entertainment by various cowboy re enactors during the festivities, a beard and mustache contest and of course, the famous Walk Down to the OK Corral. There will be many people that show up in the period dress who are not part of the entertainment. It is always a fund time and you will be able to get some great photographs during these Tombstone October events.

The gunfight at the OK Corral is staged every day in Tombstone

Lodging for visitors usually fills up fast. It is not unheard of hotels, motels and b and b having no occupancy 3 or 4 weeks out prior to the Helldorado Days festival. We have had many people stay at our B and B and head to Tombstone dressed to the nines for their day of fun. Down By The River B and B is located outside of Tombstone in St. David. We are a 20 minute drive to the “Town Too Tough To Die”. Check us out and see what we have to offer as an upscale location near Tombstone.

Willcox Winery Tour From Down By The River B and B

A Willcox Winery Tour requires some planning. Using Arizona Wine Lifestyle Maps can show you the locations of the wineries you want to visit.

We love to take the Willcox Winery Tour and spend the day doing some wine tasting and meeting friends. During the summer season, the traffic at Down By The River B and B slows down and allows us to venture out to look at the many sites in Cochise County. Angie and I decided to take a day and do a Willcox wine tour visiting some wineries that are on the Willcox Bench. We hadn’t been to Willcox since the October Willcox Wine Festival. Our purpose then was to find an Arizona wine to have at our “Challenge on the River”, a blind wine taste test that we held in November, 2013. This time our intent was to find out about a new tasting room that was opened.

Coronado was first on our Willcox Winery Tour and they offer a wide range of wines.

We started off the Willcox winery tour visiting Terry at Coronado Vineyards on the east side of Willcox. Our first visit to Coronado was during the second week that they opened the tasting room. This time we met some travelers who were there to taste and had a fun time discussing wine and our b and b. The wines range from dry to semi sweet and they do have some desert wines and a sparking wine. Every year we host a New Years Eve Party with our guests and friends. This year will not be an exception. At midnight we pour Coronado’s sparkling wine Dolce Veritas. The tasting room is open daily check their website for the hours.

Bodega Pierce has just opened their tasting room. We wanted to stop and see what they had to offer and also to introduce ourselves.

After taking our leave of Coronado, we headed south to the center of the Willcox Bench growing region. We stopped at Bodega Pierce.  They have just opened their tasting room on Robbs Road in Kansas Settlement located just north of the Pillsbury winery. We had tasted their wines in October but under the name of Saeculum Cellars. Barbara and Dan are the perfect hosts and will take time to explain their wines to you. We actually got there as the rain started and it was pleasant to sip wine and watch the rain. It had been over a week since there was a good rain. We did enjoy their wines which are medium to dry and fruity. They do have a delightful Malvasia Bianca. That grape is usually blended with other wines and I haven’t tasted it much as a varietal. Their hours are Thursday to Sunday 11 to 5.

Pillsbury Wine Company is building a new wine building to improve their facilities.

Next stop on our Willcox wine tour was Pillsbury Wine Company.  Located a little further south and then east on Bennet Place. We came to see Bonnie, Sam Pillsbury’s wonderful tasting room hostess and to view the new construction.  Pillsbury is having a new winery building constructed for the expanding vineyard and the building is progressing nicely. We were the only ones there for a while and got to catch up on what was going on. The wines are medium to dry. Just before we left we met another vintner who is just starting out with his winery. He told us it would be a couple of years before he gets to the point of having a tasting room. The Pillsbury tasting room is open Thursday to Sunday 11 to 5.

Zarpara Tasting Room is in the middle of the vineyard

We end our Willcox winery tour with a stop at Zarpara Winery and we were greeted by Rhona and Mark. We stopped at Zarpara on the first week that they opened. They have a nice variety of wine from medium to dry. Rhona had just got back from Scotland and so we got to catch up on gossip with her. Her dog came into the tasting room with us but was summarily marched back out. Seems the dog had a run in with a skunk and after a while the scent would make its presents known. Zarpara had the honor of winning our “Challenge on the River” blind taste test with their wine Origen. The tasting room is open Friday to Sunday 11 to 5.

Texas Canyon’s scattered trees offers some shade while you enjoy the views while you return from a Willcox Winery tour.

Our return home was through the town of Dragoon and into Texas Canyon. The area is picturesque and is even more so when the monsoon clouds and rain are in the mix. The loop trip on our Willcox wine tour lasted about 7 hours and was a less than 100 miles in length. We got home while it was still light so we could enjoy the sunset and relax. We have found that wine people are very friendly and everyone is helpful with directions to the neighboring wineries. So plan your next Willcox wine tour and stay at Down By The River after your loop trip. The next day you can head to Sonoita for more wine tasting loop trip or maybe just make your way home.

Willcox Bench Wineries Produce Award Winning Wines

The Willcox Bench Wineries have a perfect climate and soil for growing grapes.

The Willcox Bench wineries are plentiful and varied. The elevation is from 4300 feet to 4500 feet and the temperature range is 30 to 40 degrees. With the Arizona sunshine, this is a perfect grape growing region. A majority of the fruit grown for use the in Arizona wineries are from vines on the Willcox Bench. The wineries in the Verde Valley towns of Cottonwood and Page Springs grow some of their grapes in that area but the rest comes from Willcox. Even some of the Sonoita Wineries grow their grapes on the Willcox Bench.

The Willcox Bench wineries are located in a valley that is an old lake bed. The Willcox Playa is the remains of a dry lake that in the winter is the nesting area for the Sand Hill Cranes that migrate to the south from the northern latitudes. Bird watching on the bench, along with wine tasting, are two of the pastimes that the traveling public find enjoyable. The old lake bed provides the water needed to irrigate the vines. The summer monsoon rains also help to give the vines water during the July and August months.

The Willcox Playa is a dry lake in the Sulphur Springs Valley and is where the Sand Hill Cranes spend the winter.

Originally when we started Down By the River B and B, the wine tasting rooms were in Sonoita and at Bowie. Over the years there have been many tasting rooms spring up on the Willcox Bench. In 2014, a couple of new tasting rooms have opened for business. Reports are that the Willcox Bench Wineries are growing fast as more vineyards come on line and when new ones open up we try to stop by to introduce ourselves and also take time see our friends at other wineries.

Syrah is one of the varietals that you can find at the Willcox Bench Wineries.

Many of the wineries here in Arizona grow their grapes on the Willcox Bench. Wines of Willcox has a list of 12 tasting rooms and there is another list of vintners that are associated with the Willcox wine growing region.You can also get a map of the wineries from AZ Wine Lifestyle  Naturally we can’t visit them all in one day so that makes if fun to go back to Willcox another time and stop at the other wineries. Some of the tasting rooms are available by appointment only while other have set hours. Aridus has recently added to the value to the bench with a modern crush facility for the vintners in the area. The local wineries now have access to a state of the art facility located on the Willcox Bench.

We have sampled wine at nearly all the Willcox Bench wineries over the years and we have found something we like at each one of the wineries. Probably one of the best ways to sample wines from the other wineries that you haven’t heard about is to go to the Willcox Wine Festival coming up in October or the one held next spring in May. Many vintners are there and the tastings are available in a wonderful festive atmosphere with food available and music playing in the background. In late July Angie and I decided to check out a new tasting room that was opening and also to visit some old friends that we know at some other wineries. Read our next blog Willcox Winery Tour for that information.

Some wineries us netting to protect the grapes from the birds and tall fencing to keep the deer out.