Gadsden Hotel

Gadsden Hotel Picture

Gadsden Hotel was opened in 1907

Down By The River B and B is just the right location as an anchor site for lodging when you plan short day trips to different parts of Cochise County. There are a lot of things to do in Cochise county. Centrally located with access to the major highways that cross the county, Down By The River is the southeastern AZ bnb lodging that has it all. One of the locations that we have within a short distance is the City of Douglas. There are two particular things to see and do in Douglas. One thing to do is to stop and see the Gadsden Hotel. The second is to visit what is left of the San Bernardino Spanish Land Grant that is now the site of the John Slaughter Ranch and Museum. The ranch is located to the east of Douglas about 15 miles. I will be writing about that in the near future as it is a neat place to see.

On December 30, 1853, The United States purchased the land south of the

Hotel Lobby Picture

The Gadsden Hotel Lobby is large and open with glass panels in the ceiling.

Gila River in Arizona and New Mexico from Mexico by ratifying The Treaty of Guadalupe Hidalgo. The person spearheading this was James Gadsden who was appointed by President Franklin Pierce as the Minister to Mexico. Gadsden had an ulterior motive for the purchase. He owned a railroad and with a group of investors had learned that the only southern rail route to the west cost of the United States would have to run through a portion of Mexico. After working for a short period of time Gadsden was able to persuade President Santa Ana of Mexico to sell the 45,535 square miles of Mexican territory to the US for about 33 cents per acre.

The Gadsden Hotel, named for the Gadsden Purchase, is located in Douglas, Arizona and is within a mile of the Mexican border. The hotel was first opened in 1907 and has had many dignitaries and famous people have stayed there. Eleanor Roosevelt, most of the Arizona Governors and movie stars including Lee Marvin and Shelley Winters have been guests at the hotel.

The 5 story hotel was state of the art when originally opened. The lobby is large with tall columns that support the roof. Each of the columns are painted in 14k gold leaf which at the cost was $20000. The ceiling of the lobby is decorated with stain glass panels that run the length of the lobby. The mezzanine is also home to an original Tiffany

Greek Warrior

Greek Warrior statue at the start of the stairs.

stain glass mural that covers over 40’ of wall space. The desert scene in this glass mural is beautiful to behold. An original oil painting by Audley Jean Nichols is located below the windows while two Greek warrior figures are positioned on the posts at the start of the staircase banisters.  The hotel still has the original 1929 telephone switchboard, reportedly the first of its kind to be installed in Arizona, and has one of the oldest manually operated elevators west of the Mississippi. The switchboard isn’t used anymore but does make a fine display behind the front desk. The Hotel was placed on the National Historical Registry and was proclaimed a National Historic Site in 1976. It fell into disrepair and was purchased in 1988 by the present owners. They have since brought it back to the beautiful state that it is in today. The dining room and the barroom are located off the lobby. The meals served at the dining room are quite good and we have eaten there and found the cuisine to our liking.

Stain Glass Ceiling Panel

Stain Glass Ceiling Panel

Some Trivia about the hotel is told by the staff. This includes a list of movies made on the premises including “The Life and Times of Judge Roy Bean” and “Terminal Velocity”. One of the items of gossip is that Lee Marvin was almost in a barroom brawl at the hotel. It is reported that Pancho Villa rode his horse up the staircase of the hotel to the mezzanine. Critics say that wasn’t possible since Pancho Villa was killed in 1923 and that the hotel had burned down and was rebuilt and opened in 1929. However, the hotel management point to newspaper accounts that indicate the Italian white marble stairway survived the fire and that Pancho Villa did the ride before the hotel had burned.  There are staff members and guests at the hotel that state that the hotels is haunted backing it up with accounts of the sightings. The mezzanine has glass cases with memorabilia on display. There is also pictures on the walls of the old town of Douglas and the events that happened.  It is interesting to spend some time there and look at the grandeur that is on display.

Tiffany Window

The original Tiffany Glass window spans over 40 feet of wall area and is 8 feet tall.

 

6th Annual Coronado Wine Stomp

Coronado Vineyards Sign

Coronado Vineyards

Coronado Vineyards held the 2012 – 6th Annual Grape Stomp on August 18th and 19th. There were two days full of sunshine and wine while listening to live music featuring GRIND on Saturday and BUZZ &

Band Picture

Buzz and the Soul Senders

THE SOUL SENDERS on Sunday. This is always a family event and there were some young buckaroos there to enjoy the music, fun and games.

There were various types of food for purchase that complemented the wine tastings. And as always the people that wanted to

Buckaroo picture

Buckaroo’s have a good time too

know what it was like for the great actress Lucy to stomp around in a barrel of grapes, the barrel and grapes were provided for the enjoyment of the celebrants. Angie got into the act with her rendition of the Cha-cha. She wasn’t alone since there were other people there that wanted to experience the grapes between the toes. You will have to wait for next year to try this out. No stomping experience is necessary for this fun event. Shade was provided.

The charge for the event was $10 for adults and

Munchies with wine

Munchies with wine

that included a souvenir wine glass, all the grapes you can stomp while listening to live music, and a wine tasting of Coronado’s current releases. Wine club members got into the event for half price. We have gone to the event many times and each time we enjoy ourselves. We meet new people and enjoy the food, music and wine. What a pleasant way to spend the day. All of Jacque’s staff were

Terry Picture

Terry Ready to pour tasting

there to made the day a great success and our friend Terry was pouring the tastings. We tried to get Jacque to pause a moment so that we could get a picture of her with us but time ran out and she was a little busy making sure things were running properly.

So next year when you are ready to go to the southeast Arizona wine country and stay at a BnB. Just think about what to do to get out of the heat during an August weekend. Then think about spending time at Down By The River B & B in southeastern Arizona at the BnB that is The Lodging Hub of Cochise County. Take a look at our events page after May for next years Grape Stomp dates. Throughout the

Stomping grapes

Angie doing the Cha-cha

year there are wine events happening in the area. Since we are between both of the wine regions in Sonoita and Willcox we advertize the events that are coming up.

On October 20 and 21, The Willcox Wine Festival will be in full swing with more than 60 wines available for tasting and live entertainment. See you there.

BREWER’S WEEKEND

 

Down By The River B and B announces a

Beer Brewer’s Weekend at the River.

Stay the nights of November 2 and 3, 2012 at Down By The River B and B and learn how to brew Beer. The demonstration will start shortly after breakfast on Saturday and will go through the

Ingredients Picture

You can purchase the ingredients as a prepackage kit or separately.

process for brewing your own beer. You will be shown the equipment, some of which is home made, and there will be literature available for the
participants to review.
We will go through the whole brewing process up to the wort being placed into the fermentation tank. After finishing this step, the rest of the process will be discussed

Steeping grain picture

The water must be held at a certain temperature to get the sugars out of the grain.

so that so that you know the steps needed to bottle the brew. You may decide after watching that you can also do this and a home brew six pack might make a great Christmas present for someone on your list.
Now the best part of the entire process is that the demonstration costs nothing. You just have to attend and watch the demonstration.
This is open to anyone that wishes to attend and you do not need to have any experience in brewing beer to watch the process.
There are a couple of the fun things that you do after you have bottled your beer is to make a label. Angie and I have made 2 labels so far. One for the Pumpkin Ale and the other for the Imperial Porter. The other thing to do is to drink the beer. Cheers!
Now if you are a member of the fairer sex and don’t want to learn about brewing Beer, you may decide to do something else in the area or at the BnB. If you would like to pamper yourself, then we also will be offering facials by Janan. Reservations are required at the time of reserving your room, at least 48 hours in advance.
Click here to see the menu that is offered by Janan.

 

 

 

Working With Stained Glass

Partial Picture of the 40 foot stain glass window in the Gadsen Hotel

Partial Picture of the 40 foot stain glass window in the Gadsen Hotel

I have made most of the stained glass on display at Down By The River B and B in the bedrooms and in the common areas for our guests to view. I always liked to look at what artists did with stained glass when I was growing up. When we traveled, the glass that I would see in churches fascinated me. I wondered how anyone could make such beautiful things out of glass. I lived in a small town and we didn’t have resources to explain to me how it was done and no one that I knew had an inkling of what it took to make those colorful scenes out of glass. I would help my mom clean the church so that I would be able to see the sun coming through the glass.

By chance in 1992, I found a glass shop that taught people how to work with glass. I had previously been buying pieces in stores, at swap meets and yard sales for gifts. When I walked in the door of the shop the variety of colors and shapes awed me. All the windows were covered with sun catcher creations and there were items hanging from the ceiling. Along one wall were shelves that contained sheets of glass of all sizes, types and colors for hobbyists to buy. Before I left the store I had signed up for the next class to learn how to work with glass.

Vendors display of glass for sale.

Vendors display of glass for sale.

The class started out learning how to cut glass and not have the glass cut you. This was surprisingly not a simple thing to do when I first started. And I learned that cutting a curve is trickier than a straight line. When I broke the glass I learned what to do to prevent a crack that ruins the piece and not down the line I scribed. But after some practice I didn’t make the foolish mistakes that I did when I first hurried through the process.Learning to cut a piece of glass so that if fits perfectly into the pattern takes some time. Too big a gap and I had to re-cut the piece or fill the extra space with solder. Having the piece too large made the rest of the pattern looked shoved out of place. I thanked the person that invented the glass grinder many times. This can be expensive since the grinders are made out of diamond dust. It is better to learn how to cut correctly so that the grinder is not needed.

Cut pieces of glass before foiling.

Cut pieces of glass before foiling.

I learned to put the glass in lead channels and also the art of foiling. These are the two ways of binding the glass pattern so that it all stays connected. With leading, smaller pieces can be covered up because of the thickness of the channels. This process is mainly for larger glass projects that are going to be framed. Foiling allows you to make smaller lighter pieces. Foiling is more tedious since the foil needs to be evenly spaced on both sides of the glass.

However, both leading and foiling require the joints and pieces be soldered together. Foiling requires more solder work than leading but smaller pieces are lighter and can be hung with suction cups from windows. The next skill that I needed to perfect was soldering. Soldering takes a lot of practice so that there aren’t bubbles and uneven lines in the work. When I quit working with glass for a while I ended up needing to reacquire my skills at soldering again.

Finished Glass of an Angel on the Moon

Finished Glass of an Angel on the Moon

Now that I am here in St. David, I am no longer close to a glass shop. The nearest one is in Tucson, an hour away. I first found the shop because Barb needed glass for a shade to complement an Art Deco lamp that she found. I didn’t have the colors she wanted so we went to Tucson, found the glass and purchased it. The shade now sits on a floor lamp in the Prospector Room. At the time we were in the glass shop, the owners were just finishing up a class on fused glass.  I asked about when the next class was and signed up. I found that fused glass has some other aspects that are unique to the art. With my cutting skills, I found that it was easier than foiling or leading glass. The one drawback was that I didn’t have the variety of colors that are available in the other mediums. This is because all the glass has to have the same coefficient of expansion so that when it heats up and then cools it doesn’t crack and ruin the work.

When Angie and I go into Tucson we will sometimes stop to buy some glass for projects or get ideas for things to do. We are also looking at creating some sun catchers to have available as souvenirs from the B and B for our guests to purchase. This summer Angie and I went up to our web hosting company and met the people there. We talked about what we wanted on our new website and we are excited that this is being worked on at the present time. We are hopeful that it will be up and running this month.

Fused Glass Plate

Fused Glass Plate

On the way back to the airport, we took time to stop at the Museum of Glass. I had heard of this museum when I visited the Chihuly exhibition in Phoenix in 2009. The museum was a great find and the exhibits that we looked at were unbelievable. We also stopped at the Space Needle in Seattle to see the Chihuly exhibit there. I have some photos on the B and B Facebook page. We hope you view them and “Like” the pictures and our page. You can also Like the B and B.

Apple Annie’s U Pick Orchard

We are lucky at Down By The River B and B because we have fruit orchards near us in Southeastern Arizona. Being the “Lodging Hub of Cochise County” has its advantages. We are a short distance to many sights and locations. Our BnB is close to Willcox wineries and U pick orchards.

We especially love the peach picking season in August and go to an orchard called Apple Annie’s located in

Apple Annies Lot

Apple Annie’s Entrance and Main Buildings

Willcox. When we travel to Apple Annie’s we usually have an entire day planned out so that we can get everything done in a day. We try to stay away from weekends when the crowds are at the orchard. It makes our experience a lot more enjoyable, although we do miss the peach pancakes and ice cream that offered at the kiosks on the weekends.
The day begins early and we try to leave the B and B by 7 AM for the drive to Willcox. We leave early

so that we are picking in the cool of the morning but also so that we aren’t still processing peaches into

Peach Tree Picture

Peaches are just hanging from the trees and are ready to pick.

late evening. The elevation of the orchard is at 4275 feet, a little higher than our B and B, so it is cooler there compared to the metropolitan areas of Tucson and Phoenix. We know what type of fruit is ripe prior to arriving but when we check to verify what is left. We do dress for the orchard since it can be muddy and you can catch clothes on branches. Apple Annie’s is a U Pick orchard but they also have fruit there that is already picked for a little higher price for those who don’t want to go into the orchard.

We gather together our pails, basket picker and either a wagon or a wheel barrow. We like the wheel barrow as it has bigger tires and provides a smoother ride for the peaches. There are signs on the rows of

Angie Picking

Angie with her peach picking tools and some peaches.

trees showing you which fruit is ready to pick and what type of fruit it is. Other rows are roped off as the fruit has not yet ripened. We like picking the larger peaches so we time our trip to occur when the J H Hale and the O’Henry peaches are ripe. We go up to the trees and hold the peaches. If the peach falls into our hand easily it is ripe. If you have to pull a little it isn’t and we leave it on the tree. We do this because we process the peaches the same day we pick them and we want the ripest ones. However, if you are picking then you may want to have them a little less ripe so that you can get them home and enjoy them a couple of days later. Annie’s gives you an explanation to guide you with your picking.

We usually pick between 40 and 60 pounds of peaches. Each 5 gallon bucket

Mike Picking Picture

Mike found a couple of peaches within reach and they were perfect for our needs

holds about 20 pounds of peaches. To a lesser extent, we pick some other fruit like Asian pears and some apples. We ave some crepe recipes for the pears that we have tried. We use the apples in our Apple Stuffed French Toast and we also have an apple crepe that is good.
It takes us about an hour to go into the orchard, pick and then return to pay the bill. The peaches we pick will be used for menu items that we have for our guests. We place the peaches in brown paper bags or in boxes though not more than two layers tall. This keeps the peaches from becoming damaged when we head back home to Saint David. We learned our lesson when we had the peaches stacked into a couple of bags and found that the bottom ones were bruised and mushy.

When we get back home the fun begins. Note I use the word fun interchangeable with the word WORK!

Ready to Go picture

We finished with 3 buckets – 60 pounds of peaches and are heading to the asian pears and apples.

We first take the peaches and wash them to get the fuzz off and so that they are clean for processing. We sort the peaches out with the larger ones being set aside so that we can cut them into peach rings about 1/8” to 3/16” think. To accomplish this we cut the top and bottom ends off the peach. This portion we set aside and cut up into pieces that are used for the peach smoothies we have in the mornings.

This center cut for the ring has the pit in it. Hale and O’Henry peaches are both freestone peaches. As you cut the ring around the pit, the fully intact ring will come loose from the pit. In some cases the stone falls out or is easily pulled free and you can finish cutting the rest of the rings without hindrance of the stone. On the larger peaches you might get 6 or 7 rings but usually you only get 5 or 6.

After about 4 hours of steady work you finally reach the end of the pile of peaches. We end up with a lot

Pear Tree Picture

Pears can also be found at Apple Annies

of baggies full of cut up peaches for smoothies and containers with peach rings. We freeze these for later use. After cleaning up and putting things away it is close to 4 PM and we are glad to finally get off our feet and sit down to relax our aching backs. We do have the satisfaction of knowing that our guests will be getting the best tasting peaches that are available. Store bought peaches just don’t compare to what you can pick in the orchard. The flavor and the smell of ripe peaches are perfect and we are always asked by our guests where we got the peaches since the smoothies or pancakes are so good. We tell them that we spent a day picking and processing them ourselves just so that they can savor the breakfast.

10 % Multi – Night Discount

10 percent off

10 % discount for our guests

Just a quick word about our multi-night discount that we have introduced at Down By The River B and B. The discount is for a minimum stay of 2 consecutive nights but is not valid in combination with other discounts, coupons nor during holidays or special event weekends that required 2 night minimum stay.

The rate is really good considering it is about the same as our 2006 rates.  Just think you can have rates from 6 years ago when you stay 2 or more nights at the Lodging Hub of Cochise County.

Helldorado Days In Tombstone

Helldorado Days will be held in Tombstone on October 20 and 21 of 2012.  Check out our previous blog from 2010 about what happens during that time in the Town Too Tough To Die.

Down By The River B and B is a perfect Lodging place to stay during Helldorado Days,  since it is close to Tombstone. We are a  more upscale lodging opportunity than you will find in Tombstone.  The tranquil  BnB located on the San Pedro River in St. David is just 20 minutes north of Tombstone. This allows you to have fun for the day in Tombstone and when the town starts to close down about 5 or 6 you can sit back and have a relaxing time on the patio while you watch the night become darker and the enjoy the stars as they come out.

In the morning you will awaken to fresh coffee or tea, smoothies and  be fed a gourmet breakfast that isn’t found in any of the area restaurants.

Crab and Green Onion Quiche

Rob showed up at Down By The River B and B, our southeastern AZ bnb, for the fourth time to film monsoon lightening (click here to see one of the spectacular shots that he got this year). When we have returning guests, we like to offer different menu items. He had been served all of the different recipes that we had in our repertoire over the past 4 years. Simply put, we experimented on him. We keep our eyes open for new and tasty entrees and found a recipe for crab quiche. After some experimentation, we revised the recipe to work for us.

Crab quiche picture

The Crab quiche comes out golden brown and has an inticing aroma.

This recipe actually was easily modified, with great success, for a guest who was gluten intolerant. All the other guests had the same item and wouldn’t have known that it was gluten free if we hadn’t told them. Now we have another recipe that is flexible and can be used as a gluten free breakfast substitute.

You can whip this up and put it in the oven immediately or you can do like we do at the B & B and make this up the day before and let it rest in the refrigerator overnight.

 

 

Ingredients:

  • 8 oz can Shredded crab meat (If using fresh crab slightly precook in a microwave.
  • You can also use the imitation Krab which is already precooked.)
  • 3 – Green onions chopped
  • 4 – Large eggs
  • 1/2 cup Bisquick ( For gluten free dishes, use gluten free Bisquick or you can use a gluten free pancake mix. )
  • 1 1/4 cups Whole Milk
  • 1/4 cup Melted butter
  • 1/2 cup Mozzarella Cheese
  • 1/4 tsp Black pepper

 

Directions:

  • Grease 9” pie pan
  • Place the crab meat and onions into the pie pan.
  • Put the butter, milk, pepper and eggs together in a bowl and beat until blended.
  • Add the Bisquick to the bowl and blend until smooth.
  • Pour over the crab and onions.
  • Sprinkle with mozzarella.
  • Cover and put in refrigerator overnight.

 

In the morning take the quiche out for about 30 minutes and preheat the oven to 375o F.
Bake uncovered for 45 minutes or until the center is raised and the top is golden brown.
Take out and let sit to cool about 10 minutes before cutting and serving.

 

We serve this with many side dishes including French toast, pancakes, scones or fruit and yogurt. The quiche goes with most anything you want to have with it.

Angie’s Blueberry Bread Pudding Pancakes

When Angie came from Wisconsin to Down By The River Bnb is southeastern AZ,  she brought with her a recipe for blueberry bread pudding pancakes.  Our b&b, here in Cochise County is known for the great breakfasts that we prepare for our guests.  This recipe is no exception to that rule.

Angie tried this out on the family we had here from a blueberry growing state and they were really delighted with the pancakes. It does take a little prep time to get this right but the taste is oh so good. Naturally when you have the large fresh blueberries there is nothing to compare.

But wait! Sorry about that Bill Mays. You can also substitute black berries or raspberries in the place of the blueberries. It is a simple recipe that you can doctor up with other fruit if you wish such as apples. You are only held back by your imagination. The recipe makes between 10 and 12 pancakes.

So have some fun with it.

Blue Berry Bread Pudding Pancakes

Cooking The Blueberry Bread Pudding Pancakes

Ingredients:

  • 3/4 cup all purpose flour
  • 2 tbsp. sugar
  • 1 tbsp. baking powder
  • 1/2 tsp. salt
  • 1/4 cup wheat germ
  • 7 slices firm egg bread or white bread with crusts trimmed and sliced cut into 1/2-inch pieces
  • 2 cups milk (whole milk makes a thicker pancake; skim milk makes a thinner pancake)
  • 2 large eggs, slightly beaten
  • 3 tbsp, melted butter
  • 2 tsp, vanilla
  • 1 cup fresh or frozen blueberries

 

Directions:

  • Stir flour, sugar, baking powder, salt and wheat germ in a small bowl to blend. Set aside.
  • Place bread in a large bowl and add milk.
  • Let stand until bread is very soft and beginning to fall apart (about 15 minutes), stirring mixture occasionally.
  • Add flour mixture to bread mixture and blend.
  • Mix in eggs and melted butter.
  • Let batter stand 15 minutes.
  • Add vanilla and blueberries and gently blend.
  • Heat griddle to medium high.
  • Melt butter on cooking surface. Drop batter by 1/4 cupfuls onto the griddle.
  • Cook pancakes until bubbles form on surface and bottoms are golden brown.
  • Turn over and cook until brown on both sides, this may take longer than usual as these pancakes are somewhat cakey.

Serve with syrup.

Washington State / BC Visit

Angie and I went to the state of Washington during the 4th of July week. Our main reasons for going were three fold, however we found a fourth thing to do, other than enjoy the weather. It was cherry season in Washington and BC. Getting fresh cherries right off the tree is OH SO GOOD! There is nothing like fresh cherries and even better is fresh cherries dipped in chocolate. MMMMM! Enough of that, I am getting hungry so we need to get down to business.

As I was saying the first item on the agenda was to get an article to a newspaper in Washington about the area that we live in, Cochise County by name. The article was written by Mike, as the Benson Arizona Chamber of Commerce President. The article was a piece that gave information on all the things to do in Cochise County, located in the southeastern corner of Arizona. The article discussed the different parks, towns, historical locations and wineries that can be found in the area. We made the contact and hope that the article gets published in the travel section of the paper.

Second thing on the agenda was to go antiquing in this part of the Northwest that we haven’t gotten to visit before. We were looking for some items that we could use at Down By The River B and B. Among the items we were looking for were Northwest Native American art work to compliment the pieces that are already on display at the B&B. With luck we found a hummingbird carving that we could use. Hummingbirds show up at the BnB during the early spring and are here until they head south in the fall. We also went into Vancouver, British Columbia to the Chinatown area. This is one of the better places to find oriental artwork. Many Chinese were working in the old mining towns that dotted the old west. This being said oriental artwork does fit into the theme of our place. We did find some artwork and believe that they will fit in perfectly with the décor we have. We also found other antique stores and Native American art stores in this area.

Inside out picture

Inside Out Solutions from L to R – Mike Hug, Angie Hug, Pat McCauley, and Jim McCauley

Lastly we paid a visit to our web hosting company, Inside Out Solutions in Sequim, Washington. We were able to meet most of the people that worked there and now we have faces to go with names when we have our discussions. It is always nice to have met the people when you are doing business with a company. We sat down with Pat McCauley, the President of Inside Out Solutions, and started our discussion about what we were looking at changing on our website.

When we started Down By The River B and B, I developed the website from scratch during lunch breaks and after getting  home from work. The current website was started almost 10 years ago and has grown to the current size and complexity. 10 years is a long time in the technology field and the site, though still functional, doesn’t have some things that will enhance it. Over the past year, we have been looking at other sites on the internet. We saw things that we thought were good to have on our site. Unfortunately, we could never find enough time to make the changes we would like and I finally decided that if I wanted to get this done, I needed to get help from outside.

Pat showed us ways that would improve the navigation and provide a new spark to our website. Pat offered some ideas on the set up of the site that we agreed were a definite improvement. It is always good to have a knowledgeable person review what you are planning to do. I have found that a lot of time is saved in correcting mistakes that you have to fix later because you didn’t get it right the first time.

So now we have some new things that we are adding into the B and B for our guests to look at during their stay. Our website will have a new look and should be much friendlier to smart phones in the coming months. Enjoy the rest of your summer and when you come back to check us out for your trip to AZ, we hopefully will have a fresh look to our website. If you are looking to improve your site or just want to look at web hosting, take a gander at Inside Out.

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