Globe-Hopping

By: Darin Lowery

Re-printed from Globe Miami Times: Fall ’09

Let me explain something: I am not a traveler, and as a tourist I’m a washout. Other folks want to board a tour bus and toast the Pacific or the Pyramids with regional varietals at midnight. Give me a few pots of coffee and a chance to ditch my companions and I’ll go junking, digging my way through boxes of old marbles, postcards and 1960’s publicity stills.

Keep the sunsets and give me the Salvation Army thrift store.

But hey- that’s just me.

Don’t get me wrong- I love a good vacation. But after the cabs and airports and security precautions- after being jammed into a jet with people who cough a lot- and then, having to endure the security precautions, airports and cabs again in a foreign locale… well, it’s just too much for a simple guy like me.

While a trip around the world can be Hell, a trip to Globe is more than manageable.

However, I’ve tried hiking at South Mountain. It doesn’t work. I cannot keep the ice cubes in a rock glass, and after years of smoking (and finally quitting), I can’t walk and wheeze at the same time. Rafting the Salt River, or swimming at Roosevelt? Fun, of course, until the skin grafts.

‘So what do you do for fun’, people ask, ‘here in Globe, Arizona?’

Recently, I had to drop off my vintage auto for repairs – it’s a white 2000 Ford DUV (Darin Utility Vehicle- actually a sleek n’ sporty station wagon). I last changed the oil around Christmas five years ago. My pals at McSpadden Ford try not to roll their eyes when I haul it in, and I love them for it.

I had a satisfying and lip-smacking repast at the downtown Mexican bistro El Ranchito. The enchiladas are muy bueno. Globe is known for serving the finest Mexican food north of our southern neighbor, and all of the Mexican restaurants here are terrific.

It took me awhile, but I’ve just now discovered the Globe Dog Park (this is in plain view out of my kitchen window, but I am often distracted). The Dog Park is an old baseball diamond near the Noftsger Hill Bed & Breakfast, a former grade school. My Border Collie Velma has lost ten pounds since we began meeting our new friends there. That’s because I pick up someone’s Chihuahua and chase her relentlessly.

One of the best spots in town is the blue iron Nob Hill footbridge which spans the canyon between Apache and Bailey. Linda Gross took a group of us during a Thanksgiving ‘let’s-walk-off-that-30-pound-turkey-dinner’ tour of Globe. The height is just right- no vertigo- though it has a sort of ‘Mission: Impossible’ feel to it.

The shopping in Globe is diverse and unexpected. Each shop has a distinct personality. Forget the ‘big box’ stores: I’ll take Molly’s White Porch, Shirley’s Gifts, Simply Sarah and Sam’s Good Junk every time. I’m partial to the Pickle Barrel Trading Post (not just because I work there) and Past-Times feels like Grandma’s house. You’ve really gotta visit the Blue Mule Gallery, too- the floor is like a giant jigsaw puzzle.

For an evening out, the Drift Inn Saloon is wild- the original tin ceilings look twenty feet high, and it’s the oldest tavern in Arizona. For dinner, we all go to DeMarco’s for fresh Italian and Hog Haven for mouthwatering BBQ.

Come the first week of November, our Copper Spike Railroad returns to the rails with a new 30’s coach in tow, behind the 1954 Domeliner and a ’47 Calumet Club Car. The train runs from the (recently and gorgeously renovated) Globe Depot, to the Apache Gold Casino and a bit beyond. It’s a lot of fun. The passengers talk and laugh like they’re long lost cousins. Nothing beats a good train ride.

Around the same time, the Globe Theatre reopens. The original was destroyed in a fire four years ago: this is the first building to be constructed in the Historic Downtown section in twenty years, and I expect a public weary of TV Land will flock to the flickers in droves.

When I’ve got some down time, I pick up my galpal Esther and we hit vida e caffe for coffee and, like, 17 pastries, which we split. The combo sugar/caffeine high is awesome, and sometimes I go home afterwards and vacuum the roof.

Want fun and cheap? Drive around and check out the little bungalows; the sprawling acreage; the funny little homes that cling to the sides of the hills. Some folks think the Valley is Heaven, and maybe that’s true if you’re into Neo-Tuscan Revival with plastic landscaping. Such élan, no charm. If you’re visiting Globe in February, leave the driving to us and take the Historic Globe Home Tour- always a treat, as is homemade cobbler at Joe’s Broad Street Grill afterwards.

There’s so much more- Apache Jii (a celebration of Apache culture and crafts), Pumpkin Carving and Pictures on the Porch at the Center for the Arts, and the Electric Light Parade at Christmastime. A major streetscape and signage improvement program for Broad Street and beyond commences shortly; by this time next year, the Belle of Broad Street will be…. Broad Street.

What is there to do in Globe? Start at the beginning, silly- there’s a map in the middle of this newspaper. (See Fall Edition’o9)