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| - I have lived in the East Valley for 24 years and had never been here. I remember driving by it on Baseline Road as a teenager (before the 60 extended past Power Road), and thinking what an odd place to have this venue in the middle of the farming fields. Now, I think what an odd place in the middle of suburbia. It is a bit touristy, so I probably wouldn't go back and I probably wouldn't take family visiting from out of state either.
We visited on a Friday night. There was a decent crowd, but not overly congested. Majority of the visitors were elderly, (I'm guessing snow birds or from the surrounding area retirement communities). The other minority seemed to be families on spring break. I probably wouldn't recommend going here if you are a young couple without children.
The entrance opens at 5:30pm, which is plenty of time to mill around the small "western town." My son wanted to spend the entire hour panning for gold. There was no charge for this, and seemed to be a favorite of all the children attending, as the trough was full of excited children playing in the murky water full of rocks and small pieces of pyrite.
Before the show, they had sarsaparilla, water, and beer available to purchase. The gift shop and sweet shop was open, but that is about all there is to see before dinner. Approximately, 10 minutes before dinner the man selling the beverages, which I believe his name was Cookie, came over and told a little story, and invited us inside for dinner.
Seating is all pre-arranged; it was easy to find your table and seat number. Next, Big Jim, an owner, comes out and introduces himself and gives a little history about how his family came to be in Arizona and information about their working ranch. Afterwards, it was time to get your dinner. However, Big Jim leads everyone in a "blessing of the food" beforehand. I will say, it was a little weird sitting in a room full of strangers, blessing (praying) our food. I am not an overly religious person. I have many friends from diverse backgrounds (Jewish, Buddhist, Latter Day Saint, Christian, Seventh Day Adventist, Catholic), and I respect all religions and religious beliefs, but I was a little uncomfortable obliging this ritual at a public setting. That's all I have to say about that.
Dinner was very orderly and organized. You are called up by row and it is "buffet style". There was plenty of food on my plate, so much so that I couldn't get to the food underneath all the meat. Finally, I had to go get an extra plate just to clear off the top layer of food on my heaping plate. The chicken was flavorful; however there was very little meat the bone. The beef was ok; my husband thought it was the better of the two. They also served applesauce, beans, biscuits, and spice cake. Everything tasted fine and I ate a little bit of everything. However, I wouldn't visit just for the food. The lemonade tasted like country time mix, but they were generous on the pitcher refills for every table. Which was a relief when you are sharing a pitcher per table with a bunch of strangers. After dinner you cleaned up by taking your plates to the back and the show started.
The show was cute, a little long for sitting on a wooden picnic table bench, but tolerable. They sang a few songs that I recognized, paid a special tribute to the veterans in the audience, and sang the Arizona State song. While they are singing there are two large screens showing a video of pictures on the side of the stage. I'm not entirely sure how long the show was, but my husband wanted to duck out. We stayed because my son wanted to see the gunfight after the show. The gunfight was a little "cheesy" and in my opinion not worth staying for. My son thought it was the best part of the night. Of course, it was way past his bedtime, he was exhausted and could hardly keep his eyes open.
Overall, it was a different family night out. I won't be visiting again. If I had to choose a place to take out of town guests, I would drive down to Old Tucson Studios or Tombstone. If driving to Tucson wasn't an option, this would be an ok alternative.
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