Our trip to Tuscon AZ was Magical! We checked into the Hotel Congress in downtown Tucson. This hotel was built in 1919 and has been kept in it's original state for 94 years! I could feel the amazing history and people who had passed through here as soon as I walked in. And could only imagine the stories this place had to tell! Our rooms had old fashion iron beds, posters from shows that had been played in their club downstairs, a rotary phone and paper thin walls!
Our search for gems began the next day... Moonstones, Azurite, Geodes, Crystals, Turquoise, beautiful objects from all corners of the world! Beads from Africa, Nepal, Indonesia, China, India, Thailand, Bali it was a dream!We found some of the most beautiful material for our Summer Collection! And the biggest turtle that ever existed! We called him Mr. Turt!
The first night we got down and jammed to the cover band that was playing in the hotels historic club, drank cocktails and meet some of the most interesting travelers... an English man in town to sell billion year old fossils, an expressionist who invited us to take a tour of his Jazz Cube (his home), eat cheddar cheese and play Yahtzee with him! I loved the people of Tucson they were a sight to see and meet! We asked them about any stories they had heard about the hotel. Was it haunted? Who had been there before us? We needed to know.... well we found out! Let's just say sleeping wasn't easy after all the ghost stories and spooky ladies in the hallways!
Our friend Morgan (below and one of the funniest turts I have ever meet) just happened to be visiting his home town from Los Angeles as we were there and took us that night to the DeGrazia Gallery and showed us the Gallery in The Sun. An adobe church which DeGrazia the artist made from designs and sketches, then gathered a crew of his friends who made traditional adobe brick who DeGrazia hauled up in his Model A. The bricks were backed on site by the Arizona Sun. With it's rock floors, interior murals and open air roof, The Mission in the Sun was built in honor of Padre Kino and dedicated to the Virgin Guadalupe. Magic!
Our last day in Tucson we spent exploring 4th Ave and their thrift stores! And making some photo ops out of a very large red lipped cookie!
I was so inspired by this trip I couldn't wait to start sketching ideas for Summer time jewels!
xoxoxo Tucson I LOVED YOU! VMoon
