The weather was perfect during the FMCA Rally, with the exception of a quick shower on Friday. Thursday’s sky was bright blue and I was going to enjoy it.
I walked through the vendor booths and strolled the RVs in the morning then headed to downtown Perry after lunch. The fairgrounds weren’t far so I planned on riding my bike. I’m glad I checked Google Maps first because not only were there no bike lanes, the roads were narrow with no shoulders. Nope, no biking into town for me. Since my Jeep was sitting at the Atlanta airport, Uber would be my ride into town. While I was standing at the entrance gate waiting for my Uber driver, my new friend Milo drove by as he returned to the rally. He checked on me to make sure I was okay, such a sweet man.
I like checking out the downtown of small towns on our travels. Many Arizona towns do a great job preserving and celebrating our territorial and statehood history. Downtown Perry is no different.
The downtown area has many neat old buildings, 58 of them. I started at the New Perry Hotel which sadly,is closed right now. A sign out front said it would be the future home of a new restaurant and hotel. I sure hope so. Every website I looked at prior to our trip talked about the history and majesty of the place.
There was a sign in front of several of them and a quick phone call to the number on the sign told the story of the building. While this was nice to hear the details, I would have loved a map. After I walked the downtown, I had no idea which way to go to see the other 40-something historic buildings that might be nearby. Bad homework on my part.
This beautiful building on Carroll Street, one of the main streets in town, caught my eye. Calling the number I learned that it was originally The Liberty Hotel, built in the 1860’s. It was a 16-room hotel and functioned as such until the 1880’s which brought about a name change to the Planters Hotel. It’s been a store and a funeral home and is currently the administrative offices for Evans Newspapers.
Up the street from the hotel the tile work grabbed my attention. This building was the Houston Bank until 1932 then served as the post office from 1932-1960. It’s now the Jones Surveying and Engineering Company.
I walked around searching for more signs and wishing I’d ordered a map ahead of time. As I walked I noticed the quaintness of the area. The streets were lined with trees and one of a kind shops. Spring had sprung and there were pretty plants in garden beds and in pots everywhere you looked. It was quiet, but I expected that for early on a Thursday afternoon.
I saw the back of a house, at least that’s what it looked like, but there was no sign. I wondered if this was a new home, made to look old then I reached the corner and saw the sign. This cute little place is called the Killen/Stapes Home. It was built in the 1870’s by Thomas Killen for his bride Laura, where they lived for over 50 years. Can you imagine the changes they saw? Later it was home to Perry’s legendary basketball coach, Eric Staples. Now, it’s a Coldwell Banker office
The Methodist Church was amazing. Like old downtown areas, I love me some old churches. The giant steeple stood high above everything else. I bet when it was the tallest structure for miles when it was first built. The old bell is now on display in front of the church steps and a huge tree provides shade nearby. I stood there looking at it all picturing people in horse-drawn buggies arriving for church in their Sunday best way back when. The congregation was formed in 1826 with the church building following in 1860/1861. The coolest fun fact for me is that Sunday School has been continuous since it’s formation 1828. That is a GREAT legacy. Looking back, I wish I had given a tug on the doors.
As I strolled through the area, I couldn’t help but notice the giant trees, both oak and magnolia. Oh, the stories they could tell.
I made my way back to The Swanson, the large shaded patio beckoned me. The front part, sadly the only part I saw, was built by Nora Cox in 1902 but the back dates to the 1830’s. I wanted peach cobbler but it was not on the menu so I settled for a glass of iced tea. I looked out at the people walking and cars going by, enjoying this slow down in my day. I struck up a conversation with a woman at the next table as we were both by ourselves which turned into a two-hour gabfest that was just the girl time I needed. Her name is Gina, we talked like old friends about anything, everything and nothing all at the same time. Walking by, you’d of thought we had been friends for years. She’s lived in the area for many years and her daughter’s school was close by. When her daughter arrived, I prepared to fetch an Uber ride back to the fairgrounds but Gina would have none of it. They were taking me back, period. The stories about people in the south being very nice are true, I’d seen it in action all week.
Back from my downtown experience, my camping neighbors Dave & Dotti invited me to their campsite for an afternoon drink which turned into dinner. This being alone at the Rally turned out to be a “new friend” adventure and thinking about it puts a smile on my face.