Bed & Breakfast

Good Food, Good Company, and a Slum-gully BreakfastBED AND BREAKFAST HOSTELS BOOM IN ARIZONA TEXT BY PAM HAIT PHOTOGRAPHY BY ALAN BENOIT

In an era when most of the country travels in high gear with little or no appreciation for such amenities as after-dinner conversation or a quiet cup of coffee, when dieting is more American than apple pie, Pat Rhoton skimps on neither hospitality nor home cooking. "Now wouldn't you like a slice of this from a cake recipe I discovered recently?" she asks, expertly dabbing a frosting of crushed pineapple and vanilla pudding over a cake. The still-warm pieces overflow the plates.Pat Rhoton is a rarity. She serves huge slices of homemade cake-at lunch-after thick sandwiches and three different salads; then rich homemade fudge-"just a taste-it's really wonderful," she smiles. With an ample lap and an expansive personality to match, Pat Rhoton welcomes bed-and-breakfast guests into her Camp Verde ranch home. Hospitality and home cooking describe Arizona's bed-and-breakfast homes, or B&Bs. They began 200 years ago, in England, and are still popular throughout Europe. In the U.S., before World War II, Americans on the road spent nights at guest houses called "tourist homes," as a low-cost alternative to hotels. But their popularity died with the arrival of the motel. B&Bs were reincarnated in the "Colonies" during the bicentennial year when Virginia initiated a reservation service. By 1980, reservation services listed B&Bs in nearly every state, Mexico and Canada. How does Pat Rhoton give Howard Johnson a run for his money?

The attractively restored nineteenth century home of Joy and John Timbers is set in the heart of old Bisbee, Southern Arizona's colorful and historic copper mining town.

(OPPOSITE PAGE) An Isinglass chandelier from Bisbee's long-ago Lyric Theatre sets the conversational stage for evening meals. Turn-of-the-century antiques used in the decor throughout the house strengthen its ties with the past.

(TOP) Careful selection of furnishings, an original copper-paneled fireplace, and the conscience of preservationists have created a parlor that seems to step out of yesterday.

(RIGHT) A bright, airy guest room includes an antique brass bed, feather comforter, and handmade quilt, just like grandma used to make.

(BELOW) John and Joy Timbers... making a bit of Bisbee history available to travelers.

Picture this. You've driven all day when you see the Camp Verde turnoff. Gladly you bid goodbye to Interstate 17, head through Camp Verde, and turn off at Quarter Horse Lane. Postcard farms dot the countryside. Mingus Mountain looms on the horizon. You want to drive slowly so you can take in the sights.

No neon sign blinks "vacancy"; instead, a life-size statue of a bull announces Pat and Ross Rhoton's ranch. No concrete parking lot with light poles; instead a huge cottonwood tree shades the lawn. And instead of a nameless desk clerk, Pat Rhoton greets you.

"Do you see these pine doors?" she asks, smoothing her hand against the old wood. "They were the front doors of an Oak Creek lodge that I knew as a child. I really think these doors are one of the reasons I fell in love with this place. They give off a wonderful sort of feeling of welcome." On the way to the guest room you learn she grew up in Winslow, Arizona, and moved to Cottonwood as a bride. By anyone's standards, Pat and Ross lived a rustic life.

"We had no electricity. No running water. And no inside plumbing," she says. But you will have all of those conveniences plus a clean, neat room graced with homemade quilts. No maid service; guests make their own beds. But you will have the run of the ranch and the restored bunk house. You'll also be treated to homemade bread at every meal, a breakfast of hot biscuits with sausage gravy, eggs, fried potatoes, orange juice, and an assortment of homemade jams and jellies. But most of all, you'll have ample time to enjoy Pat and Ross Rhoton, their home, and the Camp Verde area. Pat's guests hike, enjoy Oak Creek, visit nearby Sedona, art capital of the Verde Valley area, the once nearghost town of Jerome, and poke around the countryside.

"The first guests we had were a couple from New York and their two teenage children," says Pat. "They signed up for dinner with us for the first night and ended up having dinner all three nights. By the last night, we were down to just hamburgers, since I hadn't expected steady company. Hamburgers sounded great to them. They'd come home and shower around 3:00 in the afternoon, and we'd have an early supper, then sit out in the yard and talk." You won't be alone opting for a B&B original over a fast-and-efficient cookiecutter commercial chain. B&Bs are bringing back the lost art of hospitality, and once people try staying at a B&B, they often become repeat guests and usually want to return to the same place. B&B travel can be educational, as well. One guest asked her host what kind of uniform the cattle guards wear! (Inside Arizona joke. Cattle guards are those steel tracks set in the ground that keep livestock from wandering outside of fenced ranges.) And don't sell B&Bs short on elegance, especially when former movie starlet Acquanetta opens the door of her rambling 24-room Phoenix estate. You might want to stay in her guest house with its own kitchen, living room, bedroom, and bath; or the north wing guest area with bedroom, den, and vast Southwestern-styled, artifact-filled family room.

The grounds, enclosed by a white wrought-iron fence, face the south slope of Camelback Mountain. Acres of green lawn surround the pool area behind the house.

"I had heard about B&B, and since I had entertained for the State Department, I decided I might enjoy being a hostess," says Acquanetta, now a lecturer. "I've met the most beautiful people through this. I treat my guests as if they truly were my guests." You might even be treated to her "Slumgully" breakfast. "Gullies" are her invention. Sorry, no recipes. But she'll assure you once you taste them, you'll adore them.

B&Bs come in all varieties modest to luxurious. But both Arizona listing services, Bed and Breakfast in Arizona and Mi Casa-Su Casa, which include homes for various budgets, say most guests choose a B&B more for the hosts and amenities than for location or cost.

In Scottsdale, you can reserve an "Egyptian den hideway" or select the home of a French hostess whose omeletes are legendary. Head for Tucson, and choose a Spanish hacienda in the Santa Catalina foothills where you can practice speaking Japanese. Or retreat to another Tucson home, with a Roman bath and over-the-bed skylights in the master suite. A large living room gallery is available to visiting musicians.

Or head north to Page, on the shore of Lake Powell, and bask in the morning splendor of the Vermilion Cliffs. That's the scene from Ralph and Marianne Chatillon's den, where Marianne serves breakfast to B&B guests.

"Breakfast is where I have fun," Marianne says. "I serve with my best silver and china, and use my good linens." Breakfast may include homegrown peaches fresh from the tree, sliced and served with cream, homemade hot rolls and butter, and omeletes with sausage or ham. In their octagonal home, the fireplace dominates the interior, and two guest wings with private baths and patios provide peaceful privacy. And for a truly unusual B&B experience, you might spend the quiet part of a moonlit evening on incredible Lake Powell, settled back comfortably on their twentyeight foot houseboat.

Not only do the Chatillons provide bed, board, and boat, they've also arranged a Colorado River trip for one guest and left at least one-on a hurried schedulealone. (Women traveling alone or with another woman, appreciate the securityB&Bs offer. Not only do hosts know the approximate time of their guests arrival, but when to expect them home after dinner or an evening out.) Hosts also act as informational almanacs. What to see? Where to eat?

"I always provide my guests with a list of restaurants, festivals, and goings-on in the Mogollon Rim area," explains Mrs. Jimmie Saraceno of Pine. "We take everyone who stays with us more than two days to Zane Grey's cabin and tell them about its history. We took one couple on a tour of the Mogollon Rim and spent the day with them. All we asked was they pay for gas."

A stay at the Saraceno's four-level modified A-frame home built into the side of a canyon includes thoughtful extras like home-baked cookies in your room, the morning paper delivered to your door, even a typewriter, if needed. The guest sitting area has a 100-year-old spool bed and an antique dresser plus a color television set, two closets, and wetbar. Her husband, Albert, who grows roses, presents each woman guest with a fresh flower each day,and invites visitors to the top floor of their home to sample the beer he keeps on draft.

"I'm from Texas, and my husband is Italian, from New York," says Mrs. Saraceno. "So we cover a lot of territory. People do have a good time here. One couple stayed a week and said they'll be back every spring." To tide them over-and every other guest she hosts-Mrs. Saraceno sent them off with jars of her homemade jams and jellies.

Some B&Bs flourish where commercial chains have yet to tread. When John and Joy Timbers of Bisbee decided to open their restored 1908 home as a B&B they made a piece of pioneer Bisbee history available to outsiders.

Designed by Henry C. Trost, a master architect of the Southwest, the house had become a local joke until the Timbers bought it in 1976. "It was called the Curry Barn," Joy says, standing in the elegant, high-ceilinged living room. "The whole house was pink," she grimaces.

Today the Timbers, both in their midthirties and accomplished do-it-yourselfers, have nearly completed the restoration work. The pink house, which sits at the top of a hill, looks almost Moorish from the outside. Inside, turn-of-the-century graciousness prevails. Leaded glass separates the parlor and conservatory. An Isinglass chandelier, from the Lyric Theatre in old Bisbee, now graces their dining room. The downstairs guest room boasts a brass bed, private bath, and sitting room. Throughout the house hallways are high and wide. Hand-rubbed woods gleam, and everywhere prize antiques look eminently at home.

"We feel this house is in trust with us, and we should make it available to people who want to see it," John Timbers explains. A former Peace Corps volunteer and bicycle racer (he helped lay the groundwork for the annual Bisbee bike race), Timbers is an enthusiastic Bisbee booster. Both he and Joy, a gourmet cook who teaches school in nearby Sierra Vista, tour guests through the town and share lingering dinners in the evenings with their guests. Breakfast-hashbrowns, eggs, bacon, juice, melons, coffee, toast, and home-made jelly-come with the room reservation tion. "A great turkey dinner," Joy adds, "costs $4 more." From Bisbee to Page, Tucson to Phoenix, and all points in between, home cooking and hospitality are the hallmark of an Arizona B&B. What more could any traveler ask for?

Author's note: For information regarding bed-andbreakfast listings in Arizona, call or write: Bed & Breakfast in Arizona, 8433 North Black Canyon, Suite 160, Phoenix, AZ 85021 (602) 995-2831. And Mi Casa-Su Casa, 1456 North Scottsdale Road, Suite 110, Tempe, AZ 85231 (602) 990-0682.

Pam Hait, a frequent contributor to Highways, has also written for Ladies Home Journal, McCall's, and Sunday Woman. She is currently at work on a nonfiction book.

Arizona's B&Bs run from antebellum mansions and Spanish haciendas to Grand Canyon hideaways and working ranches with guest facilities like Pat and Ross Rhoton's home in the Verde Valley. (OPPOSITE PAGE) Mingus Mountain monopolizes the view from the living room of the Rhoton ranch where visitors' Black Angus steaks are raised on the hoof. Excellent cooking and a relaxed down-home atmosphere are hallmarks of this B&B. The restored ranch bunk house (OPPOSITE PAGE, INSET) also has full guest facilities.

(BELOW) Spring comes to Red Rock Country, Oak Creek Canyon, near Sedona, Arizona. Josef Muench photo

YOURS SINCERELY

Our daughter, Melissa, age seven, entered a poetry contest at Crimson School...and won first place blue ribbon in the first grade level. We thought your readers might enjoy it.

Bob and Ann Entveldt Mesa, Arizona What a transformation: Arizona Highways suddenly turned into an inter-esting magazine when I wasn't looking. The new layout, kinds of photography, fresh writers, and bold graphic design have turned Arizona Highways into a piece of magazine sunshine. I especially enjoyed February's "La Ciudad" and March's "Backpacks Filled with Courage" by Sam Negri and photos by Rick Fisher. I've enjoyed Negri's pieces for some time in the Arizona Republic, and put along-side Fisher's work and on shiny paper the lyrical quality of his writing has a worthy forum. All in all, the magazine is much livelier, relevant, and emotionally/intel-lectually stimulating. Congratulations!

Burgess Needle Tucson, AZ P.S. I'm a librarian, and I'm spreading the word.

I've faithfully collected Arizona Highways for years, and consult my bound volumes as an encyclopedia of the Southwest. Is the 1983 annual index yet published?

Mrs. Bertha Ahern Los Angeles, CA Glad you asked! See our Arizoniques page for complete ordering details. We also carry an inventory of 1982 indexes. -the Editor Thoroughly enjoyed the March, '84, issue "Your Future," but have a question concerning the Jeff Kida photo at the top of page 21. Was the photo of the manuscript, hands, and eye glasses purposely printed in reverse?

R. J. Bussey Alamo, CA This one we can blame on our printer. Believe! Somewhere between our approval and the press, somebody decided to run the picture upside down and backwards. - the Editor The cover on the March issue was garish. The pictures horrible. What happened to the usually beautiful photographs? Arizona is beautiful; your pictures were not.

Richard E. Huddleston San Diego, CA (RIGHT) Heading out for a favorite spot, fishermen near the town of Lakeside trim their tackle to do battle with the lunker that got away last year.

Herb and Dorothy McLaughlin photo

ARIZONA HIGHWAYS MUSEUM OF PRINTERY

What melts lead, weighs twenty tons, and keeps 4000 letters in its drawers? It's the Arizona Highways Museum of Printery, devoted to the printing craft of the first half of the twentieth century. The museum, located in the business offices of Arizona Highways Magazine at 2039 West Lewis Avenue, Phoenix, Arizona, is open to the public from 8:00 A.M. to 5:00P.M. weekdays. Among the treasures found there are a turn-of-the-century Miehle flatbed press on which Highways was printed in its early days, a Linotype machine, solid oak Hamilton typecases and stands, an Underwood Standard typewriter from the 1930s, plus a variety of other printer's equipment-all in working order and all donated to the magazine by private individuals.The museum also chronicles the magazine's evolution from a highway engineers' log to the world's premier regional publication, with a one-of-a-kind display of rare issues of Arizona Highways, books, photographs, and other related products from the magazine's sixty-year history. If printer's ink runs in your veins, or you'd just like to see how magazines were printed "way back when," the Arizona Highways Museum of Printery is guaranteed to make you long for the days before computer technology.

Centerpiece of the Arizona Highways Museum of Printery, this Miehle flatbed press on which early issues of Arizona Highways were printed was "discovered" by Mrs. Ruby Luna of Yarnell, Arizona, in the offices of the Prescott Printing Company, Prescott, Arizona. The Prescott Printing Company donated the turn-of-century press and the W. A. Krueger Company, printers of Arizona Highways, paid for the shipping of the massive machine. Although still in its infancy, the Museum, located at the Arizona Highways business offices, 2039 West Lewis, Phoenix, Arizona, is now open to the public from 8:00 A.M. to 5:00P.M. weekdays.

BOOKSHELF

First from coastal California, then from the foothills of Tucson, Lawrence Clark Powell, for many years the dean of Southwestern letters, has heightened our awareness of the heritage and history of our deserts, mountains, and peoples, and of those who have written about them. Thus we are fortunate that several of Dr. Powell's major works have been reissued in attractive, affordable editions.

SOUTHWEST CLASSICS: THE CREATIVE LITERATURE OF THE ARID LANDS; ESSAYS ON THE BOOKS AND THEIR WRITERS.

University of Arizona Press, Sunnyside Building, 250 East Valencia Road, Tucson, AZ 85706. 1982, c1974. 370 pages. $9.95, softcover.

Powell gives readers a significant taste of the writings of twenty-six prominent authors on the Southwest-and leaves them hungering for more.

CALIFORNIA CLASSICS: THE CREATIVE LITERATURE OF THE GOLDEN STATE; ESSAYS ON THE BOOKS AND THEIR WRITERS.

Capra Press, P.O. Box 2068, Santa Barbara, CA 93120. 1983, c1971. 393 pages. $9.95, softcover.

From north to south, seacoast to desert, thirty-one leading writers about California are featured by a fellow California author.

SOUTHWESTERN BOOK TRAILS: A READER'S GUIDE TO THE HEARTLAND OF NEW MEXICO & ARIZONA.

William Gannon, Publisher, 143 Sombrio Drive, Santa Fe, NM 87501. 1982, с1963. 91 pages. $15.00, hardcover; $7.95, softcover.

In this earlier work Powell conducts his readers on a quite personal tour through the very heart of the Southwest, with authors and books to match.

THE RIVER BETWEEN.

Capra Press, P.O. Box 2068, Santa Barbara, CA 93120. 1979. 108 pages. $10.00, hardcover.

LCP's second novel, an absorbing romance, reaches across cultural barriers as it unfolds from place to place throughout the Southwest.

THOSE WHO CAME BEFORE,

By Robert H. Lester, co-published by the Southwest Parks and Monuments Association and the University of Arizona Press. Softcover, $10.95; hardcover, $33.50. Includes postage and handling. Send check

THOSE WHO CAME BEFORE

to Arizona Highways Magazine, 2039 West Lewis Avenue, Phoenix, AZ 85009.

"I can touch the past; I can reach out and feel the heartbeat of a thousand past generations of mankind." So said an archeologist friend to me, some years ago. He was talking about his feelings as he labored to excavate a marvelous prehistoric ruin in the Southwest.

What he sensed as he dusted off long forgotten yesterdays continues to be a major part of the allure of these ancient treasures. Haven't we all yearned, one time or another, to reach beyond the barriers of time and space?

Ruins are fascinating for their haunting human qualities. And that is the seasoning that makes Those Who Came Before appetizing reading. In 177 well-wrought pages, the authors, both archeologists, take the reader by the hand and introduce him to the Hohokam, the Mogollon, the Anasazi, and the peoples who were "inbetween and outliers" in the Southwest of the far past.

Arizona's parks and monumentsCanyon de Chelly, Casa Grande, Tonto, Grand Canyon, Montezuma Castle-and all the others are represented here along with fabulous sites in Utah, Colorado, and New Mexico.

Supporting the text are charts and maps, historic photos of early digs in the West, and a superb color portfolio by photographer David Muench.

But the real value in Those Who Came Before is not in merely obtaining a knowledge about things. It's gaining a depth of sensitivity. As Dr. Emil Haury, Professor Emeritus, University of Arizona, Department of Anthropology, remarks in the Foreword: "The spirits lingering in the... villages and towns...have an eloquence of their own-if we will only listen."

ARIZONA HIGHWAYS

JUNE 1984 VOL. 60, NO.6 Publisher-Hugh Harelson Editor-Don Dedera Managing Editor-Richard G. Stahl Art Director-Gary Bennett Picture Editor-J. Peter Mortimer Associate Art Director-Lorna Holmes Associate Editor-Robert J. Farrell Contributing Editors-Bill Ahrendt, Jo Baéza, Joe Beeler, Bob Bradshaw, Duane Bryers, Ed Cooper, Paul Dean, Dick Dietrich, Carlos Elmer, Bernard Fontana, Barry Goldwater, Pam Hait, Jerry Jacka, Gill Kenny, Peter Kresan, Herb and Dorothy McLaughlin, Ray Manley, Josef Muench, David Muench, Charles Niehuis, Earl Petroff, Lawrence Clark Powell, Allen C. Reed, Jerry Sieve, Joe Stocker, Jim Tallon, Larry Toschik, Marshall Trimble, Lee Wells, Maggie Wilson.

Business Director-Jim Delzell Operations Director-Palle Josefsen Circulation & Marketing DirectorAlberto Gutier Governor of Arizona-Bruce Babbitt Director, Department of TransportationWilliam A. Ordway Arizona Transportation Board Chairman: Hal F. Butler, Show Low; Members: Sondra Eisberg, Prescott; Lynn M. Sheppard, Globe; Doug Kennedy, Tucson; Ted Valdez, Sr., Phoenix: Arthur C. Atonna, Douglas; Don Cooper, Mesa.

Along the road to Terry Flat on Escudilla Mountain, in the White Mountains of eastern Arizona. Hiking trails in the area seem to have been specially designed for admiring incredible autumn foliage.

(BACK COVER) Headwaters of the Little Colorado River, near Sheep Crossing, in the White Mountains, Arizona's cool country playground. (See "God's Country," page 3.) Jerry Jacka photo