Globe, Arizona
What they don’t understand about small towns and what they don’t tell you is how much fun they can be. Exploring them is the most fun. You can find things most people overlook. They can be peaceful and quiet. You don’t need a big city full of places to go in order to meet people. Making your own fun is the best kind of fun. I was one of the people that didn’t understand this, until one summer. In July 2017 I went on a trip to Arizona with my sister Alyssa and cousin Kylie. We didn’t go to Phoenix or some big city you may have heard of. We didn’t see the Grand Canyon or any other big tourist attraction. Instead we went to Globe. A small town in the mountains. So small that I wouldn’t be surprised if you could drive through two green lights and be in the next town over. I have always been open to new things, so when the idea to go to Arizona was brought up I was super excited. I didn’t really care where it was. However, I did think that finding things to do would be hard, but I was wrong. We got on our flight early on a Monday. When we landed in Phoenix my dad’s best friend Angela picked Alyssa, Kylie and I up from the airport. We went to my grandma’s house where my other cousin Christopher had been staying since June. We all spent time catching up since the last time we saw each other.
We finished eating dinner and Kylie, Alyssa, and I cleaned up the dishes and put the food away. After we were done we went outside to look at the town. Since my grandma’s house was on a tall hill, we could see all of Globe.
Since my grandma’s house was on a tall hill, we could see all of Globe.
“We should go for a walk and explore since it is so nice out right now,” I said while looking out at the unfamiliar town I wanted to see up close.
“We should. Let’s go ask grandma and see if Christopher wants to come,” Kylie said.
We walked inside, looking for our grandma and Christopher. We found them in the office.
“Grandma can we go for a walk? We want to see more of the town,” I asked.
“Of course,” She said with a smile, “Stay together and be careful.”
“We will,” Alyssa said, “Christopher, you should come with us.”
He turned off the computer screen and we all left. We walked for a while looking at all the houses, small store fronts, and restaurants. In the time span of 15 minutes it felt like we had already walked all through Globe. My uncle Joe lived on the far side of Globe, but since it was Alyssa, Kylie, and my first day we hadn’t got the chance to visit him yet and didn’t know where he lived.
“Uncle Joe’s house is close,” Christopher said, “It’s about a mile away from here.”
“We should visit him and surprise him and Leslie,” Kylie said.
We all agreed and let Christopher lead the way. We were still walking 20 minutes later.
“Are you sure you know where it is?” I asked Christopher.
“It’s about a mile from here,” He said.
“You said that 20 minutes ago,” Kylie said.
She pulled up google maps on her phone and had him type in the address.
“We are barely even halfway there. It says we still have 30 minutes of walking,” Kylie said, “Are you sure you know what a mile is?”
“I thought it was closer than that,” He said.
The sun was beginning to set, hiding behind the tall mountains. We decided to go back to the house since we didn’t know our way around and it would be harder to go back in the dark. After walking on the side of the busy road for a while, we came across a hill that was quite steep compared to us, but nothing compared to the mountains that surrounded us. It was flat at the top , so we decided to climb up it to look at the beautiful mountains and orange glow around them from the setting sun.
It was flat at the top , so we decided to climb up it to look at the beautiful mountains and orange glow around them from the setting sun.
When we reached the top, the view was even more beautiful than we imagined. We could see the entire small town of Globe, from the trailer park our parents grew up, to the house my grandma lives in. We saw the downtown shops and the old theater on the corner that only showed 3 movies at a time. We saw Burger House which, ironically enough, sells more burritos than burgers. I could almost picture my dad and uncles going up there after school or football games and sitting in a booth goofing off. I had an idea in my head of what their life growing up there may have been like, maybe the picture is off, but I still like to imagine I can picture some of it. The town was so new to me, but it somehow felt familiar, it was easy to picture what my dad’s life may have been like when he lived there. The new places to me were everyday places to him, familiar. It seemed peaceful, but at the same time fun. It was fun for me to imagine what it may have been like, what my uncles and my dad may have done, where they went. I was there, and to me that was just interesting enough. There were mountains behind the small town and the sun was inching even lower behind them. The orange of it ran over the side of them like a waterfall of glimmering color. The sky looked like a painted picture of what you could imagine a perfect sunset to look like. It was the perfect backdrop to the amazing view.
The view was so amazing I wanted to capture it and keep it with me forever. I pulled out my Polaroid camera and began snapping pictures. The town, in that moment, felt like a secret to me. Like I could laugh at the people that came back from vacation at a popular place like Orlando and know that I went somewhere no one else did. It felt like the town was a special place only I knew about. One after another, picture after picture, but they didn’t do justice to the actual view in front of me. I wanted to take pictures to say I was there, I saw that and it was beautiful. I wanted to make my own history in the small town. Maybe sometime later in my life my own kids could visit and maybe they could picture me standing there, admiring everything. Christopher took pictures of Kylie, Alyssa, and I and we made ourselves a part of it. In one moment, we made memories that I’m sure will last forever.
