Saturday, November 12, 2005

Trip to Tubac

Earlier today I rewrote my post on cotton in Central Asia and lost it again. I am not going to rewrite it right now. It has just been too frustrating. At anyrate today we went to Tubac. It is an old Spanish Presidio that has been converted into an overpriced tourist trap. It has lots of shops selling "authentic Native American" artifacts manufactured in China. The mark up for goods in Tubac is about 1000%. In Arivaca prickly pear glaze sells for $2.50 a bottle. In Tubac it costs $22.00 a bottle. All of the books in their used book store were more expensive than new books in London. Who pays $15.00 for used paperbacks written in the 1980s? I figure if we can get these touristas up to the Chicken Shack we can fleece them for super big bucks. My uncle and I could wall paper the house in hundred dollar bills. Needless to say I was not overly impressed with Tubac. I was, however, pleased to note that outside the town entrance that they fly the Confederate flag along with the flags of Arizona, the US, Mexico and Spain to denote the diverse heritage of southern Arizona.

1 comment:

Chris O'Byrne said...

Now this was funny! I'm surprised I didn't run into you there, I was at the art center finding out about the next gallery show. Sara had three paintings accepted! So now we get to drive out there again on Monday.

I know what you mean about the prices. Tubac is EXTREMELY full of itself!