Sunday, August 06, 2006

53 Hours in Jerome

Not quite a record but getting there...

Went up to Jerome to look at a house Friday afternoon and ended up staying for a drumming session late Sunday. There's a great new coffeeshop/bookstore in town and the owner sells the only Africa and Indonesia-imported drums in the area, and has a drumming circle every Sunday afternoon. Jim Tomlinson, who up and left the snow and b.s. of Detroit last year, also sells fine European chocolates (the 70% cacao kind) and has a kick ass selection of books. Check out the Sage Post.

Saturday Greg and I had a classic Jerome evening of pasta at the whorehouse - Belgian Jenny's - and then on to the Spirit Room for Major Lingo, a band that has played in AZ for 24 years. Now, Major Lingo was playing the last time we went to the Spirit Room and seriously, it was like listening to a 70s jam band that had gotten sucked into another dimension and then mysteriously dropped back into the Spirit Room in 2006. Just meandering electronic nonsense that only Pink Floyd can get away with, and then only with substance(ial) enhancement. But this time they were great, doing some Beatles, some reggae and a long psychedelic version of the Hollies' Stop Stop Stop, you know -
Stop, stop, stop all the dancing
Give me time to breathe
Stop, stop, stop all the dancing
Or I'll have to leave

They even did Little Steven's I am A Patriot which almost made me fall out of my chair. Ok, now that I write this I realize that's pretty much all 70s-type stuff. Just not Dave Matthews warmed-over tripe.

And the crowd is always interesting at the Spirit Room - a mix of young and old, hippies, business people, bikers, artists, tourists - all not afraid to dance, even out in the street when the dance floor is packed.

So, the house. I was excited to find a house online that was 20K cheaper than any I had seen so far. It looked great and was in a great location - not too many tree-lined streets in Jerome. Reason number 1 that it was cheap - 850 sq ft, yet with 2 baths, so imagine the size of the rest of the rooms. The back yard is up some stairs and about 100 feet wide, going up the hill to the next property. Reason number 2 - possible foundation failure and structural integrity problems - meaning the house may be sliding down the hill. The windows and the doors are 'off-square' and one side of the foundation has sunk several inches since the last time it was measured. The living room slopes down a full 3 inches. Pretty scary stuff, and requiring about 80K in improvements. I just hope the young couple trying to sell can unload it on some rich LA vacationer before it ends up in Cottonwood. It will sell - it has spectacular views.

The search continues.

Here are some pics:

Greg adjusting the turning mirrors at the end of his street.
Greg at the Haunted Hamburger.
The view from Jerome to the red rocks.


2 comments:

Anonymous said...

You're going to let a little thing like a "possibly" dysfunctional foundation stand in your way? Where's your sense of adventure?

blogedyblogblog said...

If you are meant to me in Jerome, the house will happen.