Teresa heard an ad on the news for the Gem show at the Convention Center (CC) starting today. So we thought we would try again. This time there were people everywhere. We parked in our previous parking area and hiked the four blocks to the CC. Good thing because traffic was lined up around the block to get into the CC. We followed the folks inside and got in line. We soon noticed that everyone in line seemed to have tickets, so Teresa went to buy tickets and pick up a map while I saved our place. It wasn't 10 am yet and already the line was snaking around the hall. At 10 am a loud speaker announced that the 58th annual Tucson Gem Show was open to the public. I felt like clapping.
It took us a while to get to the actual entrance where they stamped our hand and then we were in. The scope of this event is hard to describe -- it is huge and almost overwhelming. Soon after we got in, the loud speaker announced the arrival of the Governor of Arizona and the Mayor of Tucson. We had noticed quite a police presence in the center of the main area -- I'm sure they are being very careful after what happened in Tucson last year. The Governor and Mayor gave short speeches and then were taken for a tour of the event. We stayed far away form that action and pleasantly strolled through the exhibits, casing the joint. The strategy we have developed is to go through all the booths first, marking the ones we want to come back to on the map. About 15 minutes after the Governor's speech, the loud speaker came on again and announced that the Arizona Sales Tax was 9 percent. Making sure we knew the state intended to take its share of the profits.
I had noticed at the previous Gem Show venues the presence of pedestrian speed bumps (by nearly tripping over one). They had them here as well. So like hiking on the rocks, I learned to watch my feet. They had raffles for free prizes each hour. You had go to the pink balloon station each hour to enter the next one. This kept us moving back and forth, but we didn't win anything. The show was fascinating and educational. Most vendors were glad to share information on their stones with us. They had stations where you select your stone and they would make it into a pendent, earrings, or ring for you right on the spot, a wide variety of jewelry designers, as well as those who dealt in the raw materials.
I found out my favorite vendor (from previous day) was here and they have a store in WA, close to home. I bought some larimar from another vendor. You con only find larimar on one island in the Dominican Republic. We looked at some Australian stones that were rare. The vendor said the American's did not recognize the stone as valuable for a number of years. Meanwhile, the Russians did and imported as much as they could to the extent that there is little left in Australia. The vendor said someone had seen his wares the other day and said he had seen it before. The Australian asked him where. He said that the steps to the Kremlin were lined with it.
The other day we visited the American Indian Jewelry Exhibit. It was in a motel some distance from the main exhibits, and it wasn't marked on all the maps which seemed strange. There were about 15 native artisans there. Indian culture attributes many qualities to certain stones and symbols that you find in their jewelry. While there we overheard one of the folks telling a customer that amethysts protect the wearer from drunkenness. Since amethyst is also my birthstone, I was pleased to find an amethyst pendant.
We decided that this was the best day to attend the event after another loudspeaker announcement let us know that tomorrow 400 high school students would be visiting the show. After that the only two days left would be on the weekend. And we got first pick of the litter, so to speak.
We left the show around 4pm and headed home to rest before going out to dinner with our host, Lee. Most of the streets of Tucson are in a nice grid except for this downtown area which we call the "traffic vortex." It is easy to get caught in it and not get out as we discovered the other day. But today we escaped the vortex. The other difficulties related to finding your way around Tucson are the fact that I-10 cuts a 45 degree angle through the city and the fact that there is a large air force base in the southeastern part of the city that cuts of many of the otherwise through streets. But we are getting to know our way around the city. Tucson is a very nice city.
We went to a restaurant called Pinnacle Peak that is part of a wild west village with shops, rides, a train and wild west shows every hour. We enjoyed the show and then went for dinner. I looked around and saw a multitude of ties posted on the walls and rafters. Lee informed us that if you wore a tie into the restaurant, they would cut it off. Sure enough each tie had a little card with it stating the former owner’s name and date of posting. The wait staff were all dressed as cowboys and the food was ranch style, steak and beans. We had a great time.
Home to pack up. We leave Tucson tomorrow for the journey back home.
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