Courthouse Plaza

I would need to keep up my strength for the hunt. Fortunately, along with a comfortable bed and ample peace and quiet, the Hassayampa Inn serves up a hearty breakfast in the lovely Peacock Dining Room. Over the course of three mornings, we indulged in fluffy lemon pancakes with fresh raspberry sauce, killer huevos rancheros, crab cakes Benedict and prime rib hash ’n’ eggs with all the appropriate go-withs.

Then, credit card in hand, it was time to pound the pavement. Antique shopping is a Prescott perennial, and if rusty branding irons, crackle-glazed pottery and leather trunks are on your list, this is your town. What called to me were the sleek new stores like Prairie Rose Boutique, which carries subtly Western-flavored women’s togs and stunning tooled and embellished belts, boots and purses. A few doors down, closet-sized Aroma Works serves up a big helping of bath and beauty products, including chunky bath bombs, compelling scents for men and a flotilla of rubber duckies. In the same stretch of street, you’ll find embroidered table runners, dramatic jewelry and luxurious rugs at the Tibet Gallery.

Van Gogh’s Ear has handcrafted jewelry in every imaginable style, along with kicky shoes cobbled and hand-painted by the gallery owners, textile wall hangings and furniture-quality jewelry boxes. I was particularly taken with a tote made from a laminated New York Times travel section.

The Old Firehouse Plaza is home to Furry Little Monsters, where you can find goodies for the family pet and colorful plastic aprons for the human doing bath duty. In the same building, spacious Delovely Apothecary has cosmetics, seductive lingerie and delicate jewelry, and if time permits, it’s a great place to book a massage or facial.

Whiskey Row

Downstairs in Bashford Court, a stationery store called The Raven is loaded with gift ideas like fine leather-bound journals. Next door, Trinkets has fantastic choices for your home and kids, such as sturdy Victorian-print hatboxes and trunks perfect for doll clothes or small toys.

Upstairs, A’Loft is packed with affordable tchotchkes that include rotund piggybanks, crazy little percussive frogs, stained glass and vintage posters.
Furniture, home accessories, linens and specialty food products are only a fraction of Bella Home Furnishings’ stock. Even my companion warmed up to a mirror cunningly framed by old skis and a snowshoe coat hanger.

As mentioned before, men do not live by shopping alone, so in the afternoons, my companion insisted we experience the rest of town. The “there’s no history in Arizona” contingent will get schooled in Prescott’s Sharlot Hall Museum. The compound occupies the original site of the territorial governor’s mansion. Touring the exhibits and 10 historic buildings reflects the continuum of past to present and illustrates how quickly things have changed in Prescott from primitive to, well, shopping-worthy.

(Another way to get an overview of the town’s past is by taking a downtown walking tour hosted by the Chamber of Commerce.)

An odd little footnote to more recent history: The Smoki Museum originated with a group of non-Native local residents who began emulating Hopi dances and rituals at rodeos and performances in the 1920s. By the early ’90s, growing cultural sensitivity and attrition ended the bizarre practice, but over the years, the members had amassed a significant amount of Native American artifacts and costumes. During the Depression, the WPA built the stone pueblo that now houses the collection, and the museum’s mission has become to promote knowledge and respect for indigenous people.