I rode up with Jeff, Ashley, and Tree on Friday morning and we arrived in Prescott around noon. I have never been to Prescott before, so this was all a new experience for me. We were worried about the rain, but figured we'd take the chance to set up camp a day early since we were requested to by the groom.
Friday was mostly drinking and relaxing, and eventually the others there started to cash in around 7:30pm when it started to get dark. The four of us decided it was too early to call it a night, so we decided to check out the nightlife in Prescott. When we arrived downtown in an area called "Whiskey Row", we immediately noticed that the population was 100% older white people. Late 30's to early 40's, not a single minority in sight.
My friend Tree is a tall, black man and instantly felt the pressure of racial perspectives in this town. At the first saloon, random strangers came up to him with comments such as "I'm glad you were able to come out tonight.", "Can I get a picture with you?", and finally, "Can I get a hug before you leave?" He instantly viewed all these comments as racist and I can't blame him. I wouldn't be surprised if they said other things to him that he just didn't feel comfortable sharing with us.
We eventually made our way to another saloon, which yielded better results. It was a country bar, again with no other minorities, but at least this time Tree was accosted by many older women who wanted to talk to him and dance with him...teach him how to two-step and such. Yours truly avoided this scene altogether, and was content just getting drunk among friends and just watching people make fools of themselves.
The next day was the wedding day. Mike had a pretty cool setup for an outdoor wedding at a campground. Altogether there were about 30 people, mostly family and relatives.
