Tucson 2013 – Gem, Mineral and Fossil Show
Ellen and gigantic amethyst!
The normally blue skies in Tucson, Arizona, had turned gray by the time we arrived at our first venue of the annual Gem, Mineral and Fossil Show, a group of tents arranged in a gravelly vacant lot on Oracle Street near downtown. The sign declared everything to be of Moroccan origin and my first thought was, ‘How did they lug all this stuff here from Morocco?’ We are talking rocks, you know.
It was later suggested that their wares stay in this country and travel to various shows in the southwest so it’s not like they have to shlep it back and forth from north Africa all the time.
We next visited a hotel, the Hotel Tucson City Center, which was entirely taken over by vendors, both inside, and out around the pool. This was a much more polished presentation than what we had seen earlier. Here there was everything from jewelry to wall hangings to dressed up fossils to sculpture and more. And a few hefty price tags, as well.
Browse through the photos below to get a feel for the event. And if you plan to ever visit the show, don’t think you can catch it all in just one day. Or two. Or even three. It goes on for two weeks at forty sites around Tucson, so allow some time.
Ever seen a $145,000 framed fossil?
Trilobite fossils with cooperative Moroccan
Polished petrified wood orb
Want your own Triceratops skull fossil?
Ever heard of Fool’s Gold, actually known as pyrite?
How about your very own velociraptor sculpture?
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Wow… I’ve been to gem/mineral shows before, but not on such a grand scale! That huge amethyst geode that you got the pic of with Ellen was pretty! (and big… LOL) Yeah, these people schlep it around and that is a lot of tonnage to move. Thought more of it would have been from South America though, not Morocco. I never got a chance to see Tucson, although Brandon was there for 2 years when he first went into the Air Force. Guess that’s where he learned that he liked the southwest! He’s stationed in Phoenix now…
Are you driving around in the southwest for a while now? Bil called that area ‘home’ for a couple years while he was on the road in his RV. Enjoy!
Robin – There are likely some South American vendors there in the other venues but we barely scratched the surface. We’re just staying in the Tucson area although we’d like to see more of Arizona… someday. Thanks for reading and commenting!
That must be a fascinating show — I have definitely never seen such a large gem, or fossils like the ones you caught (on camera). Thanks for letting us tour around with you, virtually.
And thank you, Wendy, for reading and commenting!