Traveling to the Blazin’ M Ranch Dinner Theatre
Posted in Arizona, Cowboy Show, Family Fun, Food, Restaurant, Romantic Locations, Scenery, Shopping, Southwest, Theater | By Shelley Gillespie | Tags: Adventure, Arizona, AZ, Blazin' M Ranch, Cottonwood, Cowboy Show, Crafts, Food, Historic, Petting zoo, Restaurant, Shopping, Southwest, Travel
Near the picturesquely named Dead Horse Ranch State Park in Cottonwood, Arizona, the Blazin’ M Ranch – and Dinner Theatre- conveys a feeling of the Old West, both its hospitality and its rambunctious good times.
Run by the Mabery family, Blazin’ M offers an old western town, plus a petting zoo, an all-you can-eat dinner and a rollicking cowboy show. They have a sense of humor, too!
Just punishment? Think about it!
So, it’s a family attraction, now in its 16th year, and one that appears to have a lot of repeat visitors, plus people who come from far away. The prize for the furthest distance traveled at our dinner show was a South American visitor!
We finally got his "good side"
The petting zoo had a llama, some turkeys, goats, chickens, donkeys, and horses. None of them wanted to pose. I guess we finally got their ”good” side, but they didn’t make it easy.
Petting zoo turkey didn't want to pose
We wandered by the roping practice area where a guest was learning how to rope a horse – and doing a good job, at that.
Roping practice at the Blazin' M
Several shops offered some typical tourist memorabilia, plus you could have your photo taken. There was also cowboy attire like clothing, hats and boots in the shops. Crafts, food items and especially women’s clothing were available.
Cowboy boots lined the wall of this shop
The Dinner part of the Dinner Theater
Magically, when the dinner bell rang, staffers who had been helping in the shops suddenly appeared in the dinner hall.
Dinner service was accomplished efficiently by taking guests table by table (everyone is seated family-style at long tables) through the food line. And, magically, the staffers also doubled as food servers. Those family members and staff really work hard! It was funny seeing the rough-and-tumble looking “cowboys” wearing plastic gloves for the food service.
Dinner was much like cowboys might experience on the trail. Lining up to receive your tin plate, you joined the line. There is a choice of chicken or beef brisket in barbecue sauce. (On the first round, then you could have whatever you wanted.) With that came cowboy beans (vegetarian), coleslaw, baked potatoes, rolls, applesauce, spice cake and basic drinks in tin cups. (Specialty sodas extra.)
A vegetarian could have most of the meal, an unusual concession, since in the Old West you ate what was available. While not fancy, the food was filling and good. I didn’t find the barbecue sauce cloyingly sweet like some places serve and I ate the whole slice. The cole slaw and applesauce were very good. Everything, except the applesauce, is made on the premises.
During dinner, a master of ceremonies works at getting people in a convivial mood. Then, they start the dinner show. That’s the fun part that we’ll share with you later this week.
Come back later this week for the Blazin’ M dinner theatre – a rollicking, tuneful, fun time!
Tags: Adventure, Arizona, AZ, Blazin' M Ranch, Cottonwood, Cowboy Show, Crafts, Food, Historic, Petting zoo, Restaurant, Shopping, Southwest, Travel
March 4th, 2010 at 7:44 pm
Thanks! So happy you could join us.