The Streets of Scottsdale

Feb. 8-10

Friday morning Joanna took a walk away from Old Town a few blocks north of the hotel.

We had a sense of deja vu about this part of Scottsdale, but couldn’t be sure that we had seen it before.

Her walk took her to the canal, where vendors were setting up tents for some kind of event involving craft sales and wine tasting.

She led me back in the same direction in the afternoon. We walked through a commercial district largely filled with art and jewelry shops.

We also went up to the canal. We passed a Mexican restaurant, Barrio Queen, on the way. It looked familiar.

We walked around a bend and saw a sign for Soleri Bridge and Plaza. Then I knew why so much of the area looked familiar. 

It was familiar. We had gone to Barrio Queen for dinner with Patrick and Kristin and the kids last time we visited them in Phoenix, maybe two years ago.

Soleri Plaza is named for an avant garde architect, Paolo Soleri, who promoted the idea of arcology—architecture designed to reduce human impact on ecological systems.

One of his ideas is Arcosanti, an experimental city being built in the desert about 70 miles north of Phoenix. Construction started in 1970. I believe it is functioning but is still incomplete.

It wasn’t hot, but I was wearing down in the sun. Another discovery came to the rescue—Two Brothers brew pub, where I had a couple of good house pale ales and we shared a plate of broccolini. 

Green vegetables are hard to find on the road. When Joanna sees some on a menu, she orders them. These were better than good. They were outstanding.

We took a break till dinnertime. 

Forgetting it was Friday night, we went back to Barrio Queen for dinner. It was early, maybe five o’clock, but already the wait for a table was estimated at one hour.

Too hungry for that, we went toward Old Town, stopping on the way to check a couple of places. We wound up at Grimaldi’s, a pizzeria. 

Pizza is always a risk away from home. But this one was fine. Made in a coal-fired brick oven, it had good char on the crust, fine fennel sausage, good handling of oregano and fresh basil. 

I had Hop Knot IPA from Four Peaks Brewing in Tempe. It had very light fragrance and was bitter enough, but overall there was too much water in it.

Saturday morning was overcast and a mite chilly. It was an ironic turn of weather for the Parada del Sol, which came down Scottsdale Road, a half block to the east of the hotel. 

The parade is connected to a rodeo, so there are lots of horses, including a contingent of maybe 40 mounted U.S. marshals. We saw those curious miniature horses, too. They’re not ponies, but much closer to eohippus, maybe three or four feet high.

We got there shortly after the parade started and stayed for an hour or so. We saw Apache, Navajo, and other regional Amerindian dancers. 

An extraordinary marching band represented an elementary school. Extraordinary because the musicians could not only keep time, but they could all actually hit the right notes. I never before heard a group of kids so young able to do that all at once.

There were ladies in colorful Mexican skirts riding horses, a huge inflatable bull and cowboy in the middle of the street a block away, mounted officers from the sheriff’s office in a posse, stagecoaches and wagons. 

Some riders were on motorcycles. I think they were a club connected to the local VFW. 

Titleholders of Ms. Senior Arizona from years past rode by in convertibles. One may have been a ringer. She won the title ten years ago or more and still didn’t look 50 to me. But then I’ve always been bad at guessing ages and have gotten worse at it as I’ve grown older.

In the afternoon, we drove to Phoenix to visit Joanna’s son, Patrick, and his family, Kristin, Peter, and Natalie. She hadn’t seen this branch of her family since October, at a reunion in New Jersey to celebrate the 50th anniversary of the extended family’s arrival in the United States from Hong Kong.

Joanna had bought brushes and an unusual pad for practising the writing of Chinese calligraphy. You dip the brush in water and strokes on the surface of the pad show up as black. They fade after a few moments so you can use the writing surface over and over.

Both Peter and Natalie know some Han characters. But they were shy. Joanna was occupied with her camera and left me unassisted in showing how the pad works.

We ate roast for dinner: roast chicken, roast cauliflower, roast greens. It was fantastic. It was also the first home-cooked meal Joanna and I have had in weeks.  Loved every bite.

Sunday Joanna took another early morning walk. That’s how she found Morning Squeeze, a cafe serving breakfast a couple of blocks from the hotel.

We went there for pancakes, eggs, bacon, sausage. I hadn’t eaten so much for breakfast since my last visit to a Waffle House. I don’t do it often because I need to save those calories for beer.

We also walked along the Fifth Avenue shopping district. Yes, they have one here, too. It’s not as tall, and has a little more rodeo flavor than Saks or Lord & Taylor, but it’s probably more colorful.

There are small plaques in the sidewalk every few feet commemorating historic figures from the Old West. Billy the Kid, Geronimo, Cochise, Wyatt Earp, and many others whose names aren’t familiar to me each get a spot on the walk of fame.

We went back to visit Patrick, Kristin, and the grandchildren in the afternoon. Two friends stopped by. Joanna had met Joanne and Bob, but hadn’t seen them in years.

Turns out, they have a nomadic past, too. Bob’s retired; Joanne can work anywhere her computer is connected to the Internet. They used to tour around in an RV. 

One of their trips involved several weeks camped near Glacier National Park, a destination decided on the spur of the moment.

The salmon and steak for dinner were cooked on a grill outside. The salad had romaine but it was safe to eat because it was grown in Kristin’s garden in front of the mural on the wall.

I’ve been behaving for the past couple of days, just for the novelty of it. I had one glass of cabernet sauvignon with dinner and nothing else stronger than coffee for the past two days.

I’ve been drinking more water, though. That stuff rusts iron and sinks ships. I don’t know what it will do to me.

Here’s hoping everyone’s boat stays afloat. 

Have a good time, all, and good night.

Harry