Arizona, September 16-20, 2009

Posted: February 4th, 2010 | Filed under: Out Of Town

September 16, 2009

Ate at a couple of new places — America’s Taco Shop in Central Phoenix (named for its proprietor and not necessarily the country), Cyclo Vietnamese Cuisine in Chandler, Angel Sweet Gelato in Chandler and got drinks at SideBar in Central Phoenix.

September 17, 2009

A trip out of Phoenix to Jerome and Prescott via Black Canyon City and the Black Canyon Greyhound Park, which was a dog track and not a dog rack:

Then the World’s Largest Kokopelli in Camp Verde:

Through Cottonwood, then up the hill to Jerome, the old mining town that was resurrected as a tourist destination. The Main Street is quaint, its Upper Park is a nice vantage point from which to take in the scene and there is surprisingly good wine to taste at the Caduceus Cellars Tasting Room, founded by the lead singer of Tool (no kidding!). You can also try the Caduceus wines at the Jerome Grand Hotel‘s restaurant, which has really nice views of the Verde Valley:

We returned to Phoenix via Prescott, stopping by Whiskey Row across from Courthouse Plaza and getting a drink at one of its older saloons:

There are a lot of old motels on Gurley Street as you’re heading out of town and the road through Prescott Valley illustrates the sprawl still happening in the exurban Southwest:

Back in Phoenix we ate a late dinner at Hanny’s in Downtown Phoenix. A cool example of a repurposed space downtown, Hanny’s the department store closed in the 1980s and fortunately was never gobbled up by real estate speculators:

September 18, 2009

Ate at Gallo Blanco in The Clarendon Hotel — again, nice to see Phoenix using/reusing old spaces instead of always tearing down and building up. The Clarendon Hotel has a bust of journalist Don Bolles in the lobby. A quirky Phoenix historical footnote, Bolles was murdered by a car bomb in 1976 while investigating organized crime in Arizona. Kind of weird to think that that happened in Phoenix — you associate that kind of thing with other places — Chicago, New York, I guess Russia these days. But when you’re visiting, stop in at the Clarendon (it looks good now!) and check out the memorial to Bolles:

Christown Lanes is a bowling alley with a great 1960s look:

Someday, maybe not any time soon, people will start to take a closer look at 1980s boom-style architecture like the Security Title Plaza building on Central Avenue:

I read that Circles Records & Tapes in Downtown Phoenix finally closed in December:

September 19, 2009

Photographing sunsets is a compulsive and addictive behavior:

Some remnants of Downtown Phoenix:

September 20, 2009

A Diamondbacks game at Chase Field: