Days 38-39 (June 9-10): Phoenix, Az.

My former Director used to admonish me because my briefing notes were always way too long (until he tried shortening one and had to give up. Ha. Also, I am certain he has noticed that I am constantly a week late in posting...).  Given how I have rambled on at length about Houston and San Antonio after having only spent 48 hours or so in each, I will try to keep this post relatively brief. Oh hell, let's be honest, here: briefer. Maybe. And, in honour of briefing notes everywhere, I will stick to bullets...

- It is so much easier to make a 48-hour visit to a city one has already visited, even if it was 16 years ago.

- Phoenix was phucken hot, 110 F (43 C)degrees hot. Walking around downtown, especially at the end of the day when concrete is bleeding and reflecting heat is like having a hair dryer aimed at your face. 

- On Day 39, I took a day trip to Sedona, a small community North of Phoenix, which thrives on tourism and celebrity residents. Look at the pretty pictures:

Montezuma's Castle, a cliff dwelling used from the 1100s to the 1400s, north of Phoenix.

Bell Peak formation, south of Sedona.

South of Sedona.

View of Sedona from Church of the Holy Cross.

Outside of Sedona.

View of random formation, from Sedona.

Oak River Valley, north of Sedona, elevation 6,000+ feet.

 

And a flowering cactus, on the peak from which the above pic was taken, part of the Coconico National Forest.

- In all seriousness, I am not a spiritual person, but there is something moving in gazing at those red rock formations.

- Speaking of spiritual experiences, I went to Cooper'stown; i.e., Alice Cooper's sports bar. Opened in 1998, Cooper'stown is located in a prime location: a couple blocks from Chase Field and right behind the arena where the Phoenix Suns play. A very large establishment, the walls are covered with Alice Cooper and sports memorabilia, with some other rock memorabilia thrown in and, inexplicably, a very large United Federation of Planets logo. (The staff I spoke to had no idea why it was there; it pre-dated their employment, which was six years.) By far, the coolest piece of Alice memorabilia (I just cannot think of a synonym, so will keep using it...) For me, at least, was this lovely little rock poster:

Cooper'stown's menu, with the items named for Alice songs or sports stars, is roughly what you would expect from a sports bar, with one notable exception: The Big Unit, a 24-inch hot dog. Once again, for the second time on the trip, I skipped ordering a 24-inch hot dog. Instead, I had the beef brisket sandwich, which was ordinary, with a side of chili, which was outstanding, and worth a visit just on its own.  They have a few local beers on tap; I tried a couple of Santan Brewery products, the Devil's Ale IPA, which was one of the best IPAs I have had so far, and a stout, which was very stout-y.

Also, the servers (well, at least the female ones) wear Alice-type face paint around their eyes.

- Phoenix has a light rail line which it did not have 16 years ago. The line goes through Tempe and all the way to Mesa in the East. This is going to make a Cactus League Spring Training trip all the much easier.

- I hopped on the light rail to head to Tempe's Mill Street corridor on the evening of Day 38.  I found two bars of note: the World of Beer, which has 45 taps of American craft and Belgian beers (including 15 from Arizona) and the Gordon Biersch brew pub, which brews eight different flavours and has kind of an upper end menu for a brew pub. Neither the beer nor the food were exciting.

- I ended my stay with a true spiritual experience: I visited the Phoenix Tilted Kilt, my first time at a Tilted Kilt. A combination Irish pub/sports bar with good beers (including local brews) on tap, it is the closest I will ever get to heaven. Also, I have to appreciate their restraint/mendacity/concern for the environment/conservation in how little fabric they waste on their servers' kilts; it is damned commendable. 

- It might be a coincidence, but I had two of my favourite IPAs from two local breweries: the afore-mentioned Devil's Head IPA from Santan breweries (at Cooper'stown) and Four Peaks IPA, brewed in Tempe (at the TK).