The weather finally turned! It’s above freezing - in fact, it’s in the 60’s. This is what winter in Arizona is supposed to be. And this week the Olive Mill restaurant is celebrating the new olive crop with an outside party, with wine tasting and music. The music was provided by trio called “Urban Electra”, who are really good. They played a lovely series of classical airs, then moved seamlessly into Billy Idol’s “White Wedding”, and made it all sound great! Sitting in the sun, eating, talking and listening to music was a perfect way to celebrate the return of sunny days.
As Randy says “the hardest thing about retirement is that you never get a day off!” It’s a hardship, true, but we do our best. We decided the dogs needed some exercise so Clyde drove us out to the Maricopa State Park. We took the “scenic” route to the park - the GPS didn’t have a clue where it was and didn’t want to admit it, so it took us out in the desert and in a big circle, until Nancy called the park for real directions. But when we got there, it was worth it. We opted for the short trail, about 2 ½ miles long. The trail was pretty wide and easy to follow, with a fair amount of dips and rises to give it just a little challenge. The trail took us up to where we got a great view of the natural desert landscape - dry and dangerous, but beautiful in it's own way.
My experience at the Desert Museum taught me to look for small cactus, and I was rewarded by finding this small beauty. Who knew there were pink cactus?
The dogs did great on the walk, although on the way back Julienne got a little help. Guess we forgot to tell her that the purpose of this was to give her exercise...
And we went to Organ Stop Pizza - we were here before and it’s in our blog from February 13, 2010. Nothing has changed, which, when everything works, is exactly what you hope for. Of course the pizza is still just OK and they serve Pepsi instead of Coke, but at Organ Stop Pizza, the food is secondary. The draw is the big, beautiful, Mighty Wurlitzer. It turns out “The Mighty Wurlitzer” is not a fancy nick-name, it's the real name of a specific type of pipe organ that can create full orchestra sounds. (You just have to admire the guy who can call his creation “The Mighty” whatever.) This one is gorgeous - ebony black with bright gold-tone scrollwork. The man who plays it takes requests and knows every song by heart. The whole room is part of the act, from the drums, flutes, bird whistles, etc on the walls that join the Wurlitzer as if by magic, to the big glitter ball overhead and bubbles floating down during some songs.
They balance the formal grandness of The Mighty Wurlitzer with some really kitschy things. The background for the dramatic “Phantom” music is a child’s Kaleidoscope, projected behind the organ.
Something else I haven’t seen before is an ad-hoc sales car lot - just an intersection out in the middle of nowhere, where people park their cars, with prices or phone numbers chalked on them. I know, small things amuse me, but I've never seen this before. It’s not a big thing, just another local custom that varies from place to place.
But this blog is about food, so back to the eats! As soon as the weather got better Clyde and Nancy took us to San Tan Flat, which I keep calling San Tan Flats. They serve basic country-style food; I got a big cheeseburger so no complaints there.
The food is OK but, as with Organ Stop Pizza, the food is not the main draw. San Tan Flat has a unique dining arrangement outside (I assume there is inside dining but we chose outside). You find a rough picnic table that's free, and someone goes to a wagon parked in the corner to load up a cardboard box with small wood pieces. Then you build a warm, bright fire in the fire box next to your table. You order inside and then spend the evening eating and talking in front of your own personal fireplace.
The guy providing music was great - he has a mellow, pitch-perfect voice that sounds a bit like Garth, but more flexible, and with just his guitar for accompanyment, he filled the night with mellow songs. A very good night.
We still had more time to fill (no time off, remember?) so we found a mini-golf course. We went with Dale and Heidi, and the truth is none of us are likely to make a living on the golf course. I only hit the ball into the water once, but there were several holes where I finally just guessed at how many times I hit the ball. Good thing we didn't take Dale up on his offer to play for money!
But we tried. What form!
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