Thoughts, Reviews, and Ramblings

McDowell Mountain GC is a course I feel a bit conflicted about. It is a really enjoyable tract to play, but at the same time can be a bit underwhelming. Upon arrival the club house is attractive and the bag drop folks are quick and helpful. There are a lot of shade trees around the main building which is a great area to stretch out and practice a little chipping. The driving range is directly in front of the building and it looks out towards the valley to the west.
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Our first visit to The Legend at Arrowhead started with a guy coming over the loud speaker and telling us to return from the first tee to pay for a ride-along. Seriously? Over the loud speaker. It happened to be the first place in the valley (in the midst of the pandemic) that was no longer allowing people to have their own carts. Leslie dumped me off and drove back to the clubhouse to pay her $15 to ride along fee and got called "darling" by a troll hanging out at the pro-shop counter (not an employee). Who would have thought getting called darling would set someone off, but Leslie drove that cart like a bat of hell the rest of the day. This is why she would be dangerous with a club in her hand. read more

It's my birthday year!  Every year is my birthday year.  When you need an excuse to celebrate, just remember it's your birthday year, too! But actually my real birthday was recently. Our neighbors, Steven and Shannon, wanted to celebrate with us so they thought to take us somewhere fun. I've always wanted to go to Casa Bonita for my birthday (a Denver landmark where the restaurant is designed like a village and they have guys cliff diving into a small pool while you eat). As a Colorado native, it's almost sacrilege that I have not yet witnessed the cliff diving circus that is Casa Bonita. One day... However, Arizona offers a restaurant chain with the same family friendly, unique feel--but the primary difference is the food is good at El Encanto, which is already a huge improvement over the speedo-wearing teenagers flailing off a foam "cliff" in my book. read more

Don't expect a review for Pizza Hut or Dominos, but Spinato's is a local chain that I recently found out about. They have five locations in the Valley, easily found by checking Google Maps. In full disclosure I only visited one location see update below (11108 N Frank Lloyd Wright) and it is still somewhat in pandemic mode. But I do intend to check other locations and expand on my review when I get the chance. Unfortunately, due to my crappy slow metabolism I cannot eat pizza every day like I could when I was 22. So be it... read more

Today was a beautiful day.  Like a perfect 80 degree Spring day just before the heat sets in.  The Mockingbird is going nuts in the tree outside, the hummingbirds are dive-bombing each other...  Just the kind of day you want to clean your house and run errands, amiright?!?!?  And that's exactly what we did.  It was an errand of love, you see, the plants are overrun with gnats and we needed a bench for our new dartboard area.  We finished up the fun stuff and decided it was taco time.  For me, everyday is taco day, Friday is no exception.  We decided to head over to Loco Patron in North Scottsdale because the patio is huge and they are a local brewery we haven't yet checked out. read more

When it is late in the day on Saturday and you want to go to a nice restaurant that evening, chances are it may be hard to find a table. We checked out Open Table and Arrivederci had availability at all times. How could this be? The evening before Easter... Let's just say people may not be flocking to this North Scottsdale location. read more

Andy and I, first and foremost are foodies, but we also like to seek out a little adventure. With adventure comes travel, of course, and we spend quite a bit of time in airports.  So imagine my excitement when I discovered Volanti Restaurant located on the runway of Scottsdale Airport!  Yippee!! I love, love restaurants with a fun setting--you know, like the Space Needle in Seattle--and this little lounge was right up my alley. So we invited our Cousins, Dan and Laura, along for a local adventure. read more