Phoenix is a quaint mix of a once small outpost in America’s southwest and a modern city trying to keep up with the Joneses. It is peppered by golf resorts and tony shops catering to the financially secure, and yet it has a very down home feeling to it.  I think it might have to do with the year round sun, much like in LA. With all that sun in your blood you can’t help but be mellow.  And here in this desert town, there’s not much to do except to just chill out and enjoy where you are.

For me, that means a heavy dose of southwest cooking…

 

The above picture is of my seabass with rock shrimp quesadillas, yam fries, and escabeche at the Tortilla Factory in Old Town Scottsdale. Miam.

 

After a big meal it’s a nice walk through Old Town to peek inside all the art galleries…

 

In fact, an oil painting lit from within a closed gallery stops me dead in my tracks,

 

so I have to come closer to look back into those eyes:

 

Would have loved to have taken that painting home with me. Maybe next time.  In the morning I’d like to drive by the adobe houses and their cactus gardens again. I am smitten with how Phoenix has mastered monochromatic landscaping; the way the homes blend into the sand is almost like a trompe l’oeil.  When you see them just in the right lighting, you almost wonder if you’re not seeing a mirage.  In fact, look closer…is that a python on that horse? 😀