Memorial Day at the Arizona Biltmore

I found a special deal at the Arizona Biltmore resort in Phoenix, Arizona for Memorial Day Weekend. The resort was celebrating its 80th birthday by providing rooms for $80/night. Having visited the resort during our stay in Scottsdale in March, it was a deal that we could not pass up.

The Arizona Biltmore was built in 1929 by the McArthur Brothers. One of their nephews, Albert Chase McArthur, is the architect on record. Frank Lloyd Wright was a consultant on the project for a few months in 1928, and the building looks and feels like a Wright creation (he is often mis-credited as being the architect of the resort). McArthur had studied under Wright for a few years after graduating from Harvard. In 1930, following the stock market crash, the McArthur brothers were forced to sell their shares of the resort to the chief financier, William Wrigley, Jr. One of his vacation homes is pictured here (it sits on a hill overlooking the property). The entire project had a Chicago connection, as Wrigley, the McArthurs and Wright were all from Chicago and forged their relationships there.

The property remained under Wrigley's private ownership until his family sold the property to the Talley family in 1970. During this time, it was invitation only and hosted many movie stars, athletes, and every sitting U.S. President from Herbert Hoover onward. Each sitting President has continued to stay at the Arizona Biltmore to this day (Obama has not yet, but he will receive an invitation shortly). Ronald and Nancy Reagan honeymooned there in 1952 and visited many times afterward. In the 1930's and 1940's, invitees typically moved their families to the resort for several months at a time - often October through April. Everything needed to sustain a family was on the grounds - restaurants, clothing stores, drugstore, doctor, barber, etc. There were rooms for the nannys, drivers, butlers and other servants that would accompany the family to the Arizona Biltmore.

Friday night, David (a friend of Rachel's from high school) and Dani Latimer took us to a really cool bar called The Vic. It had outdoor seating and was awesome (even though the days were heating up, nights still cooled off into the low 70's). It was great to hang out with David and Dani again. They are both hilarious and a blast to hang out with.


Saturday morning, Rachel and I took the organized history tour of the resort, which is where I obtained most of the facts I am spewing forth in this blog. This shot is taken from the patio on the 2nd floor. Interestingly, the original search light of the hotel is still mounted just above where this shot was taken. In the 1930's, the hotel was 8 miles outside of the city limits (the city has sense sprawled all around it. The search light was used to show guests where the hotel was located. During Prohibition, the search light also served an additional purpose. The cigar room, where the liquor was hidden, had a moon roof. If a line of cars was seen speeding up the road from Phoenix towards the resort, the search light operator would swing the light across the moon roof, alerting those imbibing alcohol that a raid was imminent. The liquor would be hidden and the social group would disperse before the authorities arrived.

A view through the courtyard.


This is a picture of our cottage, which overlooked the courtyard area.



This is a picture of the courtyard area. It was really pretty, especially with the mountains in the background at sunset. The restaurants, bar, clothing stores, etc. surrounded the courtyard. In the evenings, kids would play on the grounds, while families ate outdoors at the restaurants. It was really kind of cool to see and a great place to people watch.


It was especially funny to watch some of the younger kids play in the area. They were drawn towards this fountain, and almost always came away wet.




Above is a nice panoramic video of the courtyard area with all of the stores and restuarants.

This is a framed photo of the resort in 1930, soon after it opened. At that time, it still was a desert. Phoenix, Arizona is perhaps the most inefficient consumer of water on earth. If you are an environmentalist, chances are that you hate Phoenix and Las Vegas. Water is transferred through open air aquaducts from the Colorado River to Phoenix (the evaporation rate has to be HUGE, as there is no tree cover for the transfer). Grass is everywhere at all of the resorts in Phoenix and Scottsdale, meaning that a great deal of this water goes to upkeep of grass that would not naturally be there otherwise. While it is beautiful, it is certainly wasteful. The landscape in the surrounding area is so unique, it would still be beautiful without all of the lush grass and palm trees.

This is a picture of one of the gardens on the premises. There are amazing flower gardens all over the grounds.




The lobby is really cool and exhibits the Frank Lloyd Wright influence with the low lighting and horizontalism. This shot looks down over the front desk area (the bar is in the distance). In the 1970's, a guest called the front desk and complained that the bar customers were being too loud. The front desk worker told the guest to open their door and shout over the bannister at the bar patrons. When the guest looked over the balcony to the bar, he saw that the rucos was coming from a few of the guests singing at the piano in the bar. It was Frank Sinatra, Sammy Davis Jr., Dean Martin and Liza Minelli. He did not go to bed; he came downstairs. In the 1990's, the hotel pianist saw Billy Joel sitting atthe bar. He began playing only Elton John songs until Billy Joel got up from his seat and joined him at the piano. This bar is also the birthplace of the original tequila sunrise (1940's). Interestingly, the original recipe does not contain orange juice.

The Arizona Biltmore has several pools. This is a photo of the Catalina pool, which is one of the original pools at the resort. Marilyn Monroe once remarked that this was her favorite pool in the world.


This is a picture of some of the "corporate" rooms adjacent to the Catalina Pool. These condos are 2 bedroom, 1500 square foot dwellings.


The highlight of our trip was meeting up with Charlie and Dana Outlaw, their daughter, Amanda, and Pete Symonds. They happened to be vacationing in Arizona at the same time we were there. We had dinner with them both Friday and Saturday night. I worked indirectly for Charlie when I was with Eastman Chemical. They have been good friends of ours for a very long time. We had not seen each other in over 3 years, so it was great to catch up with them.




Saturday, we worked it out where Amanda could come over and play at our main pool before we went to dinner. The main pool has an awesome water slide for the kids. Of course, after Amanda rode it, the big kids - Rachel, Charlie, Pete and I rode the slide with her several more times. It was a lot of fun. The video above is of Amanda coming down the slide on her first run.

REFLECTIONS - Tea for Two

The Arizona Biltmore serves high tea every day at 2 PM October through May. They have done this since the hotel opened in 1929. Rachel and I made a reservation for Sunday (the last day tea was offered for the season). Three courses were served - appetizers (pictured here), scones and pound cake, and deserts.

Rachel enjoyed a nice southern mint tea.



The highlight of my meal was the quail egg. Those of you who know us well, know that Rachel and I often spend our Sunday afternoons watching The Food Network as we work around the house. In my numerous hours of Food Network viewing, I have learned that quail eggs are the quintessential ingredient for a true 5-Star meal. All of the Iron Chefs use quail eggs frequently, and although I have never seen my hero, Guy Fieri, adorn a pile of fried goodness with a quail egg, I fully expect him to any episode. Rachel summed up the quail egg concisely, "Ummm... it tastes like a little deviled egg."

Me enjoying my sensible Earl Grey Tea. It is particularly difficult for a guy as big as me to get my fat fingers through the handle on a tea cup. I learned to love tea time during the summer I lived in England. Having tea at the Arizona Biltmore made me think back fondly to having tea at Frank's and Liz's in Liverpool. High tea is a tradition that America should adopt more universally from our English friends. It is social; it is relaxing; and if you lay off of the crumpets, it is relatively healthy.

The Mets Game at the New Citi Field

Keith Edwards invited me to attend a New York Mets game with him at Citi Field, the Mets brand new stadium, on May 9th. I GLADLY accepted.

Keith's uncle had 4 tickets for the Mets game, and Keith returns the favor later in the season with 4 tickets to a Phillies game. I picked Keith up at his house about 8:45 AM, and we made the 30 minute drive over to Hamilton, NJ to catch the New Jersey transit to NYC. It is about an hour and 15 minute train ride to Penn Station, and a round trip ticket is about $21. It certainly beats driving in NYC traffic, and there is $10 or so in tolls, if you drive. NJ Transit is definitely the way to go.

We ate lunch at a pizza shop in Penn Station and then caught the Long Island Railroad over to Flushing Meadows - Queens, where the Mets Stadium is located. You could also take the subway, but it is much longer with many stops and one train switch. The Long Island Railroad is a direct shot, and the Mets Stadium is the second stop. On our train ride over, we marveled at all of the parking on top of retail stores. To save space in New York City, you actually park on top of the Best Buy or Home Depot where you shop, instead of having an adjacent parking lot. Necessity is the mother of invention, and with limited space in NYC, roof parking lots are a great innovation.

Citi Field is a very nice stadium, with a beautiful brick facade. The seating is a great improvement over the old Shea Stadium (which has already been torn down by the way). Shea had many obstructed view seats, where you had to judge the location of a fly ball based on where the fielder was moving because the seating deck above you did not allow you to actually see it. Citi Field is a much better design.

When you enter Citi Field, you come through the gallery pictured here. Escalators whisk fans away to the higher levels. It is pretty efficient. The human traffic entering and leaving was remarkably manageable for a pro baseball game. Even the trains weren't jammed full, as they were running extra trains for the game. Like all of the newer MLB baseball stadiums, Citi Field has excellent concession stands. Burgers, Nathan's Hot Dogs, pizza, chicken, you name it; this stadium has it.

This was like no other day at Shea Stadium. I can't believe that we did not have to pay extra for this, but Sebastian Bach, lead singer of 1980's hair band, Skid Row, sang four songs prior to warm-ups. He covered two Queen songs and then closed with "18 and Life" and my favorite - "I'll Remember You" (Craig, if you are reading this, I can't hear that song and not picture Ron Dyer lip-syncing with choreography). I am pleased to report that Sebastian appears to be getting along well, and he still executes the high pitch screams in the chorus for which he is known. I have provided a small video clip, with audio, for everyone's enjoyment below.




BabaBooey, Executive Producer of the Howard Stern Show, threw out the first pitch for the game. Honestly, it was the worst first pitch I have ever seen. The umpire, who was not paying attention, was struck by the offering about 15 feet outside of the right handed batter's box. Luckily, he was not injured as the pitch never broke the 45 mph threshhold. I hear Stern deservingly abused him for the next two weeks. It was bad. He was there for a good cause though - bringing awareness for children with autism.


After the game, we went to meet Keith's sister, Christina (and her husband J.R.) for dinner. They were in Manhattan for a wedding that same weekend. On the way to dinner, I took this picture of the Empire State Building.












We also passed Madison Square Garden, which is located directly above Penn Station. It was the first time I actually walked outside at Penn Station to see it.

BUSTED!!! He didn't actually go in... I swear.








We ate at a restaurant called FATS - Fat Ann's Truck Stop. The food was actually pretty good. They had biscuits and gravy as an appetizer (and keeping with my blogging tradition, I took a picture of my food). I could not resist ordering biscuits and gravy in Manhattan. They weren't bad, but they don't compare to my grandmother's. This is more proof that you can find anything in Manhattan.

Special thanks to Keith for making this day possible. I certainly did not think I would get to see either of the new NY stadiums in their inaugural seasons. It was awesome!

REFLECTIONS - Abby and Wendell The Cat

Keith has a full house - Keith, his wife Meg, almost 4 year old twin daughters Kate and Abby, baby Olivia and Wendell the Cat live in their house in Flourtown. The video below was taken at Keith's and Meg's Kentucky Derby Party. Abby, one of the twins is holding Wendell the Cat and telling me all about him. Unfortunately, you cannot make out everything she says because of the adults talking behind her in the kitchen. I try to repeat it all, especially her last comment. She is so funny!!!

My favorite part of the video is how Abby sways back and forth with Wendell. She carries him around the house like he is a barbell sometimes. If you look at Wendell, he appears pretty relaxed. According to Keith, noone else in the house can get away with carrying him or swinging him around like this. He runs from Keith and Kate, Abby's twin. For some reason, he likes Abby.



Perhaps the best part of this story is how Wendell got his name. Wendell has actually been a part of the Edwards family longer than Kate, Abby and Olivia. You see, Wendell the Cat is actually named for Relief Pitcher, Turk Wendell (once again, Keith's love of the Mets showing through). Turk Wendell is known more for his superstitions than he is his record as a closer. He chewed three pieces of licorice every inning and forced the umpire to roll the ball to him at the mound rather than throw it to him to begin an inning. He would also wave at his CF and wait for him to wave back before beginning an inning. My favorite - he wore a necklace of animal claws, horns, etc that were trophies from game that he had killed while hunting. Wendell the cat is a much calmer and more conventional namesake.

The Cooper River Bridge Run... And Fall

Rachel and I flew to Charleston for the Cooper River Bridge Run the first weekend in April. We stayed with our good friends Lindsey and Chris (Shaggy) Hamil in Summerville, just outside of Charleston. Mark Clark came down and joined us for the race and the weekend.


Rachel and I flew in late Thursday night. We actually were delayed flying out of Philadelphia due to thunderstorms in the southeast and didn't arrive in Charleston until 2 AM (thanks Shaggy and Lindsey for picking us up so late). Friday morning, Shaggy and I took Libby, his Labrador Retriever, for a walk around the neighborhood. Libby is a fully trained hunting dog. The highlight of the walk was when Shaggy ordered her to chase a duck that had just come out of the pond. He called her off just before she jumped into the pond to go after the duck, which had quickly retreated into the water.



Early April is a great time to be in Charleston. The flowers were in full bloom, and the highs were in the mid 70's. Charleston is one of Rachel's and my favorite places to visit, but it gets extremely hot beginning in early June (sometimes earlier).


After eating lunch at Sticky Fingers, Shaggy took me and Clark to the Ice House for his weekly Friday afternoon dart game. Rachel and Lindsey went for pedicures and then joined us later (great shot of Rachel and Clark).
Lindsey and her friend Mike, who is also a regular at the weekly dart game.
Shaggy, with The IceHouse in the background. According to Mike and Shaggy, this is "the last true bar in Charleston". I must admit that it was an interesting mix of old and young, blue collar and white collar and tatooed and untatooed.
Rachel, Lindsey and a couple of the girls who are regulars at the dart game. Lindsey works with the girl on the left (if I were more timely with my blogs, I would have remembered her name).










Shaggy and Lindsey dropped Rachel, Clark and I off in Mount Pleasant early Saturday morning for the Cooper River Bridge Run. It is a very popular 10K that starts in Mount Pleasant (2 miles), goes over the Cooper River Bridge (2 miles) and ends in historic Charleston (2 miles). This year, 33,000 people completed the race. It was crowded. This is a picture of me, Rach, and Clark about 40 minutes after the race (actually about 40 minutes after Clark finished, 35 minutes after Rachel finished, and 33 minutes after I finished). More on the details of the race in "Reflections".



After the race, we went back to Shaggy's and Lindsey's, cleaned up, and then headed into Charleston for the afternoon and evening. Our reward for running 6.2 miles that morning was afternoon desert at Kaminsky's. Friends, if you ever visit Charleston... please remember one thing - Go to Kaminsky's. It is a little desert restaurant located on Market Street, near the Hilton. No menu is necessary, as the homemade deserts are housed in a display case as you enter. Stop in for a desert and coffee sometime when you are in Charleston. You can call and thank me then, or after you get home.

After desert, the girls went shopping on King Street, while Shaggy, Clark and I headed to the Blind Tiger. On our way, we passed by Broad Street and "The Four Corners of Law", which is one of my favorite intersections in Charleston (Rachel and I actually had some of our wedding pictures taken here). On one corner sits the old Charleston City Hall; on another corner sits the Charleston County Courthouse; another corner has the Federal Court House; and the final corner houses St. Michael's Church and the ultimate law - God's law.

Charleston is a city that boasts some wonderful sights. It is also a city that is extremely proud of its long history. If you ever visit, I also advise that you take a history tour. The history still ranks second behind Kaminsky's.







These are pictures of some of the church steeples in Charleston. None of the steeples have church bells, as they were melted down for cannon balls during the Civil War (or "War of Northern Aggression" as it is known in Charleston). In the 1950's the United States Congress attempted to appropriate funds for new bells for all the church steeples. However, the city refused the money in order to honor its fallen sons.







The Four Corners of Law at dusk


































The Blind Tiger is a really cool outdoor bar in Charleston. You actually walk through a traditional bar and into the back, which has a large outdoor courtyard.





Shaggy and Clark at the Blind Tiger.








Me and Rachel in the swing at the Blind Tiger.









The one proud purchase from the girl's King Street shopping spree was an "Oragami". No, I am not talking about a folded paper animal...these are a single clothing accessory that can be folded into 12 different outfits. I must admit that I have been pretty impressed (Rachel is actually wearing the Oragami in the title shot of my last blog - The Easter Photo). We thought about sending one to Michelle Obama, because it would be perfect for a woman on the go, who needs lots of different outfits to impress the media. She could run into the bathroom with her oragami and come out with an entirely new outfit. Amazing!!!

For supper, we went for seafood at AW Shucks. After dinner, we went to Tommy Condon's Irish Pub, another one of my favorite Charleston hang-outs. Unfortunately, it was already packed by the time we arrived, so we were unable to get seats inside to listen to the Irish band. The race effects finally caught up with us, and we headed back to Shaggy's and Lindsey's about 10 PM.

Sunday, we had a low-key day. After Bojangles biscuits, Mark headed back to Knoxville. Chris, Lindsey, Rachel and I went to the Summerville Art Festival and walked around for a couple of hours. That evening, we ordered pizza and watched a movie. We hope to make it back down to visit Chris and Lindsey again in September.


REFLECTIONS - The Fall



Why would Steve have bandages on his hands, you might ask. During his 6.2 mile struggle, he ate pavement. I don't often refer to myself in third person, but I am still trying to get over the resulting mental trauma.

I will be remembered as the Curt Schilling of the 2009 Cooper River Bridge Run. Like a true champion, I overcame my injury to finish the race, and like Curt Schilling, I did it - bloody sock and all. Unlike Curt Schilling, the remainder of my stats (like race time) were not at all impressive.

I wish I could tell you a cool story about how it happened, like how I was running at the front of the pack and got tangled up with the lead pack of runners. Or how, exhausted, I tripped at mile 6 trying to finish the race at under a 5 minute mile pace. Unfortunately, all of that is untrue. The fact is, I tripped over my own two feet at 0.5 miles. I WASN'T EVEN TIRED YET!!! Luckily, the Love of my Life immediately created a human barricade to prevent me from being trampled by other runners. To her I owe my life.

We were invited to Flourtown Country Club for brunch by Keith (far left holding Olivia in above picture) and Meg (vertically challenged female in middle with 2 adorable girls - Kate and Abby - in front of her) Edwards on Easter Sunday. Rob, Vanessa, Jack and Emma Jeter (family between Keith and Meg), and Tim and Nicole Callahan (far right) completed the group.

Flourtown Country Club is an older, historic country club, located about 20 minutes from our house. The building is a cool, stone building. The brunch was awesome - LOTS of great food. They also had an Easter Bunny there, playing with the kids (Tim and Keith felt that the Easter Bunny's makeup was psychotic looking, but the kids did not seem to mind).




Rachel and I on the pack porch, in front of the golf course. As you can probably tell, it was still cold and windy in Philly at Easter.


Shot of the golf course from the porch.

Thanks Keith and Meg for inviting us to Easter Brunch. Being several hundred miles away from family is tough during the holidays, but spending it with friends makes it a lot easier.







REFLECTIONS - Eye on America

Click on the link below for some great information on building energy efficiency. Trust me, it is worth the watch for a few minutes (don't I recognize one of those guys?).

http://download.rohmhaas.com.edgesuite.net/2009/pcm/eoa_america.swf

Unfortunately, you will have to cut and paste the link into your Address bar, as I could not get the link function to work in blogspot.

Please note - If you read this blog and work on the 7th Floor of Home Office, don't waste your time entering the link below, as you have been subjected to this video enough over the past 2 months, as you have gotten off and onto the elevator.