Tuesday, July 01, 2008

An Arizona Vacation

We just returned from a short road trip to Arizona. My husband was in Tucson for a business seminar, and since we used to live there, our daughter and I decided to take a road trip and join him for a couple of days. It was a good opportunity to see some favorite places and visit our old friends.


We stayed at a hotel that we just love. It was an older place, independently owned when we were living in the area, but is now a chain hotel that's been updated. They left much of it the same, fortunately, because there are four separate courtyards with two floors of rooms around them. I'm so glad they just didn't enclose everything and completely modernize it. This was taken from our balcony and you can see the trees and plants, the terra cotta fountain, and the benches for relaxing.








This one was taken looking across the courtyard, and you can see the tall trees.










Unfortunately the color is a bit off in this picture. The fountain is a typical terra cotta color, and not as reddish as it appears in the photo. You can see how shaded it is in the area, though, which makes it a nice place to relax.








This is a picture of the pool area taken from the balcony doors in our room. To the left of the pool is a pretty tiled wall and fountain. To the right of those chairs is the outdoor breakfast patio. You can just see the tops of the Catalina Mountains above the wall in the center of the photo.










This is a picture in the lobby looking towards the indoor breakfast area. It's really a pretty place to stay.








One day we drove down to a beautiful village called Tubac. We used to go there when we were living in Arizona in the late '80s-early '90s, and I'm so happy each time I visit to see that a few of the shops are still the ones I loved. My favorite area was called the Crowe's Nest and there was a wonderful stitching shop called Crowe's Nest Stitchery. They carried the most beautiful southwest needlepoint canvases and the owner was so nice. Unfortunately, it closed years ago.





This is the courtyard in the Crowe's Nest area and that doorway you see on the right was the one into the stitching shop. I think it's now a clothing store.










When you go through that courtyard in the photo above, you come to a wooden bridge over a "wash" (which is usually dry until monsoon storms arrive). In "the old days" there used to be a crow or two sitting on the railings :)









This is a patio area to the right of the bridge. There had been a small restaurant there years ago, and I remember it also being a shop at one time. It was closed the day we were there, but it looked like it might be a small cafe.









This is a picture of that outside patio area. I just love the typical southwest colors, and with those chili ristras hanging it reminds me a lot of Santa Fe and Taos. On the far side of the patio (on the other side of the railings) is a beautiful sculpture garden.









This is a closer view across the patio, looking at a few of the sculptures and some pretty desert flowers.













I really love this sculpture of a horse!















This is the outside dining area of Shelby's Bistro, where we had lunch. We could have eaten inside, but it was a beautiful day and with the "misters" along the edge of the patio, the air was perfect (especially with breezes coming in from an approaching storm). The food here was fantastic, too!!









This is a view looking out from the patio. You'll notice the dark clouds.













A few sculptures and garden by the restaurant.










This is a favorite shop across the street from the Crowe's Nest called The Chile Pepper. They have gifts as well as a wonderful ice cream and coffee counter. I've spent lots of time here over the years we lived in Arizona, as well as all our visits.










By the time we were ready to leave, the first big monsoon was approaching. Here you can see the clouds building to the east over the mountains.








.... another view












Once we were back in Tucson we took a drive past our old church. I just love the contrast in this picture with the dark buildings and the storm above.











As you can see, it's raining! This is a "wash" that had been completely dry a short time before. This is how quickly they can fill.












And here's a beautiful Arizona sunset.

2 comments:

Melanie said...

Thanks for sharing your trip in photos - I sure enjoyed seeing them!

Kathy said...

Thanks for the lovely tour in photos. Feel like I was just there.