1st Post Vaccine Trip: Day 6 - the Last Leg

I got up this morning around 8:30, restling through about another 45 min or so of fairly useless attempts at sleep. This whole trip, we've been sleeping around 2am and I'm consistently getting up by 9am. I honestly think its the time zone difference that I haven't been able to escape. What's odd is jet lag never made me tired in the evenings (the many coffees) helped but got me to wake up earlier than I would expect. Anyway, we got up with a clear, but busy, plan for my last day. The flight home is at 11:30 (the other reason I love these weekend getaways to the west - the presence of red-eyes to save a full last day). There was stuff to do in Sedona, in Phoenix and for food that needed a strong mind to accomplish.

We first hit-up Kickstand Cafe, the same coffee shop we went to yesterday. It's a really nice layout and atmosphere, which helps make up for the fact they take forever and a day to make hte breakfast sandwhiches (classic sausage, egg and cheese). By ten we were off to Sedona, with the Oak Creek Canyon drive being more impressive from this angle as you get a better view of the red rock drive into Sedona.

We were hoping to do, or at least planning to do, two hikes, but once again the trailhead for the Cathedral Rock was full, so we skipped that and just did the Sacred Pools hike, which was beautiful with endless views of two red rock formations. In one way, this type of red beauty makes complete sense se we are to some degree in a desert, but what is odd is you get even 5 miles out of Sedona on either side its either lush forest or open plain. These red rocks really come out of nothing, but are so incredible when you are there.

Sedona has trails all over the place but surprisngly little parking to support them. I think to experience it best you really have to stay in Sedona so you can reach the trails early - something for next time, and given how much I've enjoyed Arizona, there will be a next time, at some time.

That said, Sedona is a bit too touristy for my liking in terms of doing things that aren't hiking or being in awe of the natural surroundings. Most of the shops and restaurants that were on the main drag were either openly kitschy or chains. We did find one gem of each. For shopping it was the Clear Creek Trading house which was a large series of rooms selling what at least on its face seemed to be traditional native and/or desert fare. It was a really interesing place, and mayb3e they have me fooled and its no better than all the other ones in Sedona but I found it a bit more authentic.

For food, we picked a place that was very authentic. Tamaliza is a bit outside the main drag in Sedona, and it was perfect. Noted for its tamales (hence the name) the place is a really simple Mexican restaurant, where you order upfront right next to where three older Mexican ladies were creating the dishes. They have a long menu but are noted most for the tamales so that's what we stuck to. I got one which was chicken mole, which was quite good, and then a spicy pork tamale which was fantastic.

By around 1pm we were on our way out of Sedona and down to Phoenix. But before we did we redoubled back to three or four of the viewing areas (all trailheads, all packed as well with less parking than they should be having), which all showed off the incredible beauty that is this Red Rock area. The drive back to Phoenxi took about two hours (you lose about an hour overall going through Sedona as you have to go off the Rt 17 that runs straight from Flagstaff to Phoenix. 

Back in Phoenix we did our last bit of real tourism, going to the Desert Botanical Gardens, which sits around the edge of Phoenix and Tempe (where Arizona State is). The gardens are in a larger park that also houses the city's zoo. The Botanical Gardens is exactly as its name implies, a large very well manicured little slice of desert greens. The amount of catci, inclduing so many with little flower in bloom, was staggering. In theory it is spaced out to have different sections, but aside from one that was dedicated to wildflowers, they more or less looked the same, but that wasn't a bad thing. Cacti come in many shapes and sizes asthis place openly shows.

The flower area was great as well, with just a huge collection of desert flowers and trees, and many birds, including road-runners, ambling around. Tbe whole park was really nicely set-up and included a large shop where they sold little cute cacti in pots, which I would've loved to abscond with a few but figured it was not exactly couth to try to import a cacti into New Jersey.

After the gardens, we flipped a coin on which brewery to visit, with Helton coming out on top. It was fairly empty and surprisingly didn't have a food truck which left us to split a grilled cheese as we were both rather hungry. I had my favorites from the first time here, including their absolutely great milk stout. Phoenix truly does so well with the luxury of space, something say a Houston does well with as well, as these massive breweries are just all so well decorated and spaced. It was actually fairly crowded when we got there around 5:30. I decided to take a little souvenir, a six pack of their IPA (they sadly weren't selling the milk stout - not a huge surprise given its a nitro.

For dinner, we went to Pizzeria Bianco, but this time the larger location they have uptown, coincidently five minutes away from Helton brewing. This location was in a strip mall, but had way more seating and effectiverly the same menu with a few more varied Italian options like a few pastas. We split a cheese + prosciutto appetizer and then I had the same pizza, which was as good but I was stuffed. Made a quick audible to take half the pie takeaway and try to scarf down before my flight.

After dinner which was quicker than I expected, we still had some time to kill before needing to head to the airport, so we hit back to The Wandering Tortoise one last time. It was about 30% full but had sound and energy that seemed all too familiar. More than anything, this trip was about how much I loved the Arizona area, particularly Phoenix and of course the Grand Canyon, and how much fun and peace it was returning to the "normalcy" of travel. Onto the next!

1st Post Vaccine Trip: Day 5 - The Grand Canyon

I've been to the Grand Canyon, but just like I've been to Phoenix, the fact these things happened back in 1998 means I have no real recollection of visiting. So in that, my expectations were open. I know it is seen as one of, if not the outright, crowning jewel of America's natural beauty. I know enough people that have been and were largely in awe the entire time. Yet, I'll say this lightly: I was completely blown away. It was five hours of unendingly amazing views that are just hard to comprehend. Its amazing when you drive up to it the main visitor parking area is still heavily wooded but a five min walk away leads you to the clear-out, to a point on 'Ridge Trail', and oh my god is it one of the more impressive, truly "awe-inspring" sights I've had.

I'll get into the specifics of what we did in a bit, but I feel like I need to layer more and more praise on this first. About halfway through the rim trail I started already thinking where The Grand Canyon would then sit on my list of favorite outdoor sights. I don't think it knocks off #1 of Perito Moreno Glacier in Patagonia - nothing likely ever will - but it might be #2. I literally do not think it is possible to overstate how incredible the views are. They're all largely the same, just incomparably vast expanses of canyon cliffs and red rocks extending in every direction. It never got old though.

Also let's throw some plaudits America's way. This country truly does have some amazing scenery, especially in that half of the country. I've often extolled the beauty of Salt Lake City and Denver, and I remember enough of Alaska when I went in 2004 to know how great that was, but truly The Grand Canyon is something else.

Given the potential for lines and crowds (somewhat overstated in the end), we left "early" for me by 9am, with a 1:15hr drive up to the canyon. Coming into the trip there was some discussion around doing one of the many hikes into (to some small degree) the canyon, but given the elevation was making the Tonto Bridge hike bad enough we gave that up to stay mostly around the Rim, which was great enough anyway.

The whole set-up is still a bit restricted becauase of covid, so the main central place to park ended up being the Grand Canyon Visitor Center (which is closed, though the shop remains open - capitalism!). But that ended up being the perfect place to start as it sits about halfway through the 6-mile stretch of the rim path (it actually extends far beyond that but this six mile stretch is generally what is 'advertised' as the hike). We started out first walking west-ward to the 'Grand Canyon Village' a little collections of restaurants and inns - again mostly closed. Its amazing that this walk could show so many different views of the canyons, all as good or better than the last. The rim path hugs right up to where the cliff drops into the gorge - the best part of this view is the tiny little pokse of the Colorado River, the little engine that could that created this whole sight.

after this walk, which took about two hours, we then went on a drive through the Eastern Path, a stretch of about 25-miles westward from the main area to the "eastern entrance". On this there are a stretch of lookouts and trail-heads that offered again truly just stunning views. The drive itself strayed away from the cliff-face aside from these lookouts, but was still a nice reprieve away from hiking. 

After, we did the Eastern half, which goes from out to the South Kaibab Trailhead, again just showing great views. By the end of this, the views were maybe getting slightly repetitive but it remained just so great and incredible through to the end. 

After the time in the Grand Canyon we headed to a local bar in Tayusa, the little village next to the Grand Canyon. It wasn't the best, but gave us a little bit of a break before the drive back to Flagstaff. At this point, I entered my 'the vacation's almost over' depression phase, which in a weird way is still welcome. These trips, even if this one was a little longer and more opulent than most, were such a common part of my life that just went away fully for a year plus. Getting it back, especially in such a novel (for me) and interesting part of the world, was so great.

What did help get me out of the depression was our dinner at Tinderbox, which was truly excellent. They had a series of small plates (somewhat bite sizes) and really great sounding entrees. We split both the pork belly (4 small bits of pork) and some cheese + pear + pastry thing, before I got maybe the most soft, tender, beautiful braised beef shoulder. Honestly, these meals are also so welcome. I've spent a year cooking what I think are often restaurant quality meals, but some of the ones on this trip (really all of the main dinners) are truly a level above.

After dinner we headed back to Hops on Birch, same quiet crowd when we arrived around 10:15 but was far more crowded (still not anything near full) when we left around 11:45. Its an interesting crowd, a couple University students, a few nomads and tourists. It was an eclectic collection that again reminded me more of the crowds I woudl find in Canadian local pubs. Museum Club was more of the same, us staying till about 1:30, long enough to get a few games of pool in and listen to some fairly average karaoke. I wasn't ready yet to go to a club or be in a big crowd, but for me these were fine.

The Ludicrousness of the ESL

For the first time ever, I'm truly disappointed and embarrassed that I'm a Real Madrid fan. The news that broke on Sunday that 12 super clubs were so driven by greed that they were going to overturn a whole sport is just to abhorrent, only made worse by the fact that Real Madrid's Florentino Perez was one of the main ringleaders.

We still don't know how this ultimatley falls out. All the domestic league associations, UEFA, probably inevitably FIFA, and basically any player or manager willing to put their name on a quote, has come out vociferously against this. More worrying for the ESL's prospects - and maybe the only glimmer of hope us fans have - is the UK government in full force comign out against it, from Boris Johnson to many members of parliament, to even Prince William. Given post-Brexit the UK can basically act alone they can absolutely lay the hammer down on the six EPL clubs part of this, even up to forcing sales by claiming they have to be held 51%+ by domestic parties. We honestly can soon be in a world where Brexit indirectly saved European football.

But anyway, that will settle where it settles. In the meantime it will be fascinating to watch play out. In the interim, I'm left absolutely crestfallen. Soccer is well behind the US sports in terms of my interest, and I can foresee a world where I recede my interest in some splintered club football set-up, but for now I have to think about if I should pick a new club. To be truthful, the only real tentpole reason I like Madrid is because I love Zidane, who of course played there but then has led them to unparalleled success ironically in the same competition Real Madrid wants to now leave.

The weirdest thing about this change is the weird statement I've heard thrown out that this is football trying to "Americanize" itself, but in reality American sports would never do this. The only place where it couild be possible is the sport that is the most "European" in its set-up, college football. I can absolutely see 20 prestige Power-5 schools banding together and creating a new Conference. But aside from that, US pro sports are openly socialist in how they're run. Salary Caps, revenue sharing, no promotion or relegation. League's are capitalist but they know that the only way to survive is for all to rise.

The one thing I really don't get about this move is what exactly is in it for those teams? I get that this gives them a guaranteed ridiculous amount of money, but it isn't like a lot of these clubs were struggling - other than maybe the English ones. Real Madrid and Barcelona are basically guaranteed CL spots. I just don't know. I don't know what this is for, who it is benefitting, and why these clubs could think they wouldn't get the backlash they are now getting.

Its amazing how unified and loud the backlash has been, even now with a few players coming out against it. I figure there will be a larger flood of these coming in the future. Jurgen Klopp has been fairly outspoken already and personally I can't wait to see what Zidane says or done. For someone who has a hot & cold relationship with Flo already, and walked away on his own terms once, I can easily see him leaving at this point as well.

The fallout is just beginning but it already seems both sides are way too entrenched to back away now. The real key will be what happens with the EPL clubs if the UK government tries to actually push some pressure on them. There's already some rumblings that a few of them are getting cold feet.

I'm curious what the long term impact of this will be. In my time watching the sport there's been nothing quite like this.

1st Post Vaccine Trip: Day 4 - Drive up to Flagstaff

Today's original plan got a bit short circuited, both due to one site being far more interesting and time consuming than expected, and one area being far too crowded to take it off as an option. What is helpful is I have all of Tuesday where hopefully crowds in Sedona won't be as rampant, but either way it was still an enjoyable, if long, day nonetheless.

I generally am averse to getting any sort of motion sickness, especially when I am the driver. But for whatever reason, the winding drive up plateaus and cliffs in Arizona's surprisingly forest-y National Forests got to me. The sights were beautiful on the drive out of Phoenix in teh direction of Sedona. The first part of the drive is through desert, with open sand and short mounds absolutely overrun with cacti. It is what you think of when you say 'drive through the Arizona wilderness.' Part two of the drive, to the Tonto Natural Bridge Park was not, as that was through lush forest that could've made Arizona be Utah or Ohio or something. There was still these moments in the drive through the hills that you could see a huge expanse in every direction, but again with green lush forest. 

Tonto Natural Bridge Park is deep within a hole in the forest, a winding drive for two miles takes you down, down, down towards this little piece of magic. The main attraction is a giant open cave that you can hike down to - what is surprising is how tough what is in theory a short hike is. Granted, we probably went the tougher way doing a 1.5 mile loop instead of a 1 mile out and back (the end of our hike), but I think we got the more beautiful outcome. The first part of the hike goes down to Pine Creek and then you play a guessing game around, on, and through rocks winding down the creek, passing a mini waterfall, till you reach the Natural Bridge (really a cave with a open ceiling) that makes this place famous, and it is stunning. There's about six or so different viewpoints as you traverse through this cave, all equally beautiful. 

This is also about where it starts getting mercilessly hard to hike. The rocks are wet, sloping and with very limited guideposts or clear paths. It's a guessing game for everyone involved. Even with the two of us helping each other we both nearly fell into the shallow water at the center of the hike countless times. It was all worth it though. What wasn't great is the very steep climb back up at the end (the other option is the more gradual, but more arduous and longer route back the way we came), but the whole experience was excellent and again a setting (and a temperature point, a clean 60) more apt for Utah.

After the sojourn in Tonto, I headed for Sedona in slightly better headspace. I refused to let my friend drive mainly because I figured it would be even worse in a passenger seat. Sedona itself is beautiful, surrounded by Wadi-Rum-Esque red rocks in every destination. It seemingly is a town that exist becuase of tourism and this being a Sunday it was packed. There's a series of traffic circles on the way into town and each were tremendously backed up. The trailhead for one of the main trails was overstuffed. Same with another. The only real sightseeing we couild do was go up the hill to the airport lookout which is better in the views it gives you of the expansive red rocks everywhere.

The town is cute, but a bit too toursity. What is nice is they had free parking everywhere, and a perfectly nice little brewpub that hit the spot. They had one of the better stouts I've had, trying to fashion it something like a white russian. Very sadly they didn't have this for take-out sale. We made an agreement then and there to come back and spend more time in Sedona on the way back on Tuesday. Ideally those two hikes are open and both are fairly short. It adds about 45 min of driving time but definitely worth it as I don't think we gave Sedona anywhere near its due.

The drive from Sedona to Flagstaff started out going through the Oak Creek Canyon this time from the ground, it was beautiful and imposing, including one of the more serious hairpin turns I've seen in America. By around seven we reached Flagstaff which is a both a bigger and smaller town than it seems. It has a vibrant town center we got familiar with at dinner and after, but also miles of quiet residential space, which is where our AirBNB was located. It's one of those towns you go from a dead quiet street (our AirBNB) to the city center in five minutes without really knowing how.

Due to it being the largest city anywhere close to teh Grand Canyon, it has a little bit of a nice appeal. The heart of the town actually reminded me of Winnipeg, oddly, with almost a show of old fashioned Western down in the store and restaurant design but hiding some really cool stuff. For dinner we went to Shift which fit in perfectly with that theme. The place is actually superb with a fairly small but excellent souding menu, and a great list of cocktails. I got a charred cauliflower starter that was divine with two competing spicy sauces, and then a colorado lamb loin in fig & pea purees which is actually a dish I may try to replicate. 

After dinner, we walked a couple blocks (somewhat tiring, we had to get adjusted to Flagstaff being at an elevation of about 8,000 feet) to Hops on Birch, a really nice town brewpub. It was set-up in a similar way to those in Phoenix, albeit smaller. It really reminded of my go-to haunt when I was doing a solo project in The Woodlands, Hop Scholar Ale House. On this Sunday, it was open to 12 and we stayed till about 11:45, and it was fuller when we left than when we arrived, with most of the people locals that were on a first name basis with the bartender and each other. They were all probably between 28-40, it was an interesting mix. The beer to was great, with a real focus on IPAs (Hops as the name gives it away I guess...) and sadly zero stouts. They had a large can collection to which I may do some dent in tomorrow.

The final stop was The Museum Club, which is built like a saloon with a large dance floor/stage (they had live music, though it ended prior to our arrival around midnight), with pool tables. It was the right amount of empty (about 10-12 people), and allowed us to challenge a few locals to pool and generally have a good time. It wasn't a club, ti wasn't even crowded but it was different and new and fun for a post covid world. Also, pickings were fairly slim for post midnight in a sleepy little town called Flagstaff.

1st Post Vaccine Trip: Day 3 - Phoenix, continued

I always go into these somewhat trying to avoid just doing a running play by play of my day. It goes back to an issue I found came up a lot on my first effort at this back during my RTW trip in 2013. Every now and then I do a decent job, and while I think I'll probably revert back to it, I do want to take a minute up top to call out one fantastic part about Pheonix, something I should've expected but was anyway surprised by: how good the Mexican food is here.

In a group discord tied to the CTD community there's long been a running joke on how put over California is for having clearly the best Mexican food. I've always stanned for Texas, specifically Houston which has tremendous high concept (e.g. Hugo's) and street stuff. Well, we may be overlooking what lies between California and Texas. Arizona has been phenomenal so far. 

Taco Boys was the early star, however today is the first day I didn't go there. Instead, I ventured out beyond Taco Boys and the assorted Taco trucks that line Roosevelt Avenue bars. For lunch today, I went to Testal Mexican Kitchen, off of Grand Avenue to the West of Phoenix. The place exemplifies what I love about the authenticity of the Mexican food here. The menu is simple, a selection of food that is authentic to the Chihauhau state of Mexico, a series of burritos (far smaller and less imposing than the normal burrito) or gorditas (something of a pocket gyro with Mexican food), with four or five fillings. That's it. This may imply a very basic place, but the restaurant was decorated beautifully, had a full bar. It was something out of creation - a high-concept style on a low-concept idea executed to perfection. I got two burritos (again, they're small - priced slightly above a taco), one with chicharron, the otehr with a spicy "red" pork stew. Both were excellent. 

The reason I didn't go to Taco Boys today was dinner with my colleague was at a Mexican restaurant called Vecina, another high-concept (admittedly, this was downright fancy) take on latin cuisine. And again it was excellent, this being a lot fancier. They have a really well thought out menu of dishes mixing traditional Mexican and other latin cuisines, including peruvian-based seafood dishes, moles, tacos, and more. I got pork belly tacos, which were excellent and he got hiramasa tacos which were also great. I go the mole smoked chicken main which was great but big - at least it was nice food to have at 2am in the AirBNB to close the night.

When not imbibing Mexican food, I was experiencing a lot of what else makes Phoenix a great city. First was, truly, one of the better focused museum's I've been to in the US. This one is called hte Heard Museum, built to honor the native population of this area. There's a large history exhibit at the start called 'Home' that details quite sharply each of the tribes that once controlled this whole part of the world. In there are a host of artifacts from pottery, to weaving, to dress, of them. The rest of the museum was around art, but again dedicated to the native population. The exhibits were all excellent, a couple personal favorites was a large two-story exhibit on native tapestries and weaving, which were all excellent, and a giant exhibit showcasing the art of a Leon Polk Smith, apparently a faily well known modern-art dynamo who had native heritage. It was great - one of the better "modern" art exhibits I've been to. What really impressed me with the Heard museum was how well set up it all was. This was a museum that highlighted such important topics and did so with class and reverence. Kudos to Phoenix here.

The other aspect of Phoenix that showed itself again today was how close it is to really nice natural beauty - and also how the dry heat makes fairly rough (for me) hikes somewhat manageable. This one was closer to Phoenix than yesterday's in the "South Mountain State Park" that is about a 20 minute drive south from downtown. The hike starts soon as you enter the state park and goes up to Dobbins Lookout about a 900ft elevation rise over 1.9 miles - most of that rise occurs in the back-half of the hike. You can drive up to the lookout, but what's the fun in that. This hike wasn't as beautiful as yesterday's, though that could be largely due to the fact it was tougher and longer, it didn't afford the same amount of time to just take in the beauty around you. After a good 75 minutes, I reached the top, and you can see so far out in every direction. Phoenix, with its fairly compact downtown is visible, but so is Glendale with its University of Phoenix stadium, and mountains in the background everywhere. 

After the hike, and me guzzling down a cold gatorade in record time, I met up with my colleague and we headed over to Grand Avenue Brewing Company, another perfectly picturesque brew-pub. They brew their own beer, had about 12 things on tap, and a fairly extensive food menu featuring a lot of variations on their signature 'smoked' baked potato. I passed over that for a bratwurst, and we split a couple flights before having a pint of a full beer - me choosing a really nice nitro black cream ale. Granted I came at maybe the perfect time of the year to visit Arizona (in that its not unbearably hot) and at this point every major city has a thriving brewery scene, but I'm truly impressed and in love with Phoenix's output here.

Post dinner, we did do something different checking out Platform 18 at Century Grand, a fairly snazzy cocktail bar. It was the usual type of new age cocktail place with all the trappings one would expect at such a place. After that we did do a quick repeat of the prior day, with a stop at The Wandering Tortoise (a lot more crowded today) and then finishing Phoenix off (at least in terms of nights) at The Theodore. On the whole, Phoenix has mightily impressed me. I still have an afternoon basically on Tuesday, but left very little for that given I don't know what time I would be able to make it back. 

1st Post Vaccine Trip: Day 1-2 - Phoenix

Before diving into Phoenix I do want to give a few minutes on my first flying experience in more than 13 months. Newark Airport itself was fairly empty when I arrived around noon (arrived well early as I had calls for work basically up until my flight at 5). But that wasn't so surprising. What was surprising was how, well, normal it all seemed, other than the fact that everyone was wearing a mask. The restaurants were almost all back open, everything was fairly back to normal aside from the Polaris Club still being closed, not that I would have had access to it today anyway. 

The flight was also fairly normal - the surprise being it was jam packed. I think a schedule change may have forced a lot of people on this flight, as a few weeks back the seat map was empty, but in the end it was absolutely packed. Luckily for me the guy next to me was both a lot skinner than I and was nice enough to sleep still the entire flight.

My last surprise was the fact that I had never flown into Phoenix before, a little treat to add one more airport to my running list. Phoenix airport was fairly empty but looked great, an interesting combination of San Francisco and Houston for me. Anyway, after that interlude, let's get to Phoenix.

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Day 1-2: Phoenix

I went to Phoenix once with my family on a trip to the Western US back in 1998 or so. That trip also contained my only real time spent in Los Angeles. I've long disregarded my own country in terms of tourism, prefering countries that allow for long flights and different langauges and the like. IN a Covid world, those normal trappings aren't really available, so I'm off to actually explore the US of A. Arizona was a natural choice because it was somewhat far, somewhat 'foreign' to at least life in New York, and I had a colleague there I could entrap with coming with me to the Grand Canyon. Prior to all that, though, is Phoenix proper.

My first night in Phoenix encompassed everything. I had a few hours to kill before meeting my colleague for dinner & drinks, so decided to check out one of Phoenix's more well-known (from my research at least) taco joints, which luckily for me happened to be a few blocks from the AirBNB I was staying at. Taco Boys from the outside seems like a fast food joint, but inside it was magic. There was little seating, though every seat was filled. Behind the counter where you order was a giant live charcoal fire grill that was being manned by 2-3 people. It was wholly authentic, and the tacos were great. I got one cabeza (as brillaintly fatty as ever), one pastor and one asado. All were excellent. Phoenix was off to a good start.

After quick R&R at the AirBNB, my colleague picked me up and we headed to a slightly away from downtown hotspot being Roosevelt Avenue. Within a 4x2 block stretch there are about 10 bars that are all fantastically similar - a mix of indoor and outdoor, perfectly set to the Phoenix weather which was a pristine 65 or so by this point (9pm). Our supposed destination was Arizona Wilderness Downtown, which is a bit larger than the other places in this area, but also was way more crowded. He said he was a bit surprised by this, but we rerouted both due to the fact of the size of the crowd and the fact the food menu was fine but not great. He had a better spot in mind, which probably turned out to be correct.

We had dinner at Sazerac, a bar a block in from Roosevelt Avenue, that had the bar inside but most of the seating in a lovely little patio. They had a taco truck on premises dishing out tacos that while not being as good as Taco Boys, was in his view far better than the food at the beer garden. The place slowly filled up as we went on, staying there till about 10:45 or so. While I've gone out in Princeton for drinsk with friends last summer, this was really the first true sense of normal "drinks" in over a year. And for that, it was perfect.

After the finished with Sazerac, he made his way back home (he's working tomorrow - sucker!), and I ambled my way a block down Roosevelt, passing the now closed Wilderness to The Theodore, a brilliant, again indoor/outdoor, beer bar. They had about 20 beers on tap, half from Arizona, half from elsewhere, non "standard", and a really chill vibe. Granted, its a pandemic-era Thursday, but it was a perfect 40% full. It was a great way to cap off the first night. I may (see; definitely will) make another visit to The Theodore at some point.

For the first day of my vacation, I wanted to get a sense of the city. So of coruse the first thing I did was drive 45 minutes away from teh city - to The Superstition Mountain, a part of Tonto National Park. The drive out there was nice, but the real magic started on the hike, where I was besieged with cactii on all sides, and cacti of all sizes. THere were gigantic, regal ones, small little shrubby ones, some with tine little cute flowers. There were ones that to be honest looked like regular leaf-less shrubs, but were an incredible shade of lime green. There were just so many. It was dry and arid as anything so it makes sense that cacti would reign supreme, but they overwhelmed this mountain.

The trail was called The Heiroglyphs trail, for unknown reasons. It was about 3 miles total out-and-back, with 600ft elevation gain, a phrase I got intimately familiar with when I went to Salt Lake City three years back. That isn't too bad, and to be honest it wasn't tough. It was a constant incline, and quite rocky so the climb back down was tricky in spots, but it was serene, beautiful, and the 'dry' heat made sure I still sweat but not nearly as much as I probably would have in any other place.

After having my fill of cacti (seriously, I still can't get over just how damn many there were), I headed to one of Phoenix's other heralded beauties - Pizzeria Bianco. By now, Pizzeria Bianco is fairly well known country wide. I had heard about it first 4-5 years ago when two ESPN personalities, one being Phoenix-native Amin Elhassan (someone I later met) and the other being Keith Law, both extolled it and called it the best pizza joint in America. Something like that is always hyperbole, but indeed many outlets have called it so. 

I was surprised by how low fuss their downtown location was. They had about five tables outside under what seemed like a ratan roof, and then a half-dozen more inside next to their giant pizza oven, smelling so good I kind of want a yankee candle of that smell. There menu was perfectly simple, three red pizzas, three white pizzas (with some sandwhiches and salads and stuff - which I'm sure are fine, but like, why?). I ordered a margherita pizza with fennel sausage as a topping, sat back and waited for that 12" circle of goodness. And it delivered. It was sublime, the pie so thin but a perfect mix of moist while keeping its structure. The fennel sausage was perfect. the sauce was runny but not chunky. The cheese was great. It was amazing. I don't know if its the best pizza in America or what-not - personally, Del Popolo in San Francisco was about as good the time I went there - but it was so damn good nonetheless.

After pizza and a quick stop at the AirBNB to change, I headed back out for an hour of indoor respite. Overall I came at a good time as Phoenix is far from the unbearable desert is becomes in summer. The high was 90, but still getting an hour in a nice indoor museum was welcome. The Phoenix Art Museum was surprisingly sparse and great all at once. They had these giant rooms that were as lightly filled with paintaings as any Art museum I can think of - potentially this is Covid related, as this was the one place that seemed to take it ultra seriously (masks on at all times). On the other hand though, they had paintings from Rembrandt, Monet and Degas. Granted, it was only 1-2 of each, but they also had a whole host of paintings from the 15th and 16th century. They also had a few rooms dedicated to American Indian and Southwest American Art, including one truly stunning painting (below), but I was shocked to see random spatterings of legendary painters in Phoenix of all places.

After the museum, with still a few hours to kill before my colleague got off of work, I headed uptown to one of Phoenix's many breweries. At this point basically any city in America has a score of craft breweries, and Phoenix is very much like any town in America. This one was called Helton Brewing Co., housed in a warehouse about 10 minutes north of downtown. Behind their open bar area with a horseshoe bar table is the vats and brewing area. It is authentic, about nine options on tap, including one of the better milk stouts I've had. It was also an eclectic crowd walking in and out of the place as well.

After a quick afternoon stop at Taco Boys, a lot more full this time, and a quick stop at the AirBNB, I met up with my colleague for dinner at Restaurant Progress. This was in a new neighborhood of Pheoni for me, quite a bit North of the heart of the city. The restaurant was in classic Phoenix style, a building with one half seating outdoors out back. It was a classy place in its decor, its open kitchen, and style. The menu was a collection of interesting dishes, with me getting the curried carrots, a really nice dish with melt-soft carrots in a spicy sauce, and a crispy (lived up to its name) pork belly, and him getting a buttered radish starter and a cod main. Both of us left fully satisfied and ready for more beer.

Phoenix has a plethora of beer bars but what I really like is how committed they are to focusing on teh beer. This time we went to The Wandering Tortoise, which was remarkably similar in setup and stlye (in a good way). Same large central bar, same color coded draft list (a color for stouts, IPAs, lagers, ciders), same eclectic set of people. The one down-side to living near New York is that these places just don't exist. New York has great beer bars but because its New York, they're still small and packed. I love themn, and can't wait to go back to The Blind Tiger again, but this open layout life is so damn nice.

After that we ventured back to the Roosevelt area. There was a brief thought to go to a 2-story club that was supposedly practicing limited capacity and the like (the open floor is a rooftop) but given the line outside (granted, right next door is another club that had a far longer line) we were scared off. Despite being vaccinated (both of us) there was not a willingness to engage. So we headed back to The Theodore (yes, I was the one who suggested this). It was surprsiingly not that much more crowded, which was perfect. Before I start these trips, I list down a whole host of places in each town I ideally want to hit up, but its a bit odd how many times I latch onto a good spot the first night and go back. The most apt example is probably Loyal Legion in Portland (honestly, one of the best beer bars I've ever been to), but The Theodore isn't far off.

Calling an audible and deciding to split Phoenix into two entries - unsurprisingly my first real trip since Cape Town last February has got me in the mind to write a lot more than I expected - also helps that stuff still closes relatively early....

Traveling, Anew

Tomorrow, I take my first flight in thirteen months and two days. The last was a flight from Toronto to Newark, on the last week I spent traveling for work before the world locked down. I still remember the flight, there was an uneasiness in the air, like we were all aware this was the end of something, the end of everything. That said, tomorrow won't feel too different. Something different is in the air, mainly because we see the light at the end of the tunnel. Maybe I'm overstating where we are in conquering the pandemic, but for me personally, post-vaccine, ready to at minimum see what America has to offer, I'm ready.

The best part of this upcoming five day trip to Arizona (Phoenix for 2 days, Sedona for 1, Grand Canyon for 1, and various traveling around for one) was the anticipation. That very much may not be true come Wednesday when I get up shaken out of my red-eye-attempting sleep. I hope it isn't, I hope I enjoy every aspect of this trip, this little relief in teh desert. But really, the planning has been so great.

It's been so long since I've planned a trip, created that AM/Lunch/PM/Dinner/Night spreadsheet to think of what things to hit when. So long since I've Googled "Best Restaurants in XXX" or "Best Beers Bars..." and on and on and on, redoubling back multiple times to ensure I haven't missed something. I'll be visiting a friend out there who's joining me on the desertified days on Sunday and Monday, and may traipse around town with me the other days. But the vacation was planned somewhat by me, running my suggestions by him, and getting a series of 'yeah, sure's' in return.

I wanted to take that on because planning a trip is the most invigorating part, even if there's a constant feeling of "what have I left off? and "how do I pick between all these cool places!". Of course, Covid does put a damper on some of this. Gone are teh EDM clubs, gone are the crowded bars - even post-vaccine I do want to stay somewhat safe. But in Phoenix lies the oasis of outdoor dining all the time which certainly helps.

For so much of my recent life, traveling has been a central facet that never lost importance. Whether it was traveling for work, week after week, or traveling for vacations. I gave up a senior spring semester to travel the wrold, something I chronicled in excruciating 105-pt detail on this blog eight years ago. More than maybe anything else, that trip and writing about it set the tone for this blog.

Traveling also defined the last year, well, in the lack of it. From teh starting point of canceling my trip to Korea, at first because I was afraid of the covid outbreak there (remember January, 2020, what a wild time!). Then it became cancelling all trips, being stuck at home for weeks, nearly crying seeing Newark Airport an empty husk of its former self. So much more. It was unavoidable that the urge to travel would slowly seep back in. I held it off for a long time, but no more. Traveling begins again, and the Phoenix is where my traveling will rise from its ashes.

30 for 30

I turned 30 today. Dont want to focus too much on that accomplishment, but did want to take a moment to think about my happiest, most joyous, most fulfilling sports memories of the past ten years. Some of these are petty, with big losses by teams I hate (Patriots, Barcelona, even the first LeBron Heat team), but then again people in their 20s are generally a time to be petty.

30.) Bayern humiliates Barcelona (2013)

29.) The UMBC Miracle (2018)

28.) Big Dick Nick (2018)

27.) The Raptors win the Finals (2019)

26.) Chelsea's win over Barcelona (2012)

25.) Chuckstrong (2012)
24.) The Lightning win the Cup (2020)
23.) Germany beats Argentina (2014)
22.)  Chicago's Dynasty (2013)
21.) The Olympics Learn to Love Tennis (2016)

20.) Ovechkin wins his Cup (2018)

19.) Clemson beats Alabama x2 (2017, 2019)

18.) Villanova shocks UNC (2016)

17.) The Giants beat KC (2014)

16.) Phelps & Bolt (2012)

15.) THe Brocnos shut down Brady (2016)

14.) Tiger wins the Masters (2019)
13.) The Mavs beat the Heatles (2011)
12.) Ed Reed gets his Ring (2013)

11.) The Giants beat the Pats, Again (2012)

10.) Peyton Manning wins Super Bowl 50 (2016)
9.) Astros winning the 2019 ALCS (2019)

8.) Nadal's French Open Decima (2017)

7.) The Cavs beat the Warriors down 1-3 (2016)

6.) Peyton Manning's 2013 Season (2013)

5.) Nadal winning 2019 US Open (2019)

4.) Devils win 2012 Eastern Conference Finals (2012)

3.) Real Madrid's 2017 Season (2016-17)

2.) Astros winning the 2017 World Series (2017)

1.) Spurs winning 2014 Finals (2014)

Baseball (and Sports) are Back

Baseball is back. After the most bastardized season of any of the major sports last year, 162 games turned to 60, no fans in wide open spaces that made it tough to hide, staid postseason crowds. The season ended crowing a worthy champion in the Dodgers, but it was still so less than.

Of course, in a weird way, baseball then becomes the sport in line to be the first to hold a fairly normal season. Yes, the NFL somehow got through the 2020 season with each team playing 16 games, but there was a mix of some with crowds some without. There were games on every day of the week. It wns't anything close to 'normal.' This baseball season doesn't have full crowds (the Rangers excluded), but the lightly attended games to seem more real. It all seems more 'normal.' Baseball has long been mythologized as the sport of rebirth, particularly the poeticism that is Spring Training. Well, in many ways for US sports as a whole it is the rebirth.

What really did it for me was watching parts of the Astros first series in Oakland. As many will remember, the Astros were exposed as having cheated after the 2019 season. They were instantly, fairly, turned into villains. The whole MLB world wanted a shot at them.... and they didn't get it. The Astros played the 2021 season in front of empty stadiums. Fans had to wait - and they did but didn't lose a bit of their fire.

That first series in Oakland featured every Astros player getting mercilessly booed, but specifically those seen as at the center of it all: Altuve, Bregman, Correa. There were people banging trash cans. In LA for their series against the Angels, there was more of the same. It won't stop all year. It's the first sign from a spectator perspective of us reaching our equilibrium again.

And the weird part: The Astros are feeding off of it, going 5-1 on the road against in theory the two teams with the best shot of taking the AL West title. Their offense was great. The batters that were booed on end performed great. If anything, the Astros were missing out on playing to empty stadiums last year - a season where all the top batters had down years.

The whole league though just seems to be in a state of joyous relief. All over some amount of fans are allowed in. Given baseball is a sport that often plays to less than full stadiums, it didn't even seem all that weird. 

The world is on the path back to "normal". Europe seems to be a mess, but the US is going through a strong vaccine roll-out. As places like Israel show, after you get most of the elderly vaccinated you can treat Covid like a flu in that it won't be a risk to overwhelming the health systems. We are on that track, to the point by the end of hte MLB season it is more likely than not we have full stadiums. Baseball should get the first crack at running a fully "normal" campaign, and its the perfect sport to do so. I just hope that the Astros and their re-revenge tour is there to see it through.