Friday, June 22, 2012

Retro Date Night

The hubby and I try to make a date every so often.  Thanks to a Groupon coupon for 2 hours of unlimited bowling - last night was the night. 

We decided to keep with the retro theme of a bowling date by eating dinner at Jerry's Diner on Thomas and 24th street.  One of my favorite things in the world is fried chicken (insert Southern joke of your choosing here).  I tried the honey fried chicken with corn bread and a salad.  I loved every bite!  (http://www.yelp.com/biz/jerrys-restaurant-phoenix)   Perhaps the best part of our date was an enormous strawberry milkshake with (gulp!) real whipped cream.  Our waitress added extra when she heard me tell the hubby that whipped cream was my favorite part. 

After stuffing our selves with diner fare, we headed to the bowling alley over on 12th street.  We didn't make the entire 2 hours of bowling that the Groupon gave us.  I wouldn't think that bowling was hard work, but I was tired after hefting the 12 pound ball (usually down the gutter) for an hour and a half.  The highlight was our last game where I actually beat the hubby...156/144!  He's says that he let me win, but I think he is just a sore loser... the fact that he won all the other games means nothing.

Monday, June 11, 2012

Heat Doesn't Rise When You Leave the Valley

It is no secret that I am not the biggest fan of the heat in the valley.  The husband planned a romantic weekend get away because he loves me...and possibly wanted me to shut up already about the million degree temps in the valley.

We had a whirl-wind two days in Tombstone, Bisbee, Sierra Vista (Ft. Huachuca), and Tucson.  We left out house in Tempe early in the morning on Saturday. 

OK -- Time for some back story.  The husband celebrated finishing several quizzes and decided to take the motorcycle out.  I am usually totally okay with him riding around, but when 2am rolled around I was getting more than a little worried.  (He made it home fine; he's a big boy and is capable of riding in the dark.)  Needless to say, I didn't sleep well *read: at all* until he got home Saturday morning. 

Regardless, we left the house early Saturday morning and headed south.  Our first stop in Tombstone was breakfast at The Longhorn Restaurant. (http://bignosekates.info/longhorn.html)  My omelet was great - and the hubby's food didn't last long enough for him to taste it.

 
 
The Buffalo soldiers were being celebrated in Tombstone, so we saw a parade and then walked around the town waiting for the comedy gun show to start at  Helldorado Town.  This was the best show that we have seen in a while, and I got to be part of the action...I did, however, shoot the wrong man.  I said then and I'll say it again - It happens! 

We left Tombstone and made our way to Bisbee to have lunch with a friend that the hubby deployed with in Afghanistan.  We ate at Santiagos (http://santiagosmexican.blogspot.com/).  I wanted to like the food.  I really did.  The nicest thing I can say is that the food didn't live up to the atmosphere.  I had the enchiladas from the specials menu - and I left more than half of them on my plate.

We took the trolley tour of the town and learned a lot about this great little slice of AZ.  I'm trying to figure out how to support us in a tourist town, so we can go back.  (The current plan is to let me live there if the hubby ends up at Ft. Huachuca again, so we'll see.)

No trip down south would be complete without the hubby showing me some of his old stomping grounds.  He was stationed at Ft. Huachuca for over a year and took me on a tour that included things like running up this hill sucks and this d-fac is where I ate

We spent the night in Tucson, and headed out to Mt. Lemmon in the morning.  (Not too early this time since we were both working on less than 4 hours' sleep.)  The drive up to the Meadow Trail was spectacular and was one of those times where I am grateful/thankful to have the little red sports car.  We decided to hike the Meadow Trail, and while the meadow looked surprisingly like a mountain, the views were well worth the huffing and puffing it took to get there. 

I also want to take the time to thank the unknown motorcycle rider who warned us about the Sheriff running radar and saved us a ticket.  Like I said, my car is zippy and the road was awesome. 

We headed down to 4th Ave. for lunch after our hike since the restaurants up on the mountain thought that a pulled pork sandwich and some chips were worth over $12.  I used the UrbanSpoon app on my phone to find the Surly Wench Pub (424 North 4th Avenue Tucson, AZ).  It was listed as somewhere to find a burger, and we were both hungry from the hike.  We both ate the "Cooter Burger" (and amazing concoction of nacho cheese and jalapenos on a hamburger).  They were spicy, messy and perfectly delicious.