Phoenix

[Fnfalman]

El Pollo Loco has surprisingly good chicken.  They tend to be a bit too dry for me, but the taste itself is delicious.

I haven't been in the greater Phoenix Area since 2006, but I used to love eating at Vincent's On Camelbak.  This Vincent dude is a gourmet French chef who loved to put a Southwest twist on his grubs.  https://vincentsoncamelback.com/  He used to hold a farmer's market in his restaurant parking lot six months out of the year (the cooler months) and the dude made some mean crepe there.

Then there was Greek Fest that served surprisingly good food considering where they're at.  https://thegreekfest.com/

 

 

[Borg warner]

On 10/25/2020 at 8:57 PM, tadbart said:

Wow. The last 36 hours have been A LOT.

Woke up at 1600 yesterday, went to work 2000-0500. Drove to Orlando International Airport, took off for Denver at 0800. Left Denver for Phoenix at 1400. Ok, 1500. De-icing took a bit of time. Met this super cool Israeli/Phoenician chick sitting next to me. She gave me great pointers for my time in town. We exchanged numbers, shared texts today. Got a couch to crash on in PHX, in exchange for a couch in MCO. Very productive flight!

On the bus from PHX to the car rental place, this dude was flexing on the phone, lawyer this, and lawyer that. Started cussing loudly, so I kicked his foot to get his attention and asked him to chill out. He actually did. And approached me when I was at the car rental place, and apologized. The counter girl asked me what happened, and I told her. She gave me an upgrade for free for that! Driving a Durango instead of a Mitsubishi matchbox. I asked her jokingly about that Maserati in the lot, and she told me not to push it. Good times!

Del Taco and Buffalo Trace whiskey are both rarities in Florida. Found both this evening while exploring. Also found a place to get some good sunset pics over the city-the Papago Mountains, suggested by my new airplane friend. That's on the agenda tomorrow night after work, with dinner at Blue Adobe after sunset. 

Meeting a mentor, friend, and GT/TBS member for dinner Wednesday night after training at the new clinic all day.

Checking out my college that I got my BSN from, on Thursday. Be nice to finally set foot on a campus that gave me a degree, lol!

Friday involves an early rise, a drive to Saguaro National Park. That'll be a new National Park for me. 22 or 23? I forget. Will work that night at the new clinic here, and then leave back for Orlando early that morning. Figure I can sleep on the plane. 

Made a new friend. Eating and drinking well. Seeing pretty things. Some days, it sucks to be me. Today, is not one of those days.

sounds like you're having a good time. Keep in mind there is a Fatburger in Phoenix at 21001 N. Tatum Blvd Phoenix AZ 85050.  Get a large double with everything and add Jalapeño jack cheese

 

[Eric]

1 hour ago, blueiron said:

The original one still exists and there is one in Surprise. A new one is supposed to open in [of all places!] 35th Avenue and Northern. 

I'm glad they held on. I always liked them. The ones in Mesa and PHX I used to go to closed down while I was still living there. I had heard that the corporation folded. Someone must have put at least some of the pieces back together.

[blueiron]

They are a franchise operation now.

 

[tadbart]

Another 13.5 hour day. Looking forward to visiting PHX again with less work. The weather has been PERFECT. Pretty sure this won't be my last trip out here to this clinic. And next time I'll be building in a little extra time on the front end. Tomorrow being my final day, I'm cutting out a little early and having a nice dinner, probably at Blue Adobe. Been too late and too tired to devote any real time to geologic and gastronomic exploration. 

@NPTim what an absolute pleasure to finally meet you. Like two old friends talking over dinner. @Eric and @blueiron I really appreciate you guys steering me in the right direction, and I truly wish I had time to explore every suggestion. I like this town, what little of it I have seen. I'll be back.

 

The idea of a TBS meet up works for me! I was part of a large online group that finally met at our band's concert. We all grabbed lunch then got in line for the show. True friendships were forged that day and evening. I even got a few couches to crash on out of that, in Colorado, British Columbia, and North Carolina. All for the idea.

[Eric]

27 minutes ago, tadbart said:

Another 13.5 hour day. Looking forward to visiting PHX again with less work. The weather has been PERFECT. Pretty sure this won't be my last trip out here to this clinic. And next time I'll be building in a little extra time on the front end. Tomorrow being my final day, I'm cutting out a little early and having a nice dinner, probably at Blue Adobe. Been too late and too tired to devote any real time to geologic and gastronomic exploration. 

@NPTim what an absolute pleasure to finally meet you. Like two old friends talking over dinner. @Eric and @blueiron I really appreciate you guys steering me in the right direction, and I truly wish I had time to explore every suggestion. I like this town, what little of it I have seen. I'll be back.

 

The idea of a TBS meet up works for me! I was part of a large online group that finally met at our band's concert. We all grabbed lunch then got in line for the show. True friendships were forged that day and evening. I even got a few couches to crash on out of that, in Colorado, British Columbia, and North Carolina. All for the idea.

I used to go up to Vancouver Island occasionally, back in the early nineties. I knew some people in Nanaimo and on Cortez Island. It is beautiful up there. 
 

The temp in PHX can be a bit much in the summer and the dust storms during monsoon season generally suck, but the flash floods will kill you, if you don’t watch your step. Wait, where was I going with this?  It is a great area and there is a ton to do & see there. I love the Southwest. There are some real treasures out there. Glad you are getting a chance to sample at least some of them. Just stay out of Sun City. The old folks will run your ass down with their golf carts. You have been warned.

 

Serious about the flash floods too. There are very few places where you can get taken out by a flash flood and never see any rainfall.