So why did I go to Phoenix for the weekend? Well, there are all these Volksmarch special programs and one of them I was doing was Route 66. The requirement was to do a walk in each of the states that Route 66 ran through and all I had left was Arizona. Flagstaff would have been more appropriate and Tucson would have been more interesting since I've never been there, but Phoenix was easy to get to. The walk covered downtown, including the State Capitol complex. Along the way there, I passed the Mining Museum, which had some interesting large machinery outside. In addition to a huge shovel, there was a 12 foot diameter tire from a mining truck - truly impressive.
Phoenix is still not a particularly intersting city, in my opinion, but it was good walking weather and I did enjoy getting out and moving. I should also note that they have a public sculpture project going on. Chicago had cows, L.A. had angels, Washington, D.C. had party animals (both donkeys and elephants) and pandas. Phoenix has guitars. I passed about 8 or 9 of them, with the one I liked best being one played by a saguaro cactus.
After the walk, I went back over to Heritage Square, where I had a late lunch at the tea room in the Teeter House. The veggie sandwich was good, but the jasmine tea was overbrewed. It was conveniently just a couple of doors away from the Arizona Doll and Toy Museum. This is a small but interesting collection, most of which is well-labeled. The most famous exhibit is a schoolroom full of dolls at the desks. My favorite, though, was a dollhouse hat shop. The feathers on the hats were apparently made from the feathers used on fishing flies. The museum also has a very tempting gift shop. I restrained myself well and just bought a couple of paper dolls.
Finally, I browsed the shops at Arizona Center, but didn't find anything of interest. I contemplated going to a movie, but I was too tired after the late night yesterday. So I went back to the hotel and rested for a while before going and having supper at a nearby Mexican restaurant. All in all, it was a good change of pace from home.
Copyright 2005 Miriam H. Nadel