Robin Branham

At the Celebration of Fine Art you are personally able to ask the artists yourself and learn about their works. Josh Kenzer and I visited the Celebration of Fine Art which is located up in Scottsdale at the southeast corner of Scottsdale Rd & Loop 101.  Over 100 artists from around the country come to display their artwork in a 3 month long event.  This unique event that is quite different from your typical art exhibit galleries. One great thing about this event is the vibe. I found that walking through the galleries was very pleasing and comfortable. This is definitely not an expo where artists stop you in your tracks to sell their works but rather serve as a ‘guide’ to answer any questions about their pieces. All of the artists are very friendly and approachable and want you to understand and appreciate their art as much as they do, which I found to be really great.

Mr. T - Created by Kyle & Tim

One artist by the name of Kyle, whose work is displayed in the lawn area, noticed our awe of one of his pieces – a big dinosaur made from motorcycle, bicycle, and car parts. It stands roughly eight feet tall and eight feet long. We were intrigued by his design and Kyle was more than happy to explain how it all came about. An interesting fact about this dinosaur – it took two years to find all the materials, and six weeks to build. And like every other pieces of art at the event, the big dinosaur is for sale. Price? Well, attend the event to find out!

Kevin Powers

Another great thing about Celebration of Fine Art is the wide range of art on display such as paintings from abstract to realistic, and sculptures from ceramic to metal, jewelry, to name just a few. There also is plenty of mixed media art to peruse through! I found some great pieces that I know would definitely look great in my new house. So be sure to check out Celebration of Fine Art! There’s still time to attend this fantastic event, which runs thru March 28.

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The Segway was first introduced in 2001 as another means of transportation similar to a scooter. ContempoRide Segway offers a unique experience to ride the Segways.

If you’re looking to go around Old Town Scottsdale, ContempoRide Segway provides guided tours. You also have the option to rent a Segway to discover Scottsdale at your leisure!

If you have never been on a Segway before it’s quite a fun experience! It is balanced on two wheels by gyroscopic sensors, which will always maintain the vehicle (and you) upright. To move forward or backwards, simply you change your weight distribution by leaning in either directions. To turn, simply lean the handle left or right to change direction! They also go up to a speedy 12.5mph, which is actually reasonably fast when going on the sidewalks! When I first rode on a Segway I was a little nervous about crashing but take it from me it is fairly easy to use! With a quick 10-15 minute training to familiarize yourself with the Segway you should be good to navigate your way around town!

ContempoRide Segway offers a guided tour around the Old Town Scottsdale.

The tour lasts for around an hour gliding all throughout Old Town Scottsdale passing through the arts district, restaurants, and boutiques giving you a different adventure through Scottsdale. There is also another option to tour the Arizona Biltmore Estates.

You also have the option to rent a Segway that you can roam around with however long you wish.

Overall, this is an unique experience to ride a fun vehicle to explore Scottsdale and its surroundings!

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Pork Gordita

For those of you that love Mexican food you might be asking, “What a minute, that doesn’t look like a gordita!” Cafe Carumba has a unique food palate that’s primarily Southwestern infused with a bit of Mexican style cooking. What you see above is an open faced gordita loaded with beans, pork, lettuce, tomatoes, onions, and fresh cheese with a side of sweet potato fries. The ingredients were very fresh and juicy. The gordita tortilla was fluffy, a great base to all the fixings on top. I’m a pretty big eater and this definitely hit the spot. It wasn’t too little or too much.

My colleague, Kelly, had the Chicken Chili Club Sliders.

Chicken Chile Club Sliders

This is their most popular dish on their $5.99 lunch menu. The Chicken Chile Club Sliders has two very generous portion sliders that has chicken, bacon, green chile, pepper jack cheese, and tomatoes. Kelly kindly let me sample a piece of one of her sliders and I have to say it was quite good. The chicken was very juicy with the tasty crisp bacon that’s smothered with the pepper jack cheese and green chiles. Another thing I really enjoyed was the chips and salsa which is complimentary. The chips were warm and lightly salted. The salsa is more of a garlicky style that’s not too spicy but not really mild, a great appetizer.

Their $5.99 lunch menu is a great deal. You can check out their menu here. They plan to add to their delightful selection seasonally so be sure to check that out. If you find that nothing on the lunch menu strikes your taste buds at that moment they have a fairly good amount of dishes to choose from their regular menu. Best of all, Cafe Carumba is in the heart of downtown Scottsdale and very easy to find.

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By artist R. Luke Dubois

The Scottsdale Public Art program is proud to bring Hindsight is 20/20, an installation by R. Luke DuBois to the Scottsdale Civic Center Mall. This outdoor installation will be on view, free to the public, from October 4 to November 2. The installation is located near the iconic LOVE sculpture, near the Scottsdale Center for the Performing Arts, on the Civic Center Mall.

Other photos from the exhibition:

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For the month of October, the Scottsdale Southbridge at the Waterfront is awash in pink lights. Named The Pink Light District, this display is a fund raiser to raise money for breast cancer research and awareness. For more information or to donate, please visit their official website.

Be sure to get out to downtown Scottsdale and take in the colors and raise awareness.

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McCormick Ranch Golf Club

If you’re looking for a challenging but enjoyable golf course consider the McCormick Ranch Golf Club conveniently located on Scottsdale Rd and McCormick Parkway. The Palm and Pine course each offer championship tees totaling more than 7,000 yards. But whether you’re a novice, amateur, or professional these courses are very playable for any skill level.

Josh, Josh (not a typo), Lauren, and myself made it out to the Pine course on a lovely but warm morning. You’ll notice the names of these courses are not random as the Pine course is filled with Pine trees and the Palm course has many Palm trees (go figure!). McCormick Ranch Golf Club has a large practice area for putting and pitching as well as a nice driving range which I unfortunately didn’t have time to check out since I arrived without any practice time. Basing my judgment off the score card the Pine course seemed to be slightly easier to play. Playing the Pine course’s many holes were relatively forgiving on the fairways if you had a bad tee shot and decent size greens. I did find the GPS distance reader from the hole on each of the golf carts to be helpful. Just drive the golf cart near where your ball is and the device will inform you how many yards away you are from the green.  There were also five water holes which made the course more exciting and challenging.  I would have to say my favorite hole on the Pine course is #15.  This 470 yard hole has two areas in which you need to clear over the water. However, the green, though slightly padded by the rough, is almost completely surrounded by water so be cautious. Overall, this course definitely gave me a challenge but I’m definitely looking forward to playing the Palm course another day.

McCormick Ranch Golf Club also offers a restaurant and lounge in the clubhouse and a convenient hot dog stand for a mid- or post-game snack. Additionally the clubhouse can accommodate private parties of any size with a banquet room and large outdoor pavilion.

From now until Sept. 10, McCormick Ranch Golf Club is offering 18 holes for $34 before 11:00am and only $29 after 2:00pm. That’s a deal for such a great course.

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These hand selected wines from South Africa and Napa Valley come highly rated from Robert Parker and Wine Spectator. Swirl, Sip, Savor as many as you’d like!

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When I arrived to the property I was greeted by the friendly folks at the front desk. The lobby has a nice southwest feeling with warm colors. It has a small business center and lounge area, a quick grab ‘n go shop, and even a golf concierge for all your golfing needs.  What’s great about Xona Resort Suites is that you can select how many rooms you need, whether it’s one-, two-, three-, or even four-bedrooms. The majority of the suites have a kitchen is included as well as a living and dining area. Most rooms also include a washer/dryer, which is great for long-term guests. Xona also provides standard rooms too if you choose not to go the suite route (no pun intended). And with four pools to choose from, the property makes it easy to take a nice, cool dip.

I arrived during the lunch hour to try out the Asada Desert Grille, which serves Southwestern-inspired food. For an appetizer, the Pollo Asada Pizza came highly recommended to me, so of course I had to give that a try. It came with marinated grilled chicken mixed with roasted pablano chili, white cheddar and cojito Cheese topped with pico de gallo and homemade guacamole. All of these tasty ingredients were spread over a two-layered flour tortilla. The pizza also came with a sauce (I forgot the name of it) to pour on top or to be used as a dip (is your mouth watering yet?). For my entrée I chose the Smoked Pork Poor Boy. Poor boy aren’t common in Scottsdale but the tender smoked pork seasoned with the restaurant’s own house rub on a bolillo roll topped with jicama slaw sounded too good to pass up. The poor boy was definitely as good as it sounded. The pork was very tender and the jicama slaw made the sandwich very tasty, light, and refreshing.

Overall I had a very pleasant experience at Xona Resort Suites. You too can also experience a wonderful time at Xona. From now until September 7, 2009 Xona is offering an exclusive special through the Experience Scottsdale blog with $59 per bedroom for one, two, three or four bedroom suites.

Other details:
Prepayment not required (which typically is)
$15 daily Resort fee waived.
Subject to applicable taxes

If you’re a local looking for a staycation or even a visitor looking for a great deal, call Xona and book a reservations at 800-989-0147.

Go to www.xonaresort.com for more information on the property.

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