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:

Related posts:

1. Scottsdale Public Art Flickr Gallery
2. Ready for Scottsdale Event Season? Good, cause it’s here!
3. Tee up at McCormick Ranch Golf Club

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.

Other Images from the Bridge:

1. D.A. Therrien’s BEAUTIFUL LIGHT Media Recap
2. Calling All Fashionistas; It’s Time to Celebrate Scottsdale Fashion Week
3. 1st Annual Holiday Stroll at Southbridge

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2. Scottsdale Businesses Honored with Awards
3. SCOTTSDALE COMPANIES RECEIVE AWARDS

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.

Related posts:

1. Great Time to Golf at Westin Kierland
2. Scottsdale Golf, Spa Packages Right on Par
3. Scottsdale Golf News: Spring 2009

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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3. Summer Dining Specials in Scottsdale

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.

Related posts:

1. Multi-Million Dollar Renovation for City’s Only Full-Service All-Suite Resort
2. Discounts and Freebies, More Reasons to Bring Groups to Scottsdale
3. Great Time to Golf at Westin Kierland

The Roaming Gnome will be making an appearance at Trader Vic’s at the Hotel Valley Ho on Monday, July 20, from 5:00 – 7:00pm to meet all of you before he goes off to Boston, Philly, or Washington D.C.

Trader Vic’s will be having drink and appetizer specials for this unique event.

So come on out and meet the Travelocity Roaming Gnome! Take a picture and have a drink with him!

Related posts:

1. Picture of the Travelocity Gnome at the Grand Canyon
2. Pictures of the Traveling Travelocity Gnome at Trader Vic’s
3. Scottsdale Members on Facebook

Asia de Cuba Three course dinner for $39.00/person

For the month of June discount cards 35% off = $25.35.

3 Courses-shared style- full portions.

For more information call 480-308-1131 or visit www.mondrianscottsdale.com

Available Monday through Sunday, 5:00PM – 10:00PM, each guest dining in house will be given the choice of one option from each category – starter, entrée, and dessert from our menu listed below.

• Starters (choice of one)
  French Onion Soup · Crispy Calamari ‘Frittes’
  Organic Baby Field Greens
• Entree (choice of one)
  Shrimp Carbonara · Flat Iron Steak Salad
  Crispy Pacific Northwest Salmon
  Stuffed Free Range Chicken Breast
• Dessert (choice of one)
  Chocolate Decadence · Frozen Tiramisu
  Roasted Banana Bread Pudding · Crème Brulée

For more information call 480-656-0010 or visit www.avalon-scottsdale.com.

• Salad (choice of one)
  Blueberry & summer peach salad, wild rocket, candied pine nuts, champagne mint vinaigrette
  “The BLT wedge” salad, bacon, iceburg lettuce, tomato, blue cheese dressing
  Heirloom tomato & fresh mozzarella salad, super sweet corn, fresh basil, cracked pepper sherry vinaigrette

• Entree (choice of one)
  Pancetta wrapped filet mignon, twice baked yukon gold potato, french beans, herb red wine reduction
  Pan seared rainbow trout, sugar snap peas, french radishes, citrus salad
  Maine Lobster stuffed with crab, fingerling potatoes, asparagus, saffron leek crème
  Roasted chicken & exotic mushroom gnocchi, artichoke hearts, pecorino cheese
  The CANAL veggie tower, marinated & grilled vegetables, balsamic tomato sauce
• Dessert (choice of one)
  Chocolate chiffon cheesecake, crème fraiche, raspberries
  Bananas foster bread pudding, salted caramel ice cream

For more information visit www.canalaz.com or call 480.949.9000.

Kettle of green chile pork stew served with warm butter flour tortillas
Maryland style all lump crab cakes
Crispy cashew calamari

In addition, guests can enjoy happy hour beverages priced at $5.00 for mojitos, margaritas, signature martinis and wines by the glass and well drinks and specialty cocktails $1.00 off.

For more information visit the website at www.eddiev.com.

• Starter Choice:
  Tender greens salad, candied pecans, caramelized orange
  Panzanella salad, campari tomato, mozzarella and olives
• Entree Choice:
  Grilled chicken paillard, crisp fingerling, roasted salsa verde
  Handmade fettuccine, wild mushroom crema
• Dessert Choice:
  Bourbon pecan bread pudding, malted rum gelato
  Caramelized peach pavlova

For more information visit the website at www.estatehouseaz.com or call (480) 970-4099.

• Appetizers: (choice of one)
  Heart of Romaine Caesar Salad
  Steamed Shrimp Salad with Champagne Vinaigrette dressing
  Sweet Pea Soup
• Entrees: (choice of one)
  Slow Baked Salmon with Rhubarb Compote
  Lemon-Pepper Chicken Steak
  Grilled Black Angus Flat Iron Steak Frites
• Desserts: (choice of one)
  Cheese Cake with Strawberry Jam and Rhubarb Ice Cream
  Warm Chocolate Cake with Caramel Ice Cream or any one of a number of other varieties of ice cream

For more information on J&G Steakhouse or to make reservations, call (480) 214-8000 or go to www.jgsteakhousescottsdale.com.

Visit their website at www.eddiev.com or call (480) 947-0795 for more information.

Add 2 courses of wine for $19.

Visit their website at www.sassi.biz for more information.

• One pizza
• One salad
• Two glasses of wine

For more information call 480.321.8844 or visit www.foxrc.com/sauce. (restrictions apply).

For more information visit www.sushiroku.com or call 480-970-2121.

One of the Valley’s most romantic restaurants, has created a special tasting menu, allowing each guest to customize their own menu by selecting any appetizer, entree and dessert from the full dinner menu. Available dinner only, Sunday-Thursday.

Reservations:  602-808-0766 or visit www.royalpalmsresortandspa.com. 

Visit their website at www.eddiev.com or call (480) 994-4040 for more information.

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1. Great Time to Golf at Westin Kierland
2. Wine Spectator’s Restaurant Wine List Awards
3. The Captial Grille Master Wine Tasting

Petite Maison – Headed by local favorite, Chef James Porter, formerly of Tapino Kitchen & Wine Bar, the French-themed country bistro will bring comfort to travelers with quality food at a lower price point. A compact menu – matching the size of the quaint restaurant that will only seat about 80 people – focuses on classic Gallic for lunch, dinner and brunch with highlights like beignets and chicory coffee. Scheduled to open in summer 2009.

The Chef’s Loft – Set for the SouthBridge district, this state-of-the-art chef’s studio will play host to a culinary school with classes headed by renowned chefs from across the country. With a fully stocked kitchen from Viking Range Corporation, The Chef’s Loft will include space for private events in addition to public demonstrations for guests. The space also will be used as a set for lifestyle television shows, documentaries, commercials and more. Opening fall 2009.

Related posts:

1. A Delightful Time at Xona Resort Suites
2. The Captial Grille Master Wine Tasting
3. Ready for Scottsdale Event Season? Good, cause it’s here!

Josh, Adam, and myself made some time to check out the beautiful course over at the Kierland Golf Club. We were all pretty excited to test our skills on this champion style golf course, but I wouldn’t call any of us great golfers. Any first timer golfing at Kierland should play their Acacia 9-hole course. The ‘backyard’ of the resort overlooks holes 7 and 9, which best showcase the green. The scenery from those two holes is absolutely beautiful. The other two 9-holes are Mesquite and Ironwood. These courses are very hilly, which can be fairly forgiving on some holes and fairly challenging on others, yet still very enjoyable to play. Kierland is definitely a course to check out if you’re from out of town or even a local Arizona resident! I definitely recommend it!

The Kierland Golf Club also offers other great services and experiences such as golf instructions and fitness, club fitting, family clinics, and even a Scottish Golf Experience!

Summer rates are really attractive. From now until September 13, 2009 rates are:
$70 Monday – Thursday
$80 Friday – Sunday
$45 “Day of” 9-Hole Rate
$55 Twilight after 2:00pm
$35 Super Twilight after 4:00pm

Please call the Kierland Golf Club for details and other specials they have going on at 480-922-9283 or visit their website

Here are some photos from day:

Here are a few more photos posted on Flickr.

Related posts:

1. You Won’t Need Luck at the Westin Kierland Resort
2. Tee up at McCormick Ranch Golf Club
3. The Phoenician Tees up Great Value for Resort Guests and Local Residents With Summer Golf Package