I am waking up at a spa. How can I complain about anything related to a spa? I cannot. I’m not trying to brag, but I feel outrageously spoiled right now. I mean outrageously. I am truly a blessed young lady. Regardless of where I am, I need coffee and lots of it. Today is the first day on this entire road trip that we actually don’t have to drive anywhere, so I am going to enjoy myself and actually indulge in one of my greatest loves. Meandering my way through the pool area, and when I say area, I mean area. There isn’t just one pool. There are three. Three absolute beautiful ones complete with waterfalls. I’m having a terrible time ; ) But this article is not about me gloating about my wonderful spa experience. This is about my adventures in the West, so first things first. Food. Of course, food. Food is always on the top of the list, right next to coffee. My friend Katie who used to live here in the city suggested that I try Two Hippies. Apparently their fish tacos were divine. I had picked a place from a book called Caroline’s that was labeled a “Phoenix Institution.” So do I go with the friend’s suggestion or the institution? Tough one. We pick the easy solution and decide to do the institution for lunch today and have Two Hippies tomorrow. So, we put the address for Caroline’s in and start driving. We arrive in a rundown neighborhood after taking 50 bazillion turns and Amelia, my ever-trusty navigation system, announces that we have arrived at our destination. Rigggggghhhht.
So Two Hippies it is then.
New address. New direction. Completely different side of town. We are about to add four more hippies to this restaurant. Two Hippies is a teensy weensy corner shack on Camelback Road. It is completely decorated with outrageous signs, bright colors, in-your-face sayings, and don’t forget the giant yellow smiley face. Perfection! What’s even better is that you can buy 3 tacos, yes thats 3! tacos for $5. Read that again. 3 tacos for $5. I cannot resist and order a cactus taco, a fish taco, and a beef verde taco. Delightful lunch indeed. Katelin gets the same. Mom orders all fish, and Jean gets a variety as well. Plopping down on one of the multi-colored picnic tables, we eagerly pull the aluminum wrapped tacos out of the brown paper bag with our names on them. HERE GOES! Verde Beef first.
And there are no words. Rice, pintos, cabbage, tomato, cheese, hot sauce in a soft corn tortilla. I mean what can I really say? There just are no words. The fish taco is soft and delicate with a spritz of lime and a dash of my favorite hot sauce, Sriracha. But then there’s the cactus taco which is outrageously phenomenal. The cactus is covered in feta and red pepper and actually tastes like a spicy pepper itself. The bite fills your palette almost immediately, and you crave more, more, more. Your stomach, however, says no, no, no. It can only take so much. I mean after two tacos, its done, its full. I did skip breakfast in anticipation, but it doesn’t matter, I must push away from the cactus taco. Of course, this is the exact moment that the lady who waited on us comes and and gives us free acai berry lemonade slush. Oh no! Oh no! Oh no! I mean what on earth do you do when your stomach feels like a balloon and you are handed a freshly squeezed acai lemon slush? You do the only thing you can do, you drink the epic lemonade and don’t care how full you feel because you know you won’t eat anything for hours and hours and hours. Gosh I love vacations. You can eat until you’re sick and then go and wander around aimlessly.
BUT wandering aimlessly has never been my forte, so we drive over to Phoenix’s most famous museum, the Heard Museum. The Heard is completely dedicated to the American Indians. It holds cases and cases of their pottery, jewelry, weapons, tools, makeshift homes, dolls, toys. There is also a fantastic mock shift school display telling the tragedy of the Indian children being forced to attend the White Man’s boarding schools. Walking through and listening to the accounts of the children telling how they felt when they were dragged away from their parents almost makes me want to cry. Their hair was cut, their traditional clothing taken away from them, even their names were taken away from them. They had to completely forget who they were and become in essence a “white person.” The tragedy of this transformation angers me and saddens me at the same time. They lost everything that was them. We take a guided tour and learn the history of only 5 of the hundreds of tribes that are located around this area. There is a trend: survival, family, water.
After all the sadness, we decide to go and do what makes all women happy: shop! North of the city is Desert Ridge, an outdoor shopping area that boasts 110 acres of stores. It also has an IMAX theatre and a Target Greatland. Yes, that is a Target Greatland. There’s no stopping us, we absolutely must go! Did I mention that it was hot in Phoenix? Yes, it’s ridiculously hot in Phoenix. Granted there is no humidity, but when your car thermometer is registering 114F, you really don’t want to be outside. So we cop out of the heat by checking out the IMAX. Being we are a group of four women, we decide to watch SALT. Why not watch a woman beat up men? Of course, no movie is complete without popcorn and a drink, and we are handed the largest popcorn and drink I have ever seen! My eyes bulge, and my mom giggles at my figure walking towards her with the popcorn and drink. Did I mention that everything is bigger out west?
Afterwards, we have to go to Target Greatland. I mean all Target advocates know that its something you don’t pass up. It’s Target Greatland!! My eyes just glow as I walk in. It’s beautiful, and now I have have have to buy something in this gorgeous place.
After minimal damage to the pocketbook. (And truly it is only minimal. I mean a jacket, earrings, sobe water, advil is very minimal for me.)
Finally It’s time to eat again. We ask the hotel concierge to suggest a place for us, and they actually offer to drive us in their red Cadillac to a local place, the Mission, that offers southwestern delicacies. We order tortillas, white beans, spicy caesar salads, and a cumin and lime mix of white and sweet potatoes fries complete with spicy ketchup. Again, we aren’t disappointed. The atmosphere feels like a Mission except for the loud music. I highly doubt the music would be allowed in a Mission. It’s really really loud.
When we get back to our room, there are two goldfish sitting on our dresser. Yes, that’s right, two goldfish. Ummmm...since when do resorts put goldfish in your room? Since Katelin told the front deskman that she liked goldfish. So now we have two new roommates, Spot and Squiggles, in our room. Ahhhh....Phoenix.
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