D. Wine tours: Oak Creek, Javeline Leap Winery, Page Springs Cellars all in Cornville.
Javeline Leap Winery – 1565 N Page Springs Rd, Cornville, AZ 86325 – (928) 649-2681 Was our favorite wine tasting – good wine, reasonable priced and nice service.
Oak Creek – the man who took care of us – said they have to mark each paper for each wine tasted because “women” are not truthful when asked which one they had already tasted. How offensive can you be to your customers!
B. Excursions – Walking the various trails, a trip to the Ghost City in Jerome Az., a Verde Mesa Train Ride, a couple of trips for shopping, a trip to the Montezuma Castle & Mountezuma Well (both of these were excellent) as was The Chapel of the Holy Cross & Tlaquepaque Chapel and courtyard portrays the flavor of Old Mexico & Tlaquepaque Arts Crafts Village. Thanks to our son, Sean, for doing all the driving!
Montezuma’s Castle
When cactus turn red, they are diseased.
Montezuma Castle National Monument protects a set of well-preserved dwellings located in Camp Verde, Arizona which were built and used by the Sinagua people, a pre-Columbian culture closely related to the Hohokam and other indigenous peoples of the southwestern United States,[4] between approximately 1100 and 1425 AD. The main structure comprises five stories and twenty rooms, and was built over the course of three centuries. Neither part of the monument’s name is correct. When European-Americans first observed the ruins in the 1860s, by then long-abandoned, they named them for the famous Aztec emperor Montezuma in the mistaken belief that he had been connected to their construction (see also Montezuma mythology).[6] In fact, the dwelling was abandoned more than 40 years before Montezuma was born, and was not a “castle” in the traditional sense, but instead functioned more like a “prehistoric high rise apartment complex.”
The Chapel of the Holy Cross is a Roman Catholic chapel built into the buttes of Sedona, Arizona, run by the Diocese of Phoenix, as a part of St. John Vianney Parish in Sedona
Snoopy rock in AZ
A. Ridge on Sedona (the Red Rock country) Resort – Nice place to golf, swim, or go and enjoy the spa & visit local sites.
The weather was wonderful – in the low 70’s no humidity, no rain while we were there.
Thanks to Sean, our son, for all the driving.
C – The Asylum Rest. in the Ghost City Inn – The Asylum Restaurant is inside the Jerome Grand Hotel (some say it’s haunted). theasylum.biz – 200 Hill St., Jerome, AZ 86331 – Phone number(928) 639-3197 – NOTE: the white spots near the Inn.
Cucina Rustica (an excellent Ital. restaurant) near the resort – 7000 Hwy 179, Ste 126a
Sedona, AZ 86351 – (928) 284-3010, cucinarustica.com Great food, ambiance, drinks. We enjoyed our visit to Cucina Rustica.
Euro Deli (great deli that serves delicious food and sells Polish, Hungarian, etc. goodies.) 3190 W Hwy 89A, Sedona, AZ 86336, (928) 282-4798, Business eurodelisedona.com What a place! Delicious food and take home goodies.
Nicks on the West Side – 2920 Hwy 89A, Sedona, AZ 86336, (928) 204-2088, nickswestside.com – Mrs. Q loved Nicks – a casual informal restaurant that the locals go to eat. Great food, drinks, and friendly service.
Our Thanksgiving Dinner was catered from Whole Foods. We had a kitchen so there was need to have more meals out.
FUN HOME – Victory Gardens Theater – 2433 N Lincoln Ave, Chicago, IL 60614 – (773) 871-3000 – victorygardens.org – (winner of 5 Tony Awards including “Best Musical”) that follows graphic novelist Alison Bechdel as she unravels the mysteries of her childhood, from her coming out to her moving journey of acceptance.
Q-tips say: GREAT! SEE IT! A wonderful musical unravels the many mysteries of Alison’s childhood through a series of memories and conversations – from her coming out to her moving journey to acceptance. Mrs. Q says: An extremely talented group of actors. Different actors portray Alison – small, meduim and adult Alison. The orchestra is above the stage not below. Ninety minutes long without an intermission. We did enjoy it.
OUR TOWN – Redtwist theater – a very small theater, seats approx. 30. Our small town must deal with social issues, such as addiction, choices in life and a lot of why’s and who’s. In this production, Fleming has opted to cast females in what would be classic male roles and vice-versa. Besides the gender-bending casting, there are also many racially mixed roles. As long as you know up-front that there are differences, the beauty of the play is not affected by this nuance.
The story is told by a Narrator who is called The Stage Manager . From time to time, he becomes other characters that inhabit the Town of Grovers Corners. Each of the main families is introduced to us and in this tiny little “black box” theater, the actors are in our reach for all three acts. Oh, yes, they are presenting the show in three segments dealing with a sort of “birth”, “marriage” and “death”- there are two intermissions of 10 minutes each and a total running time of 2 hours 20 minutes.
The story is about youth, finding love and also deals with death. Fleming has also opted to not use period costuming in order to allow the story to be of greater importance than “stuff”.
Q-tips say: Went with friends and we all enjoyed it. They make the audience feel that you are part of their little town. During two intermissions, they offer tea to the audience and after the wedding, they offer wedding cake.
ASTROPHYSICS for People in a HURRY – Neil De Grasse Tyson
Mrs. Q says: The title says it all. Liked it. It took me a week after I got it to begin reading it. You can read a chapter while on the bus, etc. A down to earth informative book that guides you through questions about our universe with humor & humility. Covers cosmic issues from the Big Bang to black holes , from quarks to quantum mechanics and search for planets to search for life in the universe. Got to go and finish the book, this is one that I cannot renew because there are others waiting to read it.
HAMILTON – Hamilton: An American Musical is a sung- and rapped-through musical about the life of American Founding Father Alexander Hamilton.
7/2020 review: on TV – streaming – Mrs. Q says: Saw it again. The other half wanted to see it again—-so. The best thing about this time: IT WAS FREE and you can be in your favorite chair/enjoying your favorite libation. Mrs. Q still thinks it is over-rated but this time not overpriced. Also, during the live performance at the theater, the orchestra, at times, was too loud and made it more difficult to understand the performers. The at-home movie, without the live orchestra, made for a better experience regarding understanding some of the words.
2017 review: Q-tips say: Way OVERPRICED (Don’t care if you got discounted tickets, it is still overpriced) & OVER-RATED.
Mrs. Q says: See it if you must. If you like rap and hip-hop, this is the musical play for you. The “man bun” contingent in the audience must of thought is was great with all the “Yahoo’s and yelling after each segment” even when someone just steps on stage before he said or did anything. It is very loud, and many times you cannot understand what they are saying(singing, rapping, screaming, etc.) However, Mrs. Q DID like what they did with the stage and stage lighting. The best part of the evening is going to “Shaw’s Crab house” for dinner.
Lin-Manuel Miranda, the playwright and lyricist, is laughing all the way to the bank with wheelbarrows of money. If there is Part II of another play like this, count me out! Spamilton??? No, Thank you.
DEADLY CHOICES – by Dr. Paul A. Offit
How the ANTI Vaccine movement threatens us all.
Mrs. Q says: a book about the ANTI vaccine movement but so much more. The book delves into the PRO and CONS of vaccines thru our history. How it began till present. You will learn about how they test and how the news media had a say and how they swayed the population. YES, I enjoyed it.
