Phoenix Vacation
Day 3 - March 3, 2017

I got to sleep in a bit this morning as Patti had some meetings to attend, and I just relaxed around the house reading news and catching up on emails. Patti arrived a little after noon and we headed into central Phoenix for lunch. We decided to go to a local favorite named Durant's. It was recommended by a couple of friends in Houston, and Patti certainly knew of it, so off we went. The restaurant is very unassuming on the outside...almost dumpy. But inside? It was like walking back in time to the fifties with its very low lighting with a red hue, and the red felt wallpaper. The place was built in 1950, and it hasn't been touched since! The lights were so low it was hard to read the menu, but I did notice on the menu the request to not use cell phones in the restaurant, and only in the bar. Yeah, right. Everyone in there was all over their phones, and so were we. We both ordered the sliced sirloin steak lunch with garlic mashed potatoes and mixed vegetables. It came with a salad and bread, but not just any bread. The bread was round and almost totally covered in a  mixture of olive oil, leeks and garlic, which also pooled in the bowl it arrived in. I'd never seen anything like that before, and it was surprisingly good. Lunch was soon served and it came with au jus and a creamy horseradish sauce. I kept glancing around the room looking for Sinatra to come waltzing by. That's how vintage, and somewhat mafioso, it was. A unique, yet delicious, experience.

We headed back to the house since Patti had some private music lessons to teach for a couple of hours (she is a professional opera singer and teaches voice and piano in her home), and since I had nothing to do and they needed the privacy, I borrowed her car and went to the casino less than ten minutes from the house. I played for about an hour and a half, bounced from machine to machine, and ended up losing about $40. Back to the house I went.

We then got cleaned up and headed back to Downtown Phoenix to attend the world premier of a brand new opera titled "Riders of the Purple Sage". If you recognize the title, the opera is based on the novel of the same name written by Zane Grey, and published in 1912. The composer is Craig Bohmler, who is originally from Houston, and has been a very close friend of Patti for over 30 years. The Librettist is Steven Mark Kohn, and he had to create the words for the opera singers from the book. Not an easy thing to do. It's a western themed show set in the late 1800's about the struggles and tensions of western settlers in Utah and the arrival of the Mormons and their hardline view of religion and non-violence. It is timely with what is currently going on in this country and our current struggles of hard line politics and religion, gun control vs gun rights, women's rights, etc. Remember I said it was written in 1912? It's still the same today, and this opera beautifully presents those conflicts, along with touching moments of young love, early death, and finding loved ones thought to have been killed or kidnapped. Yes, it's high drama, and the singing, stage sets and orchestration were magnificent.

I forgot to mention that an hour before the performance, the composer and librettist had a talk with the early arriving audience members about how it took them four years to make it all come together, and the struggles they faced along the way. After the show, a few invited guests, including us, were invited to a close-by cafe for an after party. Everyone was raving about the show, laughing, eating and drinking. We didn't leave until almost 1am!

We got home and Patti went straight to bed, quite exhausted, but mostly because she has to be up at 6:30am to go teach students at a remote location close by. I don't know how she keeps going and going, but she does. She is amazingly talented and a great teacher of voice and piano, and passionate about music.

Tomorrow (Saturday) we will have a late lunch and not much else until evening. We will either go see another concert, or just stay home and I will cook dinner. Plans will be discussed, and plans will be changed throughout the day, but it will be fun either way.

It's now just after 2am, and I'm fading fast. See ya tomorrow!