We have been in Scottsdale for a little over four weeks now, which in some ways feels like a long time. I think we are so used to our roving retirement lifestyle that anything longer than 2 weeks feels really long.
In the Beginning
When we first got here, our priorities were getting my surgery arranged and going to restaurants with misters outside. (I love misters, someday I’ll have my own.) We even visited Top Golf, which is an eating and drinking establishment where you can practice golf. Mike called it the Dave and Busters of golf. I’ve seen them before but have never been in. I thought it was a blast, but I’m pretty sure the Bloody Mary helped with my sense of fun. (Mike: And the problem with that is…). There is nifty electronic scoring like bowling, they provide clubs and you rent the alcove by the hour.
I lost a week and a half between the two surgeries, but Mike went out to eat a few times while I was in the hospital. He also spent an afternoon at the Heard Museum of Indian Art and in Old Town Scottsdale.
Since My Return
Lately, my time has been spent shopping online and dealing with real estate issues. When I’m not working I’m laying by the pool and some days, we go out to eat and drink. Oh, and some light PT.
Everyone has read the news articles about Arizona being the biggest hot spot for Covid right now. Even so, here at our little resort in Scottsdale, everyone seems very conscientious about following all of the best practices. We wear our masks whenever we leave the condo. We social distance at the pool, where all of the chairs are completely cleaned between guests. No groups of 10 people or more are allowed at the pool and the fitness center was closed again by the governor.
When we visit restaurants, we sit outside and the tables are more than 6 feet apart. All of the servers are masked and they wear gloves around any of the food or plates. Personally, I don’t think it is difficult to stay healthy and safe here. We have done our best to avoid crowds, but I will admit that there isn’t much I can do right now that would involve a crowd. Many of you have pointed out the news about Arizona but we feel fine about being here.
Mike Plays Golf
Mike has been taking advantage of the many golf courses in the Phoenix area while I have been hanging in the condo or going to PT. He has been playing twice a week from about 10 until 2 which is nearly the hottest part of the day. But besides needing to go in the pool and rest some after each round, he seems to be enjoying his time on the links.
I’m sure with the golf, he is feeling more like he is having a vacation than I am. “I can’t have any fun.” Oops, that was a little pity party. I figured I’m entitled since he is out playing golf right now.
4th of July Weekend
Some friends of ours came down to Arizona for the long weekend. They didn’t stay with us to be safe and we socially distanced when we were together for meals and hanging out. In addition to some drives, we visited some model homes at a community in North Scottsdale. We have been there before but it seemed like an entertaining and safe thing to do with our friends.
Besides that, we spent our time catching up and hanging out at nice restaurants.
Fireworks are one of my favorite things and we saw plenty. There is a Fairmont Resort nearby that has been doing fireworks every Saturday night. We can see the fireworks from our parking lot, which is a doable distance for me to travel. They even did fireworks on July 2nd, 3rd, and 4th. But just to make the 4th special, I made a reservation at Bourbon Steak (Michael Mina). This restaurant happens to be at the Fairmont so we could see the fireworks much better. That turned out to be true and I was even able to sit down to watch them. We started our dinner at about 7:30, took a break for fireworks at 9:00 and then finished our dinner all on the same patio. We had an awesome meal with entertainment that I think will be very memorable.
Scottsdale Today
In this era of Covid-19, most of the museums and attractions here are closed. So, between that and my crutches, I don’t really have any places to recommend should you decide to visit this part of Arizona. I can tell you there is an abundance of great restaurants in this area. But, we have only been able to try a small number. So if you like the heat (which hasn’t been terrible), the desert landscapes, and good food I would really recommend a visit to Scottsdale.
