Monday, September 3, 2007

Weekend in Arizona: Scottsdale Resort & Spa

I'm spending the holiday weekend in Scottsdale, Arizona, just outside of Phoenix. I'm staying at The Westin Kierland Resort & Spa, on lush grounds and a beautiful golf course. Scottsdale's weather is nearly identical to Palm Springs, so the 110 degree temperatures didn't bother me a bit.

Above left: The hotel driveway is lined with date palm trees, which look so majestic & above right: the hotel has very well manicured gardens with plants perfectly lined up in rows as far as the eye can see.

Above: Since we're in the Sonora desert, cactus are everywhere. These cactus gardens in front of the hotel were really cool, especially this one above right.

Above: The hotel has many quiet garden areas to sit and enjoy the arid climate over a glass of iced tea.

Above left: The "river pool" was great for kids...& above right: The adult pool was very posh, complete with private cabanas; one was reserved for The Palm Springs Savant, of course.

Above left: this is actually a cactus sculpture, made out of metal, & above right: I call this "the pagan statue", located just outside the "Agave Spa"

Above: Even tho I am not a golfer, I went golfing on Sunday. The course was beautiful, I really enjoyed it.
Events of the Evening...

Pre-Dinner Cocktails: Above left: I enjoyed a martini in the cocktail lounge before dinner, & above right: the "library" is a terrific place to curl up with a book, or a glass of wine. I enjoyed meeting new people within the Padres organization and chatting about the baseball playoffs.

Dinner: Above left: We had dinner at a hip restaurant in the hotel called "Deseo", where the entrance had these glowing candles along the hallway. Above right: They served the most wonderful desserts: Key Lime Pie, individual Creme Brulees, Cranberry-Pecan Pie, Strawberry Shortcake, and Deep Fried Bananas with chocolate fudge sauce.

After Dinner Nightcap: above: I stopped into the "Waltz and Weiser Saloon", which was supposed to look like an old pub, but it didn't. However the pool table was very cool.

Before I retired for the evening: above: I found this cozy area outside with the fire pit. I sat down with a glass of wine and gazed at the star filled desert sky. It was a beautiful evening, a perfect end to a wonderful day.

Monday as a guest of the San Diego Padres, I'll be attending an important baseball game: the Padres take on the Arizona Diamondbacks. I'll be sure to report on the experience tomorrow. Thanks for reading today!
-Rick Rockhill

10 comments:

Mone said...

Hey Rick, I love the pictures and I can only dream about 100 degrees weather. Over here iis only in the sixties. Have fun at the game.

A Lewis said...

Boo hoo. Can I come next time? I especially like the tantalizing tidbit about the red wine and gazing at the night sky.

Empress Bee (of the high sea) said...

gosh i haven't been to scottsdale since the 70's! and i loved it then... have fun at the ballgame rick!

smiles, bee

SIMON said...

Terrific pictures Rick!

Desert Songbird said...

Sorry, Rick, but I gotta say it - GO DIAMONDBACKS!

Tea said...

Looks like you had a wonderful time there Rick. Quite a beautiful looking place! Love the photo on your other post of you and Owen and Shimi :)

tea
xo

Alekx said...

Nothing is more beautiful then a star filled desert sky in the Arizona desert.

I lived across the street from Scottsdale. No really. One side of the street was Phoenix the other was Scottsdale.

Gotta love city boundries

GO DIAMONDBACKS

Sunshine said...

It must be baseball weekend!!

My inlaws have a place in Scottsdale where they go into snowbird status all winter, so I'm quite familiar with it as we've been going for many years now. There is no shortage of things to do, outdoor fun (I'm a bigger fan of heat than cold), and some fantastic restaurants. Have the lobster salad at Bloom, I still dream about that damn salad. SOOOOO good.

CRUSTY MOM-E said...

those candles were beautiful-were they scented as well? I love the colors..
ah...to be able to travel like that...sounds blissful.

Whoops, what's that smell? Back to reality and poopie diapers.
Always,
Crusty~

Canadian flake said...

wonderful pics...as always.

Thanks so much for sharing. Hope you had a great time.

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