The Feet & Forks do Phoenix

The Feet & Forks had our annual Southwest get-together last week and spent four jam-packed days in Phoenix. What a colorful town! We had our first meal at Barrio Queen, above. Mexican food, of course.

Palms everywhere.

One day we wandered around looking for colorful districts, which is where we found this mural.

That same day we ate at a restaurant called Match that had an adjoining gallery area, above ...

... and some mighty tasty sweet potato fries (our go-to side dish).

After lunch we found a cute little neighborhood of hundred-year-old homes, each one unique in style and color and with mature trees.

Because it was chilly, we spent a lot of time inside museums. Here I am with Nancy in front of a butterfly installation at the Phoenix Art Museum. Below is a dress by Marimekko from 1972 in a fashion exhibit at the museum.

We took a tour of the Wrigley Mansion, which was dripping with opulence and displays of wealth. It's perched high on a hill with spectacular views of the city. It was built as a part-time home for the Wrigley (chewing gum) family, who only used it a few weeks out of the year. Above is the entrance rotunda and below is me in a room with chairs that match my top. Every room had sparkling unique light fixtures. 

 

Before we left, we had drinks in one of the bar areas overlooking the city.

One night we went to an exhibit called Light Bloom at the Desert Botanical Gardens. It featured geometric installations with intricate cut outs that cast multicolored shadows over the garden as the sunlight faded. It was mesmerizing.

My favorite part of the trip was the Musical Instrument Museum, which is about so much more than just instruments. It's about the live music, the performers, the instruments, the costumes and the culture surrounding music from around the world. 

I went back several times to watch Bob Marley perform with the Wailers because he's one of my favorites. Visitors are given headphones that automatically pick up music from the exhibits you are standing by, so you can wander from country music to reggae to jazz to rock without having to adjust anything.

Above is a Native American powwow and below is a mask used in a Buddhist dance by the Mongol people.

MIM's founder, Bob Ulrich (then CEO of Target), was inspired to develop a new kind of museum that would focus on the kind of instruments played every day by people around the world.

The beaded piece above is part of a drum apron for a Santeria goddess performance and was made by an artist from L.A. Below is an intricate textile piece for a Yoruba masquerade in Nigeria.

While I couldn't find a display of my favorite band -- the Grateful Dead, who I've been listening to for 50 years -- I did find a Grateful Dead lunch box in the gift shop! I bought it for Juniper because I'm grooming her to be a Deadhead.

Prince's purple piano was also there, which leads to my purple and red pajamas that I put on so I could dive into this nine-layer chocolate cake in cozy comfort. Yes, I did share it -- a little -- with Nancy, Joyce and Kandi while we played cards on our last night.

On the drive back to Tucson, I spotted this doorway in the little town of Florence where we stopped for a quilt store and lunch. I love the soft aqua wall color.

Have a colorful day