Since we’ve been together, and especially since we’ve been on the road, Randy has been content for me to be his social director.  He frequently doesn’t bother with what’s next on our schedule until he needs to know.  He reserves the right to stay home if there are too many museums and will occasionally object. (His most recent objection was the Phoenix Renaissance Fair but I was lukewarm so it didn’t matter.) I generally know the types of things he enjoys.  I also know to leave adequate down time.

He also wants time for the occasional golf game.  Especially if it involves our nephew Sean,  brother Tim and Sean’s brother-in-law Kyle.

Entertainment is big on this social director’s priority list!  Vast entertainment options are part of why we are loving Mesa.

We began with Rhythm of the Dance, a Celtic style troupe from Ireland. The dancing was great but we enjoyed the music and varied instruments just as much.  This photograph is from their website because our camera just didn’t take good low light pictures. It also had another dust spot and wasn’t opening and closing well. A camera just doesn’t last in our lifestyle. It is always in my pocket or purse and gets pulled in and out and knocked around.  I’m hard on them but if we’re going to have pictures for the blog that is just the way it is.   So, we bought an updated model at Costco. Randy read the manual and I need to!

We were interested in how the new model would perform in low-light. We took pictures at the LeeAnn Rimes concert at the RV Resort next door. The pictures were marginal but we found two that were usable.  The concert was better than the pictures! LeeAnn Rimes has a beautiful, powerful voice and sings a variety of music genre. Like many vocal artists, she has re-worked the songs from way back and that was bittersweet.

Because the concert was at the next resort over, we thought we’d save ourselves parking issues and walk. That worked well going at 7:00. Coming home we were four minutes late to access the back gate and had to walk a mile plus to get back around to our resort’s front gate.   The blocks are big here!

We enjoy western dinner theaters and visited Rockin’R Ranch for their version. This is a family operation and daughter Chelsea was great pre-dinner entertainment. Family dog Montana has apparently heard the show too many times and just wanted to go outside.

We enjoyed another family of entertainers – The Duttons. They were finalists on Season 2 of America’s Got Talent.  Parents, siblings, spouses and grandchildren split their year between theaters in Branson and Mesa.  The multi-generational show is good wholesome fun.

The youngest Dutton’s have their own part of the show.  They split their school years between Branson and Mesa Public Schools.

Eating can also be entertainment! We look for food tours as we travel and enjoyed the Arizona Food Tour in Scottsdale.

We had a rainy day for our food tour.  The yellow and green bikes in the picture are easy pick up and rental all over Scottsdale.

Food tours usually provide some local history.  We began at the Old Adobe, Mission,  the oldest church in Scottsdale.  It began as Our Lady of Perpetual Help Catholic Church in 1933.

The city that became Scottsdale was developed on land owned by former Civil War Army Chaplain Winfield Scott.  Arriving in 1888, he called his community Orangedale. It was eventually renamed for him (Scottsdale) but also had the moniker “The West’s Most Western Town.”

Back to the food!  We started with a Mexican sampling at The Mission Restaurant!

We had a lesson and delicious pairings at Outrageous Olive Oils and Vinegars.

Our soup and local beer at Malee’s Thai Bistro were delicious.

We had Stetson salad at Cowboy Caio! It was delicious, unique, and we got the recipe!

We enjoyed sitting and chatting with different couples on our tour.

We finished the tour with three small cookies at SuperChunk Bakery.  I ate the first one before I remembered to take a picture!

Because it was a rainy day we utilized the free Scottsdale Trolley on our tour.

We aren’t done being entertained yet.  There will likely be more in future chapters of Loving Mesa.