Reunion of Cousins in Scottsdale AZ

"The Friesian Fillies"

FEB 3-6, 2022

DAY 1

Girl's trips are the best....especially if you get to reunite with your favorite cousins. Left to right is me, Christina, Anita, Rena & Ada. Elly had planned to be here with us, but couldn't make it this time. 

And how about this for accommodations?

Winery Suites

Three of us stayed in the Viognier Suite, and two in the Toscano studio next door. We had a full kitchen and lots of room inside and outside for gathering. The winery Suites is a 10 minute walk from downtown. They were so quiet and the rooms were great with comfy king beds :) 

After settling in on Thursday we headed downtown for dinner at Olive & Ivy. We had a great bottle of wine and delicious meals. Very popular place, highly recommend. 

C H E E R S   TO YOU

A N D   T O  Y O U 

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DAY 2

Friday was a full day, starting with a nice easy morning in the suite.

 Anita & Christina brought a great assortment of morning treats, coffee & tea. 

It was the perfect way to start our day and enjoy conversations in our pj's :) 

We had some fun browsing the downtown shops and trying on hats and sifting through their

 T-shirts. There's a good mix of Western and American Indian apparel and souvenirs in downtown Scottsdale. 

Traditional Hat Pose 

Conversation Piece (?)

Cute Alleys everywhere

We found a great corner restaurant towards the end of the downtown, with hopes of doing some wine tasting by the name Grape Vine...haha, got that wrong. We settled for cocktails and a hearty Grande Nacho plate. 
 

Beautiful landscapes everywhere 

The Valley Ho 

The Valley Ho Hotel is just a short walk and for our use with the suites.

A gorgeous hotel with a unique modern and mid-century design. 

🍸 Yes! we sat poolside order drinks and soaked up the sun for awhile. 

In the afternoon we took a tour of the Desert Botanical Gardens. Just 10 minutes away from downtown Scottsdale yet worlds apart.

 It's an easy stroll of 5 different loops of cactus, butterfly gardens and 

sculptures nestled throughout the gardens. 

Who knew there so many different cacti? 

Chihuly glass sculpture amid the cacti

The garden is a photographer's dream with it's colorful backgrounds.

Group selfie :) 

Cornucopia Chihuly Sculptured was the main attraction.
Dale Chihuly, Summer Sun Collection

🍴Dinner tonight at Kelly's at Southbridge was more casual and just what we needed after our full day. Another great meal together followed by a nice evening walk back to our room. 

The cleanest downtown ever! 

Horse Sculpture downtown


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DAY 3

   We had hopes of a quaint Farmer's Market just a couple blocks away, bringing back some fresh goodies, and enjoying the gorgeous warm winter day. 

🤠But, alas it was Western Days in downtown Scottsdale and there were parades to be seen, artworks of local artisans, the Western Museum and beer gardens to hit! haha

Cowboys

HAHA....never miss a photo booth.

Western Parade was very nice.

Horsehair pottery

The Museum had lots of interesting items.

Interesting 3D wall art in the Western Museum

*** back to the rooms***

🍷Our afternoon was spent chatting and sipping outside on our front grassy patio with a good bottle of Oregon Pinot from  The Four Graces curtesy of Anita. 

Beautiful afternoon with a little warm breeze. Perfect for wine on the patio.

Later in the evening we played a game of Heads Up! 🤣so fun

Well kept landscape at the Winery Suites. Conveniently located is the Cornish Pasty Cafe just across the road. It's the first time for a pasty for most of us. We ate here a couple times.

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DAY 4

Anita and Christina started their drive home Sunday morning. While Rena, Ada & I hung out until our flights in the afternoon. We took another stroll around downtown followed by a visit to the RV resort were Jim & Rena reside during the winter months. We 'get' why they love it here.   

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Valle del Oro, Mesa AZ

Cheers Scottsdale, until next time. 

Tennessee

   Our daughter, Danielle, recently moved to Nashville. We spent a week at the end of April with her and traveled to see other family nearby. What an adventure it was!

DAY 1: SUNDAY....LANDED IN NASHVILLE AROUND 9PM

   

Danielle met us at our Airbnb, that we rented near her home. She had local beers and t-shirts laid out for us, along with groceries that I requested for our stay.                                She's quite the hostess :) 

Well, no time to waste~!!! We head out for dinner and drinks (which turned into shots) at The Red Door Saloon. Followed by a cruise down the wild side of Nashville: Broadway Street. 

DAY 2: MONDAY....we hit the ground running..... busy day.

      Visit Danielle's place first. She has such a cute Boho vintage Vibe going on. 

Breakfast at the Frothy Monkey in the nearby community of 12 South was a great start to our day. This was followed by a 3.2 mile walk around Radnor Lake. Honestly, felt so good to do this walk. 

 This is south of Nashville, close to Brentwood, TN.

I loved this place....would do it again and try to take some of the side trails. 

On our way back to Nashville Danny mentioned he 

wanted to check out a few local vintage guitar stores. 

Carter Vintage Guitars

Carter Guitars is close to Music Row, in what they call "The Gulch" community. 

Back to our places and meet up in an hour for another great meal:

Danielle's friend suggested the Fable Lounge...said it would be 'classy' for us. 

This is in West Nashville by Centennial Park, near the Vanderbilt Stadium.

It was so classy.....highly recommend this place. We started outdoors with a charcuterie board, and bottle of wine. Moved indoors for a nice dinner, with a 2nd bottle of wine..... then back out on patio with the fire pits for cigar (Danny) and more wine :) 

They have a full bar, delicious menu, excellent wines and a cigar humidor. Primo! 

                       28 year old                       
 

   vs: 58 year old

long day....but don't stop me now! :)  

Checked out the Local Bar NA next door for a nightcap and some live music. The band was great....The Sam Banks and Will Jones Band, if you care to look 'em up. 

Fable Lounge

the Local Bar, Nashville

DAY 3: TUESDAY

     Moving slow this morning making our way to see family in Seymour, near Knoxville. 

Derek met us at Danny's sister, Melanie's home, where we had great conversions about family, old times and new adventures. Enjoyed a great local BBQ dinner, then moved on to the front porch for some music by Dani and Derek. Cousins harmonizing and sharing their love of music was a real treat. 

DAY 4: WEDNESDAY 

   Met up with Danny's brother in law, Larry and Carol for lunch and then drove to a lookout spot of the Smokey's Mts. 

Sipping on some blackberry Wine from Larry. 

Amazing views of the Smokey Mts from Cades Cove.

Then back to Nashville and had a dinner on our own, at Barcelona Bar, giving Danielle a little break: lol.

And then she surprises us by picking up the tab!!!! What a sweetheart... did not expect that.

We had dinner Tapa style, where you get small plates and just sort of nibble your way through dinner, rather than getting served a large plate of food. I really like this way of eating. 

A good Pinot

Barcelona Wine Bar

DAY 5: THURSDAY, another very full day.  It was a rainy day, so we changed our plans a bit. We had wanted to go to the Arington Winery, but that'll wait until next time. 

     

 Nashville Jam Co. for breakfast close to Music Row was good relaxing start to our day. 

Danielle has to go to work today, so we make plans of our own ;) 

Moonshine Harley Davidson shop in Franklin, TN. to get some memorable and a few gifts from our trip. We also end up speaking with the 'greeter' of the store and she's the mother of Julia Michaels, country and pop singer/songwriter. She was very sweet and we enjoyed a good talk about the music industry and being the parent of an artist. They're also from CA. moving here for her career. Small world. Danielle was bummed she missed out on meeting her. Fan of Julia

   

Me, planning and maybe 'orchestrating' our 

next move sitting outside in the rain while Danny enjoys a stogy. 

 LOL 

  

Back to Nashville; I take a quick stop in  Draper James, Reese Witherspoon's store, bought a few trinkets to take home. It is located in the busy area of 12 South. She has good quality clothing and lots of southern charm and memorabilia like bags and t-shirts. 

After this we met up with a high school classmate, Dave Furrer at the Edley BBQ who invited us for drinks. Where he and Danny found a common interest of dirt bikes and reminisced of the good ole days of motocross racing. 

RH Cafe

     My choice for being spoiled. What a fabulous place. But, I'll warn you, it's not cheap, even if you don't buy furniture ....haha 

They encourage you to walk all through the showroom after dinner. This is the upper deck with the outdoor furniture. Oooolala.

Day 6: FRIDAY

      I took a walk for coffee by myself to the Frothy Monkey in 12 South, where we're becoming regulars...haha. 

      The walk is easy and surrounded by lush green lawns and big trees all along the way. There's one signal to cross right by the rental, but nothing too busy. 

Danielle wanted to show us the Parthenon Art Museum. 

It was very cool, with some good history, and much needed for a slower paced day. 

Athena 

   We picked the other Red Door Saloon on the east side for a late lunch. 

This community is called East Nashville

Danielle has plans for tonight, so we enjoyed relaxing evening in with a little music and tv. 

Also, preparing for leaving for home the next day :(

I'll mention our Airbnb which I booked through True Avenue (Booking.com). It was intended to sleep  

4-6 people, but the location and price was too ideal to pass it up for just the 2 of us. I liked that it was in a quiet residential neighborhood, walking distance to food and Danielle. 

See our Airbnb here.

Caught the sunset driving back from Danielle's home. 

DAY 7: SATURDAY.

     Getting ready to head home today, but first we need to ship out Danny's new guitar at the UPS store....of yah, he found a vintage Gibson Explorer. 

  Breakfast: We drove by this place and it turned out to be great. We have the best luck.

 

  This community is Berry Hill. 

      

 The Big Machine

Great breakfast, the perfect Bloody and live music all day. 

Indoor and outdoor dining. 

Thank you Nashville you've been good to us. 

We love the TN southern charm, and thankful Danielle is finding a good home here. 

I would encourage visitors to stay off the main downtown areas

 and visit the small surrounding communities like we did.

 I'm starting my list for our next visit to TN.