Small Town Saturday Night......

David & I headed off for an evening sans kids. One of his co-worker's was having his comedy debut in Carefree, AZ before the Hiroshima concert (the band was great). David saw them back in Los Angeles at Madame Wong's in the early 1980's??? Yes, you read that right, it says the early 1980's when I was just a BABY!

So, we leave the house about 5:30 pm and head our way to Carefree which is about 50 miles from our house. We take the scenic SR51 route because the North 101 was closed. It didn't take too long and I was able to show David just how far I used to drive after teaching at PVCC in the evening after my "regular" job.

We turned off of the 101 onto Scottsdale Road and headed north. OMG, what the hell happened? The place is all built up! I mean, Rawhide is only about 3 miles off of the 101. I remember when I moved to Phoenix in 1995 from Fargo, ND (yes, Fargo) and that place was in the middle of nowhere. The reason I know this? My alternator died at Cave Creek & Pinnacle Peak road at about 10 pm one night and there was nothing there but a mobile home park.

Driving up to Carefree was a trip down memory lane. My first boss in Phoenix lived in the Carriage Trails neighborhood and I could not find the place in the dark for love or money one night. I was staying with them (yeah, no pressure living with the boss) after I moved here until I found a place to live. We also stopped by an old co-worker's place in Carefree. Wow, I remember when Carefree seemed the end of the earth in Phoenix! Even with all the building, their zoning laws have kept even Target signs from being big and bright. Instead, it is desert colored and low to the ground.

We got to the venue and decided to have dinner at the hotel nearby. Hmmm...the manager tells us the restaurant is full even though the tables are maybe 1/2 full so we headed back into town and ended up eating at Saba's Mediterranean Restaurant. Oh my goodness did we smell like GARLIC CLOVES this morning. I think it was the Hummus. We had yummy hummus, David had a lamb shank in a yummy red wine sauce and I had baked prawns in a tomato feta sauce. We both had salad's with the house dressing which was a mustard vinegar type with fennel. Mighty tasty.

Here we are at dinner.


Did you know there was a yarn shop in Carefree???? Neither did I. David was mighty happy the place was closed. Typical summer Carefree hours, 10-4 Tuesday through Saturday.




















Here is our friend, Jim Girodo, doing his comedy sketch. Yes, that is a photo of him and "Big Pussy" from the Soprano's television show.

The photo below is a group of guys that came around for Jim's debut and to see the band. Jim was really good! I could just see all the stuff he talked about in my head! I hope this is the start of a budding career. Rodney Dangerfield didn't get going until in his late 50's so there is loads of time for Jim.

Left to Right:

Steve (a friend of Jim's), Kerry Dunn who was part of the group that brought the Super Bowl to Arizona, is very connected in the music business and an all around empresario (he also put David back in touch with David Cassidy about 5 years ago), Jim Girodo (new Comedian and great media guy), Al Molina of Molina Fine Jewelry,his son Austin and Reed Glick (a partner of Kerry Dunn, overall empresario, Celebrity Theater and Rage in the Cage).

Al Molina, who we run into at a lot of charity black tie do's, is always after David to come help him raise his profits over at the store. Al was telling me that diamond's are an investment. I looked at him and said, "I love jewelry, a lot, but I come from a working class upbringing and I refuse to go into debt for a diamond!" Al countered that there are many people that just budget for such expenses, just like a retirement plan. OK....he apparently runs with a higher tax bracket crowd than we do! He spends the summers at his villa in Italy!