Well…it’s Neil and Connie’s 48th wedding anniversary today and they just got back yesterday from a quick trip out to Scottsdale AZ for a Saint-Saëns Symphony #3 Organ concert by the Scottsdale Philharmonic…and while they were there they went ahead and had their anniversary dinner at one of the restaurants at the Fairmont resort there in Scottsdale.

Last Friday they went to down to the Barbara B Mann auditorium for an Air Supply concert…they were one of her favorite bands back in college days and thereafter. She really liked it…for Neil it was mostly noise but he at least recognized the tune for 2 or 3 songs they played…but it was way louder than he would have preferred. So loud in fact that he turned his hearing aids down to zero and it was still too loud.

They were then off early Saturday morning to the airport here in Fort Myers for a flight first to Charlotte NC and then another 5 hours to the airport in Phoenix…Scottsdale is attached to the north side of Phoenix. Terrible to have to go to Charlotte from FL before heading west…but that’s the American southeast hub so it is what it is. Their original plan was to hit up this oyster house and bar for dinner…but by the time they got to their hotel they were wiped out so skipped it and just went to bed.

Sunday was Mass at a local church and then lunch at In and Out…they had heard that they were supposed to be the epitome of burgers. I gotta tell ya…they were just ok, not really anything to write home about and their fries definitely don’t match up with the ones from the Golden Arches.Then if was off to the concert which was at a local Lutheran church. Here are a shot of the organ pipes and then the orchestra seating section and organ console to it’s right from our seats in the front row of the VIP section (it cost an extra 10 bucks per ticket to be a VIP and since Neil’s ticket was free as a veteran and Connie’s was just $15…they figured another 20 bucks was worth it after flying all the way there for the event. The pipes were maybe 30 feet from their seat and there are more behind the cross to the left of the ones you can see and the louvers to the right side.

They particularly chose their seats so they could watch the organist (who was the organist at the Lutheran church) do his thing.

The concert opened with a double concerto for trumpets, organ, and harpsichord…they weren’t familiar with the Trumpet Concerto for Two Trumpets by Vivaldi it is played on soprano trumpets which like about half size replicas of a normal sized instrument…quite excellent. Next up…the Academic Festival Overture by Brahms…it was written by him for a university who was awarding him an honorary degree. The man didn’t think much of academia so the theme in the piece was borrowed from the tune of a collegiate drinking song at the time…so joke on the university I guess. That was followed by Les Preludes by Liszt…they’re familiar with both of those pieces and enjoyed the performance. Last up before intermission was an aria by a local mezzo-soprano from the opera Samson and Delilah by Saint-Saëns.

Following intermission we got into the highlight of the afternoon…the Organ Symphony…which was again spectacular. There were a few baubles in the French Horn section on some of their higher notes…which makes them appreciate even more the quality of the horn section at our local Sarasota Orchestra…it is the hardest instrument to play well of any of the woodwind instruments. You did know it is considered a woodwind and not a brass instrument despite having a mouthpiece like other brass instruments…right? Yep…dunno why but it falls into the woodwind category. The organist opened up the louvers on the right side of the pipes for all of the loud sections and while it wasn’t the most powerful organ they’ve ever heard…it well filled the church and the sound was quite excellent. It would have been slightly better sounding if they were a few rows back but they decided the opportunity to watch the organist do his thing was worth it. The entire concert was live streamed so there were large screen videos as you can see from the orchestra shot above.

They had reservations at Maggianos after the concert…so they sat at the bar, split a bottle of wine and an order of stuffed mushrooms and then split one of their signature butter cakes for dessert…it is one of the better desserts they have ever had at a restaurant.

Monday they met Michael…one of Neil’s photo Internet forum friends who lives in the area…for a dawn photo shoot at the Riparian Preserve at Gilbert Ponds and spent a very pleasant couple of hours with the birds. Photos from the morning will be posted later once Neil processes them. They then headed to Old Town for a late breakfast/early lunch since their anniversary dinner was scheduled for 1800. Heading a couple miles north from their hotel then turned into the Fairmont Princess Resort and it was pretty spectacularly lit…all of the Christmas lights were up and turned on. After parking they headed inside looking for the La Hacienda Mexican restaurant which turned out to be several buildings back into the complex but they eventually figured out where it was located and after checking in for their reservation moved to their far preferred seats at the bar for dinner. They ordered a bottle of wine to split and started viewing the menu…which included well over 100 different tequila brands and types at prices ranging from $15 to well over $400 per shot. Connie noticed the caramel flan on the menu for dessert and they immediately decided to eat light. They split an order of Lobster Tacos and a basket of chips and salsa before ordering the flan. Flan is essentially a soft egg custard flavored with vanilla and baked in a small dish has caramel on the bottom…then the dish is inverted onto the plate so that the caramel runs al over. It was then topped with a combination of whipped cream, marscapone, and sugar so you end up with a thicker than whipped cream topping and then topped with some crunchy stuff with pepita seeds, toasted oats, and some other goodies they could not identify and a scoop of strawberries on the other side. They were glad they only ordered one as it was huge and excellent. Following that they headed back to the hotel. Here are a couple of shots of the decorations inside the resort.

Tuesday morning their flight out left at 0600 which means get to the airport at 0400 which means set the alarm for 0300 to pack the last couple of items, drive down, get gas for the rental car, turn the car in, and schlep seemingly miles through the airport to their gate. Leaving on time they arrived in Dallas-Fort Worth early for a bit over an hour layover than another 3 hours back home. The remnants of Hurricane Sara out in the Gulf south of Louisiana rerouted their flight a bit…instead of heading southeast straight from Dallas they went east until over central Mississippi and then turned south over the gulf back home.

They were pretty burned out by the time they got back to the house…so Neil just whipped up some potato hash topped with eggs for dinner and they were in bed early.

Cyas.