diners, drive-ins and dives #14 & #15... the penguin and cabo fish taco

We recently returned from North Carolina where the grandkids and their parents live. This trip we all went to Charlotte, NC (a wonderful city I'm looking forward to visiting again!) for the weekend- and tried two of Guy Fieri's Diners, Drive-Ins and Dives: a little burger place called The Penguin (#14) and a fresh cantina called Cabo Fish Tacos (#15). DDD places are always an adventure- you never know what you're going to get (and I mean that in the best possible way!). Sometimes the places look like real dives on the outside, someplace I probably wouldn't go on my own. Other times they look fairly upscale. What I've learned in our quest to eat at as many DDD places as we can is that looks can be deceiving... but sometimes they're not.

We arrived at The Penguin about 1:00-ish and waited at least 45 minutes for a table. We were told there is often a much longer line. The outside is fairly nondescript with a diner-like appearance. The interior carries on the diner theme with a jukebox (or "juice box" as the little kids called it!) and some neon signs- but the wooden booths and tables stand in stark contrast. We tried the fried pickles (a DDD item) which were pretty good although a tad greasy. Finally our burgers arrived. They were tasty but not spectacular. Perhaps we were expecting more because of the wait... but we all agreed we probably wouldn't wait 45 minutes there again. After returning home, I checked restaurant reviews and learned that the old management (that was featured on Diners, Drive-Ins and Dives) sold The Penguin and opened a new place a few miles away where the food and service is outstanding. Perhaps we'll try it on a future trip!

There is a bench for waiting customers to use; we got to sit on it five minutes before our name was called!

Cabo Fish Taco was a different experience altogether. It is located in a cute revitalized area of downtown that has an urban/college feel to it. Our server was attentive and didn't seem to mind the large group with four kids. The guacamole and salsa were very good; but the tavarua (pronounced tav-a-roo) tuna tacos were to die for! The menu description- "Blackened lemon-rubbed tuna in a kiwi-pineapple fajita sauce, stuffed with lettuce, tomato, mixed cheeses and topped with our honey-wasabi sauce..." - doesn't quite do them justice. Absolutely, hands down, the best fish taco I've ever had!

It had been a cold, rainy day and as night fell, the rain turned to snow. Our table was in the little alcove to the left of the door and we watched the snow fall as we ate and talked and laughed!

spring??

According to Punxsutawney Phil, the world-famous groundhog weather prognosticator, we should have six more weeks of winter this year... until March 15th. Apparently Arizona did not get the memo.

The peach tree in the backyard has leafed out and blossomed. I can hardly wait for sweet peaches this summer!

The birds spend most of the day sweetly singing in the trees.

While I am enjoying the spring weather with temperatures in the mid-70's, I hope that spring arriving in February does not mean the long, hot days of summer will also be early!

There is a time for everything, and a season for every activity under heaven.

Ecclesiastes 3:1

80/100... in the pits- barbecue, that is

There is a barbecue style to fit every taste preference. Some like the vinegar-y tang of Carolina barbecue while others favor the spicy bite of Texas barbecue or the dry barbecue of Memphis. We recently went to Thee Pitts Again, (#80) one of Guy Fieri's Diners, Drive-Ins and Dives for some award-winning barbecue.

Located in what once was a retro-style 50's diner in Glendale, Arizona, Thee Pitts Again looks like nothing special from the outside but once you open the double doors and step inside, the spicy sweet aroma of slow-cooked barbecue greets you like an old friend.

We tried the fried pickles as an appetizer. We have enjoyed fried pickles in numerous places prepared in a variety of ways... but I think these are in the top three we have eaten.

The dill pickle spears were quartered length-wise and then halved before breading and frying. The coating was light and crispy yielding maximum taste and crunch... in a word, scrumptious!!

I tried the pulled pork dinner with cole slaw, bbq beans and cornbread with honey butter. Everything is made in-house including their signature barbecue sauce. The pork was tender and juicy and served with nothing on it. Adding some of their barbecue sauce spiced it up making every bite a flavor party in my mouth. The slaw was so-so but the cornbread and honey butter were delicious- and the perfect accent to barbecue. Richard had a half slab of pork ribs- also very tender with the meat falling off the bone. They are my favorite restaurant ribs.

Party Time!!

Thee Pitts Again has won over 300 awards across the U.S.  for their barbecue and they display some of them in the restaurant. We definitely thought our meal was award-winning!

Thumb Up or Down: Up!!

Miles Round-Trip: 80.8 miles

Miles To Date: 3175.6 miles

Percentage of List Completed: 32%

Date of This Trip: February 11, 2012

true love... an everlasting legacy

Since Christmas we have been inundated with emails and commercials from Hallmark, florists, jewelers and chocolate companies reminding us to "show you care" or "let your love shine." Cut out Cupids and red hearts have adorned every retail establishment I've been in this year. Now that all the commercial hype for Valentine's Day and love is over, I thought I'd share what I think real love is.

My sister-in-law, Karen Shaw, was a great example of not just talking the talk about love but walking the walk every day. She was out-going with a quick sense of humor and showed love to everyone she met by being genuinely interested in them. If you needed help, she helped. If you needed an encouraging word, she had one- or more likely, several! And while she loved everyone, she especially loved Jesus Christ.

In 1969, Karen and her husband, Dan, felt God calling them to be Bible translators to an unreached people group. They and their infant son soon moved into a village with the Samo people in Papua New Guinea (PNG). Their love for these people was evident in the way they spoke about them when they wrote home, served them and helped them. Karen, a teacher by profession, learned "jungle skills" from the women and children as she worked hard to learn their language. The next step was giving and teaching the Samo a written language so they could read the Bible she and Dan were translating. Karen taught the women basic nutrition and health topics. She read children's books to the children, translating as she read. Their family grew as two more sons were born there.

They stayed in PNG with the Samo for 12 years coming back to the US only every three or four years.  Relationships with the Samo people deepened as they lived their lives side-by-side. In late 1981, they moved back to the US and Karen began teaching sixth grade at Pasadena Christian School. Her students loved her. Often when I was visiting, we would see one of her former students when we were out. They always stopped to tell her what they were doing and how she had made a difference in their life.

Though the Samo were half a world away in an age without Internet, they were not forgotten. Letters (you know, the kind in an envelope with a stamp) went back and forth and were read to their Samo friends by other missionaries. Karen and Dan prayed fervently for the Samo- and they for Karen and Dan. Through Dan's work (he's a professor at Fuller Seminary), he went back to PNG somewhat often; Karen accompanied him a few times. Relationships that were birthed years before were strengthened.

Life went on. And then, suddenly, in 2005, Karen died following a complication from surgery. As Christians, we know we will see her again in Heaven one day and take great comfort in that. The amazing thing was that even after her death, her love for people continued to shine.

The children and teachers at Pasadena Christian School wanted to honor Karen in a way that demonstrated her love for people and the value she placed on education. Over the course of several years, they collected books- LOTS of books- to send to the Samo village to start the Karen Shaw Memorial Library at Honinabi Community School. They also raised funds to provide two laptop computers for the library as well as solar panels and the electrical equipment for lighting and charging the computer batteries.

Of course, the materials were just one aspect of this project. Logistics was another. Christian Radio & Mission Fellowship technicians lent their expertise in figuring out the techie aspect of providing electrical power and then sent a young PNG electrician to put everything together. Mission Aviation Fellowship also lent a hand providing planes, pilots and ground staff necessary to run a "jungle airline" as they transported people, equipment and provisions in and out of the jungle.

And finally, almost six years after Karen's death, the long-awaited project came to fruition. Dan had remarried and he and his wife, Georgia (who was herself an instrumental person in this endeavor- but that's another blog post!), took four large crates of books to the jungle of Papua New Guinea and work began on the library.

Bookshelves were built...

... and everyone helped!

The village leaders and teachers learned (with Georgia as their teacher) how to use a computer, send and receive email and use the Internet.

At last, the big day arrived. The village gathered to receive the books and dedicate the Karen Shaw Memorial Library. 

Some wore ceremonial garb to this important event.

The books and computers were presented to the Samo.

And the Karen Shaw Memorial Library was dedicated.

Because Karen loved people... from a village of people in a remote part of the world she at first had nothing in common with except the love of Jesus... to school children she taught... to others involved in mission organizations... a school library in the jungle became a reality enabling many Samo children to expand their understanding of the world and recognize the value of God's Word. What a legacy of love!

"A new command I give you: Love one another. As I have loved you, so you must love one another. By this all men will know that you are my disciples, if you love one another." 

Jesus in John 13:34-35

95 and 65/100... home sweet home

I like looking at other people's homes. Not "look" as in "snoop in your medicine cabinet or closet"- but look at the decor, the style and at what the house reveals about the its owner. Usually homes that no longer have people living in them (and are not being resold or torn down) are either open for public tours or are in the process of being restored. I recently looked at two in the Phoenix area that are none of the above- and both were on my "100 Things in Arizona" list.

The oldest house in Phoenix (really, the entire valley) is located just south of downtown Phoenix. The Duppa House (#95) was built around 1870 making it just over 140 years old. After spending time on the East Coast where a building isn't considered "old" until it's at least 200 years old and where many homes and churches are over 350 years old, a house that is a mere 140 years old sounds like a somewhat new structure.

115 W. Sherman  Phoenix, Arizona- aka the Duppa House

At first glance it looks like a mud hut... and at second and third glances, too... and not at all like the really old, beautiful brick homes we saw on the East Coast. But the longer we were there, walking around the outside of the house, peering through the chain-link fence to get a better look, the more I began to appreciate this house and the man who built it, Bryan Philip Darrell Duppa, an Englishman raised in France who moved to what is now Arizona in 1863. 

Duppa was a man of contradictions. Although an Englishman, he was raised in France. He enjoyed a classical education- spoke five languages, read Roman and Greek classics in their original language, frequently quoted Shakespeare, and had an extensive library. But he cared nothing about tidiness, formality of dress or genteel manners. Rather than stay in Europe where he enjoyed a comfortable living, he ventured to America and immediately headed west... waaaay west to Arizona. He traveled light, fought Indians, drank whiskey and gambled. After a a brief stay in Prescott, Duppa moved to what is now Phoenix with the first settlers and homesteaded 160 acres making him one of the founding father of Phoenix. The settlement on the Salt River (yes, the river actually flowed back then!) needed a name and several were considered (Stonewall and Salina, to name a couple) before Duppa spoke up saying,  "Today's civilization rises from the ashes of the past. Prehistoric cities, now in ruins are all around you; a prehistoric civilization existed in this valley. Let the new city arise from the ashes of those ruins." After explaining the meaning of the word, all agreed that the new settlement should be called Phoenix. He also went on to name Tempe and the neighborhood of Kyrene.

So, back to his house. What does it say about him? That requires a closer look at the house.

The walls are made of adobe, a mixture of clay and straw that is baked in the sun yielding a sturdy, fairly weather-proof building material. Native Americans have made and used adobe bricks for many centuries. The roof is made of cottonwood tree branches covered with mud and rocks and is the only part of the house that has been restored (and needs to be again). Although once a cultured, educated European, Duppa learned from the natives and adapted. He built a sturdy house that was practical, not elegant. For the time and place, it would have been a fairly large house eventually becoming one of just a few homes in the area. Travelers would sometimes stay for a day or two to rest before continuing westward. In his latter years, Duppa became reclusive and quite eccentric before he died in 1892.

Today the Duppa House is listed on Phoenix's Historic Property Register but remains in ill-repair, fenced off and closed up due to city and state budget cuts. It won't be torn down to make room for a fast-food restaurant... but it will likely crumble away to a pile of dirt and sticks unless funds are found to restore it.

The second home I visited stands in stark contrast to the Duppa House. Located in Tempe at the corner of Southern Avenue and Priest Road, the Niels Petersen House (#65) is a quaint, Victorian home with manicured lawns and pots of flowers on the porch. It has the distinction of being the oldest (120 years) Queen Anne-style brick residence in the Salt River Valley.

1414 W. Southern Avenue  Tempe, Arizona... aka the Niels Petersen House

Niels Peterson, a Danish immigrant, was a prominent farmer, entrepreneur and framer of the Salt River Valley. Arriving in the valley in 1871, he worked hard learning irrigation building and farming before starting his own ranch on 160 acres he homesteaded. He built two small adobe homes on his property and continued to work hard. His ranch grew to more than 1000 acres and he became one of the biggest producers of cattle, hay and grain. 

By 1892 Petersen was one of the wealthiest men in the Salt River Valley and decided to build a larger, more comfortable home. He hired well-known architect James Creighton to design and build an elegant two-story Victorian home complete with a steep, multi-gabled roof, decorative shingles, balconies and several chimneys. 

Petersen and his second wife (his first wife died) lived in the house until their deaths when his wife's nephew, Rev. Edwin Decker, inherited the property in 1927. Decker replaced the porch in 1930 when a two-story addition was added to the north side of the house and continued to live in the house until his death in 1948. Twenty years later the house was turned over to the Independent Order of Odd Fellows who cared for it until it was donated to the City of Tempe in 1979 after being placed on the National Register of Historic Places in 1977. The Petersen House then operated as an historic house museum welcoming thousands of visitors each year for tours. It was closed to the public about a year ago due to state and city budget cuts but continues to offer tours to 4th grade classes studying Arizona history. The day I visited the house, several volunteers were there to give a school tour. While they wouldn't let me look inside the house, they did talk to me about the construction of the house and the man who had it built.

I think it is remarkable that both of these old, historic homes are in their original locations and the towns simply grew up around them. The homes look out of place... but what a fun peek at Arizona in the "good ol' days!"

Thumb Up or Down: Up- definitely worth seeing even though you can't go inside either one

Miles Round-Trip: 44.7

Miles To Date: 3094.8

Percent of List Completed: 31%

Date of This Trip: February 6 and 11, 2012

58 & 82/100... dinner and dessert

Friday night is often considered "date night" but this wasn't your typical "dinner and a movie" date. Combining two items on my "100 Things in Arizona" list, we had dinner and then fabulous desseerts. Yes, that was desserts... plural.

Haus Murphy's (#58) is yet another of Guy Fieri's Diners, Drive-Ins & Dives and the first German restaurant he has visited. It definitely has old-world charm- even on the patio where we sat.

Dining al fresco was nice... until our food arrived and we were constantly bothered by bees.

Sauerbraten and Paprika Schnitzel were the menu items featured on Diners, Drive-Ins & Dives and we opted to share them. We rounded out our meal with a mug of German beer. 

Sauerbraten (served with spatzle and red cabbage) and Paprika Schnitzel (served with German fried potatoes and wirsing (a cabbage dish))

We both thought the food was so-so; not at all the usual culinary taste treats we have come to expect at DDD places. In reading reviews after we got home, it seems that the DDD distinction perhaps "went to their heads" as several long-time customers commented that both food and service deteriorated. Our server was fine but the food fell flat... not bad, but not as good as we were expecting.

After dinner, we walked across the street to Glendale's 17th annual A Chocolate Affaire (#82) for some wickedly delicious, if not unusual, desserts. Their brochure boasts over 30 chocolatiers and while I didn't count them, I would say that was a close estimate although some had the same or similar items. For example, one place had chocolate drizzled cheesecake on a plate while another (my favorite!) had cheesecake on a stick dipped in chocolate with the option of rolling it in nuts... or as I call it, decadence on a stick!

Chocolate lemonade? I saw the sign as we walked by the lemonade stand and did a double-take. Not quite able to decide if it sounded good or not, I paused and watched the vendor make one. After he said I could return it for a regular lemonade if I didn't like it, I got one... and it was fabulous! Made with real lemonade (not a concentrate) and a shot of German chocolate cake syrup, it was tartly refreshing while at the same time had just a hint of sweet chocolatiness. Who knew?!?!

"Seize the moment. Remember all those women on the Titanic who waved off the dessert cart."

~ Erma Bombeck

We sampled Chocolate Cherry Merlot jelly (heavenly!), a chocolate-covered strawberry, a raspberry truffle and even chocolate-covered bacon (don't gag, I thought it was actually a good combination of flavors!). By then, though, we were pretty chocolated out so we brought home a chocolate-covered pretzel stick and chocolate-covered cherry clusters to try another day. 

Vendors that had chocolate items displayed this sign making it easy to find this important food group! We agreed that we would have liked it if they sold "samples" rather than just large servings- we could have sampled everything rather than just a few of the dozens and dozens of chocolate items. We had to leave the chocolate-covered potato chips for next year!

Interspersed with the chocolatiers were other vendors selling everything from doggy bling and handbags to pottery and candles. We even bought a few Christmas gifts while we were there!

It was a beautiful evening to stroll through the festival. As dusk settled into twilight, the lights in the trees came on- what a beautiful sight! It was a great date night!

Thumb Up or Down: Neither for Haus Murphy's; UP for The Chocolate Affaire

Mileage Round-Trip: 67.4 miles

Mileage To Date: 3050.1 miles

Percent of List Completed: 29%

Date of This Trip: February 3, 2012