Re-discovering Tucson
I'm having a great time re-discovering Tucson while my dad is in town from Indiana this week! We started out his visit at Tucson's beloved Pima Air & Space Museum (aka Arizona Aerospace Foundation). I hadn't been in a couple years and had never been on the tram tour. The tram tour was about an hour and one-half-and our docent was so enthusiastic and knowledgeable in providing cool facts and background on the planes. We then took a leisurely stroll through the huge air-conditioned hangars. The planes are now displayed so that visitors can walk right up underneath to peer into the bomb compartments-and of course the volunteers are eager to provide fast facts.
Since we were in the transportation mode, we popped downtown to the Historic Train Depot, checked out the locomotive on display and had a marvelous lunch right near the train tracks at the beautifully remodeled Maynard's Market-in the dining car-themed restaurant.
Next stop? Postal History Foundation . . . a little jewel of an organization tucked in a mid-town neighborhood at 920 N. 1st Ave. They were in the midst of conducting a summer camp for young stamp collectors-and we got to listen in on the history and background of the stamps the kids were using. The PHF is amazing in it's collections of stamps-even if that's not your hobby of choice-pick a subject-they'll have a stash of stamps to match! The building was a former church that the foundation moved to in 1978. A generous donor funded the addition of a lovely library along with her impressive collection of Civil War books. It's a working post office-so plan to stock up on postage stamps!
We enjoyed a memorable meal at the lovely Pastiche Modern Eatery in the Campbell Village Plaza at 3025 N. Campbell Ave. Tuesday night was steak night-and dad was thrilled with his 14 oz. certified Angus Beef bone-in rib eye with rosemary demi-glace, wild mushroom risotto and julienned carrots/zucchini medley. My 10-year old daughter (a self-proclaimed cheesecake expert-"taster"-not "baker") declared the chocolate chip cheesecake THE BEST she'd ever had-I've been around a bit longer (hee-hee) and I concurred! BTW-I wanted to mention that the service was "perfection." Our waiter was engaging, sincere and the timing was exquisite.
And that was just day one!
