Beyond the South End

 

By Ted Sylvester

Vacation in Arizona was visit to Paradise

This column appeared in the Bangor Daily News on May 3, 1991. It appeared here originally in June 2012. I thought it deserved a repeat since it is vacation time for many of you.

Fanny Vance

Blotville Mountain,

Blotville, Maine

Dear Aunt Fanny:

It has been a while since I wrote. But I have got to tell you about our vacation for two weeks in Arizona. If there ever was a place that could be called “Paradise in the Springtime,” it would have to be Arizona. The weather was perfect, the people friendly, and there are more sights and attractions than can be seen in just two weeks. I found it interesting that there are so many from the Northeast who have moved to Arizona that they have their own “New England Club.”

The most-often heard remark was “What recession?” There appeared to be literally hundreds of houses under construction in Sun City West, with most of them already sold. There are so many Cadillacs seen on the streets that it should be designated as the official state car. Why, Aunt Fanny, I believe that there are as many Cadillacs in Sun City as there are pickups in Rockland.

Gasoline is cheaper, as low as 95 cents a gallon for unleaded; and many food items were much cheaper than here at home. You could get a good steak dinner for $7.95 that also included a country band and all the dancing you could stand. Great place, The Barn. The drummer in the band was from New Hampshire. The best meal we had was at Rawhide in Phoenix, a Western-style village that featured a hayride and a barbecue of steak and beans. This also featured country music.

I did notice, however, that Maine lobster at the supermarket cost $11.98 a pound.

We took in all the famous sights, including Grand Canyon—you have to see it to believe it—and Lake Havasu City, the state’s second leading tourist spot. This is where the London Bridge was erected in the desert and the Colorado River diverted to make the lake. By the way, the captain of the tour boat, Capt. Claude Beriau, is from Worcester, Mass. If you ever get there be sure and take his boat ride. Its great fun and very informative.

We also visited Montezuma Castle, which are centuries-old Indian ruins, and Biosphere 2, a scientific experiment to see if people can survive in an enclosed environment for two years. The giant greenhouse-like structure is the size of three football fields end-to-end. One of the eight scientists who will be involved with the experiment is Abigail Alling from Maine. She is in charge of the ocean and its species contained in the station.

Another favorite tourist attraction was Old Tucson, which is an actual movie studio built in the desert. It has been the location of hundreds of movie and television westerns. The “Young Riders” TV series was filmed here. The most recognizable spot for me was to stand in front of the old jail that was featured so many times on the Gunsmoke television series. I almost could see Festus standing out front.

There were many other sights and sounds too numerous to mention. But two exciting side trips out of Arizona were a visit to the glitzy and glamorous Las Vegas and another to Nogales, Mexico, and the culture shock of seeing children and old men begging on the streets.

Las Vegas is everything you ever heard it was. Rooms were $39 a night and the food was cheap. Steak and lobster was advertised for $6.95. One outside sign featured Maine lobster.

We went to a dinner show at the Tropicana, where the prime rib was tasteless and tough, but the show was terrific. You wouldn’t believe it, Aunt Fanny, but the beautiful dancers in the show were topless. Shocked the devil out of me and wifemate. It was evident from the money we saw being dumped into hundreds of slot machines and passed across gaming tables that nobody there had ever heard of any recession. As Mainers, wifemate and I were somewhat conservative. She spent about $3 in nickels, and when I hit a home run on the one-armed bandit for 200 quarters, and another for 150 we called it quits, almost. I sneaked back and lost about half of what I had won.

I can’t leave without mentioning that we went to Dan Quayle’s home town of Wickenburg to spend two hours of horseback riding in the desert. Quite an experience. Somewhat painful, but fun. Could not help but notice a sign there on a bridge going into town. It said “No fishing from the bridge.” It would have been impossible to begin with. There was no water. Dan couldn’t have had anything to do with this, could he?

We passed through several national forests on the way to the Grand Canyon. It was strange as there were no trees, just bushes, in most of them. There were some giant ponderosa pines at the Grand Canyon, but that’s all.

There was one sign along the highway that offered some good advice. It notified motorists that there was a federal prison nearby and warned drivers, “Do not pick up hitchhikers.”

All in all, Aunt Fanny, the trip was great fun. Expensive, but fun. I can’t wait to go back. All I need is a Cadillac.