Snowbird Alert: Tucson is Waiting

Having worked since I was 14 years old, the idea of retirement has always been out there but, when the stock market went south in 1989, the idea of early retirement and going somewhere south went with it.  I was one of those lucky buggers who late in life landed a job in a career that paid well and didn’t demand that I sell my soul or cross any moral boundaries.   Unfortunately, there is no such thing as a casual part time wine salesman in the highly competitive business of representing the world’s greatest wineries.  My only choices were to work ‘till I died or quit.  I chose the latter.   Though not anywhere nearly as well off as I once thought we would be in retirement back in the boom years of the late 1970’s and 80’s, we’re not exactly starving either.  Having worked for the past 14 years where taking more than one week’s vacation at a time was not allowed, even though I got 4 weeks’ vacation annually, I really didn’t have a clue what retirement meant or what going on vacation means when you don’t even have a job.

Because we have several friends in Arizona and a few in Tucson, we decided to rent a place in Tucson and see what being on vacation when you have nothing pushing you to get back to and nothing stopping you from taking as long as you want to get there.   Both Alice and I are pretty high strung, so, “just chillin” doesn’t come naturally.   We loved Tucson for the following reasons:

It is almost always clear skies and 75 degrees in February.

The roads are extremely well laid out.  You can get from anywhere to anywhere in Tucson in 15 minutes; that is, unless you are unlucky enough to get stuck behind a west Michigan transplant of which there are plenty down there.

The city owned golf courses are exceptional and reasonably priced when you buy the TUCSON CITY GOLF card.   If you golf as a twosome, you get to meet two very interesting people every day.

There are so many good restaurants, you’d need months to enjoy them all.

There are lots of interesting places, museums, gardens etc. to visit.

The grocery stores are better than what we are used to in west Michigan.

My college roommate lives there.

UPDATE: On our 2018 visit, we stayed at the Varsity Club Suits located on Speedway and Alvernon Way.   It was way nicer than where we stayed last year and closer to the golf courses that we enjoy playing.  On their website they showed several pictures of the "Gallery of the Sun" located about 4 or 5 miles north of the Varsity Club on Alvernon Way.   What a fascinating art museum;  a very old Italian immigrant Ted deGrazia, painted with passion and built room after room full of his paintings.   He lived off of his art work so must have sold many many paintings and still had time to fill this museum with countless works of art.   He seemed particularly taken by the stations of the cross and painted many interpretations of it.  It is worth a stop.

We went to an Arizona wine festival and got a few suggestions from the Tasters Guild folks, but, mostly just Googled “best restaurants in Tucson” which came up with tons of good suggestions.  UPDATE: We again went to the Arizona wine festival and bought enough wine for a tasting that we'll do when my taste buds are a bit more discerning.   I will post the results this summer.

FEAST was our favorite.  The chef/owner came out of the kitchen and talked to us.  I enjoyed an estate Gigondas from Domaine des Palliers ($11 glass) which came with a small amuse buche.  During happy hour, the drinks come with a savory bite.   Alice had the Bohemian Bicycle ($9) which also came with a delicious bite.  We split the Escargot and Coq au Vin.   Both displayed classic presentations in every sense.  Just a sniff was a meal!  UPDATE: Every bit as good as we remembered it last year.

WILD GARLIC GRILLE is hard to beat.  An old “Dog ‘n Suds” style drive-in was converted into fine dining.  The chef, Steven Schultz has a cook book coming out soon; can’t wait!  Alice had the Salty French Poodle ($10) and I had the Coto de Hayas Garnacha ($11 glass).  We started with the absolutely superb Mushroom Soup and Soft Shell Crabs on greens.   I would say, the greens were enormous; really too much for an appetizer though absolutely delicious with everything from seaweed to pico de gallo in there.  We split a gargantuan slab of sea bass cooked to perfection with all sorts of greens and micro veggies on the plate.   The crème brulee was absolutely perfect.  UPDATE: The restaurant has moved from its humble west side barrio to the very shi shi neighborhood of Campbell and River on the north side.   The place is absolutely splended with lots of seating, great lighting and plenty of room between tables.  We ate there with some friends from Hudsonville MI.   We all agreed that the food certainly was every bit as good maybe better than our last visit.   Service was first rate too.

EL CHARRO is a 100+ year old restaurant started by a French woman who fell in love with and married a Mexican gourmet.  It is clearly his culinary influence which established the cuisine here.  Everything here is wonderful, but, the Carne Seco is unique to this establishment.   They dry the meat in a fine mesh cage (to keep the bugs out) up on a hoist above the roof top of the restaurant.  The resulting dish is more or less like a fajita with beef jerky-like flavors.  I know this doesn’t sound good, but, it is delicious.

CARUSO’S Italian restaurant doesn’t look like much more than a very old, well-worn spaghetti house, but, this place clearly demonstrates why Italian restaurants became so popular in the early 20th century.  The restaurant and attached proprietor’s house takes up the very center of the 4th street neighborhood.   The outdoor dining area feels like eating in Italy with fig trees, cypress trees, lemon and orange trees, pomegranate trees and multiple cacti all around.  Everything was just about as basic as it can be, but, the flavors were remarkable.   Alice and I are not big eaters, but we both finished huge pasta plates and an Italian salad that we still talk about.  UPDATE: Even better than I remember it.  It was a bit cold on our 2018 visit to eat in the courtyard, so we ate in the main dining room.   I'm amazed at how many meals they crank out with unwavering quality.  

DANTE’S FIRE is housed in some sort of chalet-like building that seems completely wrong, but, once in the door, the smells from the kitchen assure that all is right.  We came for happy hour which features small plates at a very reasonable price and drink deals.   Alice had the Grow a Pear cocktail which she loved.  We shared three small plates, Sexy Cheddar Cheese (with Chorizo), Escargot, not classic, but good, and Baja Fish Tacos, very difficult to pick up but tasty enough to just shovel it in.

THE PARRISH is located well north of the main drag.  We went there because another college friend who we visited lives out that way.  Aside from the gigantic portions, the food was tasty and well prepared.  The theme is southeast cooking in the style of the Carolinas and Georgia.  Alice enjoyed the Dutch Well Water cocktail while I had a delicious local IPA.  As I said, everything was too big, but, the boiled spiced peanuts were a real treat as were the crawfish hushpuppies served with a superb sauce.  Though tasty, the entrees were just plain too big to even look appetizing.

UPDATE: MEXICAN FOOD is synonymous with Tucson.   There are hundreds of Mexican restaurants in Tucson and all that we've dined at were very good.   Twice we attempted to have lunch at MI NIDITO and were greeted with a line outside the building and an hour wait, so we asked a few locals where to go, and they recommended LITTLE MEXICO CAFE and TANIAS 33.  At Little Mexico Cafe on Irvington (they also have a LITTLE MEXICO STEAKHOUSE on Valencia), Alice had cheese enchiladas and I had white menudo thinking that the red might be too spicy for my still recovering taste buds.   Both were delicious and the very ample quantity of menudo (the meat itself) made up for the lack of hot pepper spice.  On one of the last days in Tucson, we ate at TANIAS 33 located a couple of blocks south of the El Rio golf course.  It is just a small place where you place your order at the counter, pick it up and sit down and eat it.   The place was very busy with many take out orders.   We had the same as at Little Mexico with the slight change of red menudo instead of white.   I loved the seasonings and general flavor, but, it had very little menudo meat in it.   Alice's enchiladas were just the way she likes them.  They do not have alcohol at Tanias, however.

 Passing through Tulsa at lunch time, we stopped at BODEAN'S which was just off the freeway.  We split a huge, thick filet of American Red Snapper.  It was the best we’d ever had.   The shrimp and lobster bisque is a treat too.  On our way to Texas we stopped at CHUY’S of Van Horn Texas.  Not to be confused with the fast food chain Chuy’s, this place is the real deal.   The Chile Verde (slow cooked chunks beef slathered in a green chili sauce) is the best.  This was the late John Madden’s favorite restaurant between Phoenix and Dallas.  UPDATE: This trip, we stopped for lunch on our way back at our favorite steak house in Oklahoma City.  The CATTLEMAN'S CLUB has been around for over 100 years serving up steaks and chops fresh from the stockyards.  It is located just south of Oklahoma City in what is still called Stockyard City even though the stockyards have moved well out of town.   Besides excellent steaks, they also serve lamb fries.   Because of my cancer treatments, I was still having a hard time chewing steak even a perfectly cooked tender succulent steak, so I had the lamb fries.   The best way to describe them is to image slices of very soft ring bologna delicately breaded and fried served with a shrimp cocktail sauce.  They were just what the doctor ordered.   The sauce woke up my hibernating taste buds and the almost textureless fries just melted in my mouth leaving a mild lamb essence.   Oh, you don't know from what part of the lamb they get the "fries"?  It is the testicles.

Enjoy in Good Health,
Brian Cain, the Michigan Vintner

 

Tucson Golf

Besides visiting my college roommate, the main reason for going to Tucson was to golf.  And, of course, I smoked a few nice cigars while out on the links.  When I first went on line to check out what courses were available to the public, it seemed like the pricing of most nice courses was a little out of my price range.   Maybe not quite as bad as Harbor Springs ($300 per person) but, even $150 per person adds up in a hurry with two golfers playing every other day.

So, I was thrilled to see an offer for the Tucson City Golf card.  For $60 you get one free 18 hole round, a nice golf hat plus a discounted price for a year and as you golf and spend money at the city courses, you get points.   In less than two weeks, we earned another free round.   My experience with municipal courses has been varied, so even after viewing the courses web sites, I was still suspicious as to the quality and maintenance.   Well, I can report unequivocally that the courses are even better than they appear in the pictures.   Here is the list of city courses and the discounted price for card holders.

Randolph North $38 per person including cart
Watered fairways with good stiff dry grass in the roughs makes it hard to find a bad lie anywhere.  It is a little long for old guffers like us even from the gold/red tees.  This course is right in the middle of the city yet the tree lined fairways and mountain views and coyote’s howling gives one the feeling of being out in the middle of the desert.

Randolph Dell Urich $38 per person including cart
Located adjacent to the North course, this course is slightly more undulating and a tad more challenging though not quite as long from the gold/red tees.  The greens are cut very short at both of the Randolph courses, but putt true and are not too scary fast.   We did find, however, for amateurs like us, it was hard to stop the ball on the green.   It was best to hit ten yards short and let it trickle on.

El Rio $19 per person including cart
This may sound crazy, but, they do not water the fairways here, they just paint them green!   Yes, during July and August when it rains most of the time, they establish a lush thick turf which, by winter is bone dry and brown, though still as thick as a carpet.   They then spray paint the fairways with green vegetable dye so you know where you are supposed to be hitting the ball.   The ball sits up beautifully like a brush on a driving range.   And, because it is so dry, old guys can hit a 200 yarder that runs another 100 yards once it lands.   They still water and mow the greens and the area around them, but, the close to zero maintenance on the rest of the course accounts for the great price.  Honestly, I actually preferred this course to those with watered fairways. UPDATE: As of winter 2023, they are now “overseeding” the fairways in the rainy season so that in the middle of winter when it is bone dry, they do have enough green grass to clearly define the fairways. Yet there is enough dried turf to present pretty decent lies if you stay in the fairway. Still the cheapest of the City courses.

Fred Enke $34 per person including cart
This course is just to the south east of town where the urban sprawl gives way to uninterrupted desert vistas.  All of the city courses are full of interesting wild life, but, I would say Fred Enke had the most.   All forms of roadrunners, coyotes, lizards and such abounded.  The course had lots of elevation changes and an unmanicured wild feel in the rough.  Staying on the fairways is critical.   They are watered, but not nearly as lush and green as the Randolph courses.  From the gold/red tees, it is very playable for the average golfer.

Silverbell $40 per person including cart
This is way too long and way too difficult for us.   The rough is very wild with quite specific fairway landing areas which, like Fred Enke, are watered but not real lush.  The ball rolls a long way and there is a lot of trouble to get into.  We felt “beat up” by the time we finished our round.  Even from the gold/red, we could not reach many greens in regulation.

All of the city courses have beer, wine and cocktails as well as food.   We didn’t eat at any of them, so cannot comment on the quality of the offerings. 

We did not play any of the privately owned or private country clubs.  There are many and they are more expensive, typically in the $60-$150 range for championship style courses and $20-$30 for the executive courses.  Speaking of which, we visited both Rolling Hills and El Dorado.  They looked pretty nice though relatively short.

UPDATE:  Because of my questionable health situation, the first golf course we played was Rolling Hills ($28 per person including cart) which is a so-called executive course.  Most of the par 4's are only about 230 - 260 yards from the gold tees.   The course was in good shape and felt pretty wide open inspite of being located in the middle of a housing developement.   Not something to write home about, but a solid value and not too difficult for senior golfers. In 2023 we finally played El Dorado which is also an executive course. It offers a very nice condo development which looks like a great place to live. The course, however, is as hard as concrete. I’m not exaggerating to say you can hit the ball 150 years with a putter. But even with a putter, it was hard to keep the ball on the rock hard greens. Just touch the ball and it would start rolling and never stop.

Enjoy in Good Health,
Brian Cain, the Michigan Vintner