Christmas Cocktails and a Pinball Speakeasy

 Scottsdale, AZ

The Pink Dolphin

Today we headed over to the newly opened Global Ambassador Hotel in Scottsdale.  It's a new really fancy hotel with a couple cool bars.  We both wanted to celebrate the Christmas season by visiting a festive hotel and bar.  Instead we had amazing drinks at a poolside bar called The Pink Dolphin.  The hotel wasn't very festive and the bar we had intended on going to didn't look that fun.  The Pink Dolphin delivered on drinks, atmosphere, and service.  We had a great time.

The bar was right next to the pool and had inside and outside seating.  We sat outside facing inside.

It really felt like a Vegas Bar.

Donna ordered a drink and it ended up being a frozen drink.  It was fantastic despite it's frozenness.  A bit later we asked the bartender what the other frozen drink was and she gave us a sample.  It was also fantastic.  

We bought Tajin Fries and they were great.

Since we were by the pool, everything was served in plastic cups but they were very fancy plastic cups.

Donna couldn't wait for the photo to be taken.

My drink was pink too and it was a really good drink.

After our drink and snacks we walked around the hotel a bit.  Rooms are like $500 a night so we shan't be staying there.

A Pinball Speakeasy

Later in the evening I went to Stardust Pinbar for some pinball.  Yesterday my sister asked if I ever get bored because I have no schedule or deadlines to meet (you know because it used to be all work work work) and I said no, I make my own silly goals and try to drive them forward each day.  Pinball is one of my goals (it isn't a silly one) and I wanted to get some of the Stern Insider Badges that expire at the end of the night (this, I admit, is a somewhat silly goal).  I headed over just before 7pm (later than I normally play) because one of the badges was Play James Bond 007 after 7pm.  

I snapped this cool Prince mural on the way over

The pinbar is behind a refrigerator door in the back of a pizza parlor.  I had to look twice to make sure I was going the right direction.

The machines played really well.  They were more expensive than normal, $1 each play vs. 3 plays for $2.

The murals on the wall are cool.

Both Godzilla and Foo Fighters had a free game on them so I played them.  I ended up winning 5 more games on Foo Fighters.  Replay scores were pretty low.  I was mostly there to play James Bond 007 and Venom for the badges.

I got the 007 badges I set out to get and one of the Venom badges.  I have until the end of the year to get the other Venom badges and they are all based on cumulative score between now and the end of the year.  

Tomorrow, Saturday, and Sunday I play in pinball tournaments.  They should be pretty fun.  I hope to replace some of my lower scoring tournaments.  My IFPA ranking is based on the 20 highest scoring tournaments played in the past 12 months.  I just hit 20 tournaments so now the really bad ones get replaced as I finish higher in the tournaments.

Right now I am 4764th in "The World" but I have a few real stinkers at the bottom (one I didn't even play in so I got last place).  As I replace those with better results my score will go up.  It's dumb but fun.  

That's it for today.  If you missed Another Day, Another Pinball Trophy, check it out.  I won another pinball trophy!

Sippin' Santa and Johnny Cab

 Phoenix, AZ

Cheese Making

This morning I followed a recipe I got off of Chainbaker and made Mozzarella Cheese using whole milk and vinegar.  I will use the whey to make the pizza dough.  Getting the cheese to curdle was pretty easy but I don't know how they expect you to kneed 160 degree cheese to get it smooth.  My soft hands just aren't up to that task so the cheese is not smooth.  

Making cheese was fun but I probably won't do it again.  There is a lot of good cheese at the supermarket.

Sippin' Santa

This afternoon we took the bus to Bitter & Twisted for the Sippin' Santa Tiki Pop-up.  We went to this event last year when we were in New Orleans.  

Bitter & Twisted is a cocktail bar, with some major awards for their drinks, the bar, and their menu.  This time of year they decorate for Christmas and serve Tiki Drinks.

Santa!

After Bitter & Twisted, we realized we were only 2 blocks away from one of the Ramen places we wanted to try so we walked over there for dinner.  

Ramen Kagawa is in downtown Phoenix.  

After dinner I called a Waymo.  Waymo is a driverless taxi service here in Phoenix and in a few other markets.  After signing up I got 5 half price rides so it was cool to ride in a "Johnny Cab" and only pay a few bucks to do it.

We took the obligatory photos of a car driving with no driver and watched as it skillfully made turns and identified other cars on monitor in the back seat.  At one point Donna saw a cyclists cutting across the street in front of us but they didn't display on the monitor.  I assume the car saw them but we can't be sure.  The car has lots of sensors and spinning things on the outside corners of the vehicle.

Having a robotic Johnny Cab driver is creepier than having no driver at all in my opinion.

That's it for today.  If you missed A Nice Pinball Surprise in Surprise, check it out.