Scottsdale Photo-Walk

Saturday afternoon, following the epic LOTR extended DVD marathon, Paul planned a fun family outing. The girls and I grabbed our cameras and we all loaded up in the van and tootled on over to Scottsdale to spend a few hours wandering the sidewalks in Old Town. There is much to see there, and more to do, and even more to spend, if you have the moola.

We got to see a little bit of almost everything, including the Waterfront, the Arts District (with some truly head-shaking artwork), the 5th Ave. Shops and Boutiques (lots of astonishingly expensive froufrou), and the Entertainment District. Everyone had a marvelous time taking in the sights, sounds, smells, and even savoring the tasty goodness of some ice cream when we stopped for a break at the famous Sugar Bowl.

The truth of the matter, however, is that for me, it was a disaster of epic proportions. Saturday afternoon in a world-class tourist destination… I could never have predicted how badly I would react to the teeming multitudes, and constant barrage of sights and colors and movement and sound. I can only describe it by asking you to close your eyes, and imagine yourself trapped in a prison riot, with rock and roll blasting over the loudspeakers, lit by search lights and kaleidoscopic disco balls.

How do people go to bars, on purpose, for fun? I mean, just sitting in that seemingly innocuous 50’s diner, the Sugar Bowl, directly underneath a loudspeaker playing some kind of radio music, competing with the raucous sugar-fueled family fun erupting all over the restaurant, watching the waiters race to and fro, the shadows of the fan blades and reflections of passing traffic dancing frenetically on the ceiling – I was screaming inside for earplugs and black-out sunglasses. By the time we were trying to leave the area and find our way back to the parking garage, the bar scene in the Entertainment District was already hopping for happy hour, and in addition to the numerous street musicians that set up on busy corners, it seemed like every establishment had an outdoor entertainer with speakers loud enough to be heard above the shouting crowds, so there was no way to escape the audio-bombardment, even just walking down the sidewalk.

I was never so relieved to climb into the back seat, let Paul drive home, and just close my eyes. Everyone agreed that it is definitely time for Nettie to go to the ranch and take solace in the solitude and equilibrium-restoring peace and calm.

Here are the pics I managed to snap when I wasn’t freaking out. I did enjoy looking at them, once I got home… and out of the sensory overload of actually experiencing the place! But I couldn’t help feeling that I would have enjoyed it much more just from a photography standpoint if I could have pressed the pause button, while I walked through the colors and people and horse carriages in stillness and silence.

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