Last Wednesday, the folks over at Forbes put together a 48-hour itinerary of places to eat, stay, and play in Phoenix. (Hey, suits need vacations, too!)
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But before you even make it to recommendation one, the first sentence of why the article was written in the first place kinda trips up the whole deal: "With MLB Spring Training in full swing, we decided it was time to check out the home of the Cactus League, Phoenix."
Silly suit, spring training's not in "full swing" -- it ends this week. Where were you last month with this information? See how it is with you working all the time -- we never get a chance to talk anymore. And do you think you could call the next time you're going to be late? This soufflé is ruined.
Oh, and there's more.
On the first day of your "grand slam" two-day trip, Forbes likes lunch at downtown's Blue Hound Kitchen & Cocktails, the contemporary American restaurant in the Hotel Palomar at CityScape, along with suggested visits to the Desert Botanical Garden and/or Heard Museum. The article also recommends heading over to Beckett's Table, chef Justin Beckett's home of locally focused eats in East Phoenix, after a Diamondbacks night game at Chase Field (Of course, the Diamondbacks play their spring training games at Salt River Fields in Scottsdale and their regular season games downtown at Chase. However, they do wrap up Cactus League this weekend at Chase).
On day two, Forbes suggests a hot air balloon ride and a trip to the Musical Instrument Museum. After you "gauge how far you want to drive for lunch," it offers up Mesa's Southwestern-style eatery TQLA (a 45-minute drive from MIM), Glendale's Saddle Ranch Chop House (a 30-minute drive from MIM) or Craig DeMarco's Windsor in Central Phoenix (a 20-minute drive from MIM) as restaurant recommendations. Putting the whole driving time thing aside (seriously, a 45-minute rental car ride to Mesa?), the bigger question might be: Why not just, you know, eat at the Cafe at MIM?
For dinner that day, Forbes suggests T. Cook's inside the Royal Palms Resort and Spa in after a citrus massage at the hotel's spa from someone named Jennifer, whose hands, according to the article, "work a whole different kind of magic on aching muscles."
Business trip, my ass. Come home and see your kids for a change.
To see the complete article, go to the Forbes Travel Guide website.