Cowboys, Cowgirls and a Trip to Frank Lloyd Wright's Taliesin West

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Once again, our conferences would not be complete without one of our famous dine-arounds - for those of you that aren't familiar with this little activity, it's when we work in conjunction with our host firm to choose a series of restaurants and make reservations for 10-12 people at each. It's a great way for people to network with a different group and to get a real flavor for the local city. However, it's an organizational nightmare for me and always proves to be the biggest headache of any conference. But the delegates love it, so we have them a lot.

In Scottsdale, we'd arranged for reservations at eight restaurants, including Wildfish - the report I heard back from two rather conservative gentlemen attending this restaurant was that it was full of 5'9" blonde women in their twenties. We also had reservations at Olive & Ivy, Drinkwater's City Bar & Grill, Sea Saw, Cafe Zuzu, Trader Vic's, Bandera and the one that I attended, Cowboy Ciao. I heard several positive reports from the other diners, so I think I could recommend these restaurants to my readers - but I can DEFINITELY recommend Cowboy Ciao. I was a little unsure when we arrived and they put us at an "o" shaped table for 15 (we had the biggest group). It was pretty noisy and raucous in the restaurant (perfect for our wild group), so I wasn't completely sold. But as soon as they put the menu in my hands, I knew I was in the right place.

First of all, the menu begins with dessert - you can't get any better than that! They also include some rather entertaining quotes from diners, such as "I love that chopped salad so much that I put it on my screen saver!," "I have to tell you, I can't find the words...I feel like I just had a massage," and "That mushroom dish is so good, I want to take my clothes off and roll in it." With sentiments like that, you can't really go wrong. Apparently the wine was a big hit as well, with one of the guys beginning with a tasting of three wines, which interested everyone else so much that about six other people decided to do the same thing. This was in addition to their initial cocktails and followed by dinner wine, and the end-of-the-meal tequila - a necessary event according to our Mexican contingent, who everyone relied on to choose the best tequila. I think at one point, I looked over to one end of the table and saw about fourteen glasses of wine for three people - it was absolute madness, but made for a very funny evening.

I focused more on the food, which was a little different but certainly excellent - though I can honestly say that there was no point during the evening when I felt like taking off my clothes and rolling around in my dinner. We started with a number of appetizers, and the only one that I tried was the Stetson Chopped salad (of the screen saver fame). It really is that good, except that it contains some smoked salmon. But we can't all be perfect. I wanted to try the Big Biceps Salad, if only for the name, but we passed - even though if you have an anchor tattoo, you can get it for $5 instead of the usual $9. For my dinner, I started with the soup of the day, which was Elk Chili - yes, I said ELK chili. It wasn't half bad either, though I probably wouldn't seek out elk in the future. I then went on to the extreme grilled cheese (what a classy date I'd make) - but there's no yellow American cheese here - it's made with brie, fontina, their house-pickled tomato and comes with dill fingerling potato salad. It was pretty good, except for the over-dilled potato salad.

As I finished my meal, I was running around like a mad woman trying to figure out the bus departure situation, which luckily was resolved despite everyone running late at dinner. I learned that one group didn't meet their $1000 minimum and ended up buying 6 bottles of wine to take home with them. One of the other hosts managed to get his own bottle as well, and then joined our dinner at Cowboy Ciao - clearly, I was with the "fun" group.

Since I was not sampling the wine along with everyone else, I made it my goal to have a good dessert. I tried the apple streudel cake, which came with some type of delicious ice cream that I couldn't identify - it was rich and delicious. Eventually, we were ready to leave, although we did leave the guest firm attorneys from Vancouver behind with our Mexican friends to head out into the night. I was sure that they wouldn't make it to the meeting this morning to make their presentation, but they surprised me and arrived on time and looking chipper.

We again had meetings this morning, and I enjoyed the warm sun on my back as we held our marketing session just outside of the main conference room. We debuted our push-down marketing project to the Americas group and had a positive response, so all in all, the meetings were successful. After a leisurely buffet lunch, during which I heard a few people say that there was a lounge chair with their name on it, I headed back to my little casita for an afternoon off. I had heard good things about the spa (Willow Stream), but wasn't sure I wanted to pay the price for a massage. But it has been a stressful couple of days and I figured that because of the migraine I had the other day and to save my sanity, I would go for it. I arranged to try the jet lag massage at two thirty. Arriving at two to get a little tour of the spa, I was instructed to wait in a little sitting area out front. They had a beautifully scented candle burning and it was quite peaceful to quiet myself and get away from it all. Soon, they called me in and showed me the myriad of spa services that they have - a waterfall bath, jacuzzis and cold baths, saunas, steam rooms, and even one room that is at room temperature but offers almost an aromatherapy session - it smelled so good in there and I probably should have taken advantage of it. But instead, I got changed in the locker room and headed out to the women's lounge to wait for my massage therapist. Her name was Lindy and she was really nice, and, it turned out, good too - which is important in a masseuse. We discussed my problem areas (like my neck and shoulders) and I was ready for the marigold-infused oil that was supposed to help me sleep and regulate my body after travel. I knew that I was tense going into the massage, but I couldn't believe how many knots in my neck and shoulders she found. When it was over, she actually said she was sorry that my back was so tense - she felt really bad about it. She suggested I relax, along with drinking lots of water, and try to get a good night's sleep. She also said I'd likely be sore tomorrow and feel as thought I'd done a full day's workout. So I have that to look forward to.

I thought I'd relax by the casita pool for a while after my massage, but it turned out that the sun was heading down, so it was pretty chilly. Alas, no real pool time for me! Instead, I decided to soak my poor muscles in a bath and read before heading out to our final dinner.

This evening's dinner was at Frank Lloyd Wright's Taliesin West. I was excited to head out there because our host had highly recommended it and raved about previous events he's hosted there. I'd also seen some of the photos of where we would be eating, and it looked beautiful. We arrived at the house and headed up to the bar area as a native American flautist played for us. The view was really pretty (mostly just lights since it was dark already) and everyone was looking forward to seeing more of the campus. The tour guide assured us that it actually is a campus, since they actually hold an architectural school there - only 20 students. I didn't get to see too much of the tour, since we had a logistical issue when the table seating chart wasn't on display. But I did have the impression that Frank Lloyd Wright designed like a 70's drug addict - and considering that was after his time, it was certainly an interesting house! The tour guide talked about some of the things that he collected, including wives, so he sounded like quite a character. I'll have to do some more research into him and his architecture!

We had arranged to have dinner outside (don't worry, we included umbrella heaters) and the set up was very classy and elegant. As everyone filtered back from their respective tours, we helped them figure out which table was theres and readied ourselves for the meal to come. Normally, it's tough to get good food at a catered event such as this, where it's not a restaurant set-up. Sometimes, the venue will rely on the fact that it's a cool place and won't get a high quality caterer. But this time, we were in luck! The meal was catered by Michael's, which turned out to be our host's favorite restaurant, and the food was fantastic. We started with an arugula salad with apples and cheese tossed in a vinaigrette that was just superb. The bread was fabulous as well, with a garlic and herb butter to accompany it. Our main course was a dual-entree of shrimp (which I didn't eat) and a rosemary-rubbed beef (on which I only found one piece of rosemary, so I was safe). It came with a great risotto as well. Dessert was the only disappointment for me - a chocolate cake-type thing that actually looked more like a hamburger patty (and was a little dry), accompanied by bananas and raspberries. But it was a great meal and everyone enjoyed themselves immensely. Following dinner and a gift presentation to our host firm, we had a group of native American dancers from three different tribes. They showed us a grass dance, a dance to celebrate women, and finally a hoop dance, which was spectacular. It was really a great way to wrap up a successful conference, and it seemed that everyone left on a good note.

Tomorrow I head home and back to the cold weather, but I'm ready. Although, I'm not sure my back is ready for the long flight, but it will be worth it. I only wish I could take my pillowtop mattress back home with me...

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Photos

How about a grass dance?
Video to soon follow!