Tucson, AZ

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After a long week at work, my friend Nikki coaxed me into joining her for some live music and dancing at Plush on a Friday night. It is true, we hadn’t been out dancing in a while and when she mentioned that local bands Latino Solido and The Jons would be playing for just a $6 cover at the downtown venue on 4th Avenue, I put my dancing shoes on.

Upon the suggestion of my friend Carol, some girlfriends and I met at Cushing Street Bar and Restaurant in Barrio Viejo on a Saturday evening for some scrumptious fare and live jazz. Cushing Street is one of my all-time favorite haunts for atmosphere alone, so I was curious to check out the ambiance with live music thrown in the mix. This downtown establishment is located in a restored building dating back to the late 1800’s and is nestled in the barrio just south of the Tucson Convention Center, amidst other historic structures.

The first thing that actually attracted me to the Native Foods Demonstration at Bookman’s was the chance to learn some local history – to maybe learn it in a hands-on way, or even a tastebuds-on way, was an added bonus. But then it occurred to me – at food demonstration, there might be free food! And at that, I was completely sold.
And as it turned out, plenty of free food there was – Celebrando el Pueblo de Tucson offered a great mix of history, hand-on, and food in the fun and laid-back Bookman’s setting.

Happy Birthday Tucson! August marks Tucson’s 233rd birthday and there are a multitude of activities going on this month to celebrate in the Old Pueblo.

On a Friday night that was graced with cooling breezes and no monsoons in sight or sound, I took some out-of-town visitors to help me celebrate Tucson’s birthday at the annual “Heart and Soul of Tucson – ART” birthday festival.

This interesting little mini-festival is being held on the patio of the Vila Thai restaurant all during August. For those of you who have not discovered the Vila Thai — which many believe is the best Thai restaurant in Tucson — it is upstairs at 972 East University Blvd. at Park Street.

We’ve been having a pretty mild summer in Tucson, but it’s still something hot, of course. When there was a dearth of rain for a few days in the middle of the monsoon, that didn’t stop us from still finding a way to cool off, though, and we even got to play in the mud at Mud Monster, mud puddle party in Reid Park!

When the temperature soars to the triple digits in Tucson, I am rarely convinced that life exists in the Old Pueblo. I, like many desert inhabitants, was in the throes of my reverse seasonal hibernation when my friend Susan invited me see her friend’s band play at Frog and Firkin. I hadn’t been out much due to the heat, so I agreed to meet her and some of her friends at the University-area bar and restaurant for some live music and lounging on the patio. Now that the college students have filtered out of town for the summer, I can be more easily talked into hanging out on the University Main Gate area. Parking also was no problem as the parking garage on Tyndall and 4th Street was free after normal business hours and had ample spaces just a short jaunt away

We were all saddened to hear that after 10 years of hosting the “Locals Only” segment featuring local music from the Tucson community, Don Jennings was ending his tenure at KXCI radio. To give him a proper send off, his final show, a free Chango Malo performance, was to be recorded live at Club Congress. Friends and I converged for this early show on a Sunday evening.