CHECKING OUT NEW RESTAURANTS

We've eaten out more in the past few days than we usually do in a month - part of the "getting to know Tucson" campaign.

We began our day yesterday with a movie, "Charlie Wilson's War" - an 11:50 am matinee, saving a buck or two off the usual price. Get this: to quality for a senior discount at the movie theaters in Tucson, you have to be SIXTY-FIVE years old! The 16 year old selling tickets told us they raised the age limit because it is snowbird (read "old folks") season. There were a total of 4 people in the theater that time of day.

When we left, we went back to Chopped, the restaurant we had discovered a few days ago. This time we both got salads - HUGE, fresh, delicious salads. We definitely will continue to return to Chopped.

Today we needed to run a few errands, so were out at lunchtime. Not far from our RV park is a restaurant recommended on another blog I read, so we decided to grab lunch at Coyote Pause. I thought (who knows why?) that they served Mexican food, and Odel was drooling for some... too bad, I was wrong - but we did have an excellent lunch, anyway.

The entertainment was provided by a group of exceedingly loud women, around my age, yakking in the corner, discussing politics. I am fairly certain Hillary is out - she "acts too much like a man". Obama is out because Obama sounds too much like Osama, and Barack too much like Iraq. And, did you know his middle name is Hussein? Let me tell you, it was an eye opener to me. Anytime I wonder how Bush managed to be re-elected, I will think of these women and their decision-making. Sheesh. I roll my eyes just thinking about 'em.

Tonight was our social event of the week: dinner at Sweet Tomatoes with a group of Boomers. Sweet Tomatoes was another new restaurant for us, a soup, salad, bread/pizza and dessert buffet. Upon entering, you take a tray and slide along the salad bar. It must have been 30 feet long, stocked with FRESH, FRESH, FRESH salads and salad makings. We paid a set fee when we arrived at the end of the salad bar, and good Escapees that we are, we had a discount coupon cut out of the Sunday paper.

We took our seats, consumed our huge salads, then went on to visit the soup station and the dessert bar - no room for the baked goods (well, except for a brownie). We were fortunate to sit across from Diane Parrot, who had eaten at Sweet Tomatoes before and had great advice for us on how to get the most out of the dessert bar: use a soup bowl instead of the tiny ice cream bowl. Put a brownie in the bottom, top it with ice cream, sauce and sprinkles. So dinner consisted mainly of a giant salad and a giant dessert, both yummy.

See that guy in the top photo? His job is to circulate around the dining area at Sweet Tomatoes passing out chocolate chip cookies. These people really know how to bring back the customers.

The Boomers dinner at Sweet Tomatoes is an annual event, as many of us are in Tucson this time of year, but this was the first time for us. Doug and JoAnn, our new friends here at the RV park, had expressed interest in the Boomers, so we invited them along. They were still interested in joining as we drove home, so I guess they enjoyed the group as much as we do. It was fun to see Boomers we haven't seen for a few years, and to make plans to get together at Quartzsite in a few weeks.

I won't name everyone in the photos (partly because I don't know everyone's name), but I know that Boomers reading this will recognize many faces. It was a great gathering - our thanks to Ron and Rob Silver for pulling it together.