New Adventure. Old Friend.
Mike and Melissa started working at the Review-Journal around the same time and they've been close friends ever since. They share a love of (or obsession with) music; grew up in the same part of the country (Texas for Melissa and Oklahoma for Mike); and have the same hipster sense of humor.
Melissa's visit centered around a concert (not a surprise if you know Mike and Melissa), but we did manage to squeeze in a few other "Tucson" sort things while she was here. We took out first trip up to Mt. Lemmon and it was breathtaking. The sky is so clear and you feel close enough to heaven that you could touch the clouds and catch a glimpse of God. We did a little light hiking and Shelby found lots of rocks and sticks she insisted on bringing home with her.
We all had lunch with Kelly at McGraw's Cantina, a very Tucson establishment that's been around for about 40 years. It's the kind of place that serves you lemonade in a mason jar and you get the best BBQ sandwiches. Kelly goes there all the time, but it was our first visit. It over looks some horse stables and a pretty majestic view of the desert.
We also took Melissa and Charlie to El Charro, one of the best (and oldest) Mexican restaurants in town and maybe in Arizona. They have the tstiest carne seca. They actually dry the meat for this in these baskets that hang high above the restuarant's courtyard. It's cool to see and even better to eat.
The main attraction of the weekend was the trip to Club Congress for two shows, Josh Rouse and !!!. The Josh Rouse show was right up my alley, but as the evening wore on, I realized we were about the oldest people in the places and I was ready to go home and SLEEP! It's official, I'm old. But, it was still fun ... the music was good and the company was better.
We were sad to see Melissa go. We're hoping to see her again soon, and next time we want to go to Vegas, so we can see her and all of our friends.