Day 17: Tucson, AZ
Nau mai
Yesterday we played in the city of Tucson, Arizona.
This was to be the hottest day of the tour to date. Finally we would get to feel the temperature that TV weather presenters swoon over, the vaunted century of Fahrenheits sending the mercury surging to the top of the thermometer.
I left the bus in the morning and headed to get breakfast. I made it to the cafe in less than ten minutes and was able to reimmerse myself in a thick cloud of air conditioning before too much sweat fell into my clothes.
Nook Cafe had a Modern American menu which in a breakfast cafe means fitting any world cuisine into the context of a breakfast dish with eggs. I ordered the Breakfast Tamale Pie, a spread that featured “house-made sweet masa, fire roasted chilis and cheese, 2 eggs” but I think was also served atop a mole sauce and topped with a green tomatillo based salsa.
Two pieces of public infrastructure grabbed my attention while walking around Tucson. The first is the Ronstadt Transit Hub - a collection of bus stops but also so much more. I loved the open brick walls that reference the old factories and railway warehouses of the city. There are little mosaic details on the brick columns and beams when you look closely. The analogue clock over the gate is sure to help us pass down the tradition of telling time to the next few generations. The amount of pebble lawn and tree planting makes this feel more like a public park than a transit hub. I would happily BBQ and play ball while I waited for the 104X.
The second piece of infrastructure I greatly enjoyed was the Fourth Avenue Underpass. One of my golden rules for underpass reviews is that if there isn’t a plaque its not worth my time. This underpass goes one step further featuring the next step up from a plaque - a historical marker - with a thorough historical summary supported by beautiful images embossed into the brass. I don’t need to tell you how important is the preservation of historic examples of urban grade-separated roadway-railroad intersections and this excellent piece of infrastructure which in 2009 replaced its 94 year old predecessor does such a fine job of carrying this heritage into the next century.
This was our home for the day, the Rialto Theatre, located in downtown Tucson. The venue opened in 1920 as a movie theatre and lived a very exciting life as so often happens with these buildings that manage to survive for more than a hundred years, enjoying an adult film phase, a Spanish language film phase, an arson phase, and a condemned building phase before finally being restored in 1995 and being transformed into a concert venue.
Thick black smoke began billowing out of a dumpster behind the theatre at some point in the afternoon. The fire brigade turned up with an impressively quick response time and saved us from toxic smoke inhalation. It was a grave reminder of the dangers of unsafe cardboard storage in extreme heat conditions (and definitely not a result of someone flicking their cigarette butt into the dumpster).
I think the temperature peaked at around 107°F (41.6°C) yesterday afternoon. Surely it’s about time the firemen get a summer garb for working on days like this.
Tristan has learned from the master and has done a fine job of executing one of Annie’s signature savage high angle beverage portraits.
We had a very nice show at the Rialto. The theatre sounded and great and we had a warm and welcoming crowd. Despite the air conditioning it was still hot on stage and so Liz was issued a stage fan. Look at how cool she looks playing with big windy hair.
Here are the points earned or lost yesterday.
This has been rounded down to 1 point as per regulations.