Last Day in Mesa

In our little family, Sparky is usually the "events" planner, and Eldo, the "trip planner". But he reminded Sparky of a unique restaurant we went to years ago, that was in the Mesa area called the Organ Stop Restaurant, and he asked if Sparky wanted to go. Of course she does! That means she doesn't have to cook, (HAHAHAHAHA, she very seldom likes to cook, laughs E., as he's rolling on the floor) and she remembered that it's the home of the WORLD'S LARGEST WURLITZER ORGAN, and that a VERY talented organist plays the coolest songs while you eat decent pizza. Without boring you with a ton of information about the organ itself, because probably only serious musicians would appreciate the details more than the average person, here a  few of the most interesting facts about this particular Wurlitzer, a theater style organ.

When silent movies first started, there used to be pit orchestras and pianists to provide the music to accompany the action on the screen. That became too expensive, so the theater organ came into play and was designed to be part military band, part symphony orchestra, and part sound effects. The Wurlitzer organ was considered the best by far in its time and still is today.

The Wurlitzer at the Organ Stop was built for the Denver Theater and installed in 1927. It was used regularly till the 1930's. As talking pictures came into play, it was seldom used by then. A later fire caused some damage, but in the 1970's the instrument was recovered, rebuilt and installed in the restaurant in 1975.

The organ has four manual consoles--that's FOUR keyboards you have to simultaneously rotate between or blend using just your two hands!

Over the years several rare sets of pipes have been added  and today the organ has over 6,000 pipes! The ceilings in the restaurant are 43 feet high, so the acoustics are great for the amazing sounds pouring forth from the Wurlitzer. It is very noisy in the restaurant because of that, but who cares? The dominating sound is that fabulous organ. 

The huge quantities of wind needed to operate this massive Wurlitzer are provided by four humongous turbine blowers. The organ is installed in four chambers at one end of the restaurant. The platform that the organ is on rotates back and forth as the organist plays, on an 8,000 pound rotating hydraulic elevator. AND--he takes a break for ten minutes every hour by slowly descending down into the organ "pit" and then ascends back up shortly after his break and resumes play. 

You may or may not be an organ music fan, but you gotta see the world's biggest Wurlitzer when you are in the Mesa area, that's for sure! We loved it, and highly recommend it! And then...there is the scenery......

Apache Trail Scenic Drive

We love scenic drives. They are always scenic and in many cases jaw dropping or awe inspiring. We decided to revisit a drive here we took over ten years ago, when we first started full timing in the motorhome. It's called the Apache Scenic Trail and is 39 miles long. From the Viewpoint RV Park in Mesa, take US 60 east to Idaho Road, exit 196. Go north to Arizona 88 and follow AZ88 through the Superstition Mountains. The road ends about 9 miles after Tortilla Flat, so you will turn around and head back once again to the valley. Sparky had her regular camera, the Nkon Coolpix 900 on the wrong setting so NONE of her landscape photos turned out today....phooey! Take our word for it, it was a terrific drive! Don't miss it when you are in the area....

We leave Mesa tomorrow for Yuma, AZ, for a week. The weather is warming up both in daytime and nighttime temperatures...(About time! says Eldo.) Sparky is still trying to recover from some sort of stomach bug, but hopes to be out on more trails in the Yuma area soon. So we don't really have any great restaurant suggestions for Mesa, because Sparky has been under the weather, (I know she is pretty sick when she doesn't want to eat out! explains Eldo), but you know, there are fabulous ones out there to find. Next time, we will be checking that out more. Thanks for following us! See you on the road.....