We decided to go to lunch at Dirtwater Springs, an old western bar and restaurant in Apache Junction. It is a quaint place to visit, busy. We sat down and the waitress recognized Sharon as regulars. Mike had his double cheeseburger without the cheese, forgot what Sharon and Shirleen ate , and I the chimichonga. Good food for all. If really ungry you can order a 72 ounce steak 52$; but you have to order a day ahead – they serve it on a pizza tin. We sat for quite a while again talking about old times and the fun we had growing up, along with the nicknames we had been given. Mike was Mikey and some still call him that, when we first met today I held back and called him Mike, although I thought about Mikey. We again talked more about our children and grandchildren.
On the way to Taliesin West we stopped at Blue Adobe Grill in Scottsdale, it was a place we stopped at 4 years ago when we went to Taliesin West. Shirleen had a cab I a margarita, they have tri colored chips with a fire roasted tomato salsa, thick and gooey – tomatoes and onions are blackened over pecan wood, dark and earthy. We split a shrimp cocktail – 5 - with a fine red sauce over a bed of finely sliced cabbage served in a martini glass.
This evening we went to Frank Lloyd Wrights - Taliesin West was there winter home built in 1937. http://www.franklloydwright.org/ It is now used as a school for an accredited degree in architecture. We took the twilight tour and have the unusual opportunity to view Wright’s desert masterpiece in a nighttime setting. the evening the site assumes a luminous, jewel-like quality. The desert masonry structures, lighted from within, appear as sculptures. The reason we attended was to see the dragon breathing fire. If one wants to visit his home do it during the day as the flowers and home take better to pictures.
The fire-breathing dragon is lit and the lights from the valley below create a dramatic, romantic setting. The tour includes everything on the home tour plus light refreshments.
As we approached the house there were petroglyphs on a rock; when you look at it you see the writing on the rock. Look at the bottom line and the second petroglyphs from the left is what looks like two straight sided 6’s. This is what he later used as inspiration for his initials.
We say a red clay piece that had his initials in it and he used FLLW, his mother called him Frank Lloyd Wright but because at that time everyone loved Lincoln he added it to his name and initials.
The layout is southwest and is taken as the bow of the ship. The layout of the house is such that in the beginning it had no glass windows, they were added when he was diagnosed with a lung problem. The bedrooms were adjacent,
hers with a oriental screen painting in 8 sections lining two sides of the bedroom; his had two beds in it, no not what you think, it was when he was in the front bed he could be bothered with questions, the one behind it was for sleep and no bothering. Most rooms were low ceiling so that it made people sit down. The lighting was semi-dim but enough to converse in.
There are a couple people who were with Frank in the beginning, now in there 90’s. When they are present the guides cannot say anything about there brash treating of people, the students or patrons. He was almost always broke, he loved cars and buildings. When he built a home he would position the furniture, if you moved it he would notice it even though it was years later and he would move it to where it was originally. If there was a problem with the house he built for you, as one person, they had roof leaks and he said well put buckets under it. He was arrogant and aloft. But because of his sweet talk and loveable nature they let him get by with almost anything.
The lady that makes the bronze statues lives there yet and has made her bronze’s to signify her first impression of the statue, she see’s it rise out of her mind into it shape.
In the dark it is hard to get a good pix but I tried. As we walked through the statue area we could hear the crackling of the wolves and the baying of the local dogs. Neat addition.
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