12/6/12

More AZ Exploring!

Hey everyone!  Sure hope ya'll are having a wonderful week doing all things Christmas!  The Man has been working hard on an outdoor project and wanted to take a little break, and we just love continuing to explore our surroundings.  This time we were off to Old Town Chandler.  Our newspapers, as I'm sure all of your papers also, are filled this time of year with interesting things to do and see.  This particular item caught our eye and we had to check it out.

Yes, it's a Christmas Tree, but can you see what it's made out of?

You're getting warmer!

Yes, those would be hundreds of tumbleweeds!  Where else but Arizona, right....lol!

The tree is 35 feet tall and totally strung with colored lights.  This is the 55th year
they have put this baby together!  If you've ever seen a tumbleweed up close, they are
kind of stickery, so my hat is off to the worker bees who work on this.  

This is the internet pic of what it looks like at night.
                                            Chandler Tumbleweed Christmas Tree



This whole downtown area of Chandler is filled with history, and is very quaint and charming.
There are lots of little shops and several restaurants with plenty of outside dining.  There is even a brewery cafe that seems to be doing quite a bit of business -- stresses of the season, maybe?
Anyway, I was intrigued when we were walking around and discovered this old hotel, so I had to do some internet searching on the history.
This is the courtyard of the Crowne Plaza San Marcos Resort.
It seems that a certain Dr. Alexander Chandler founded this small town east of Phoenix in 1912 and bestowed his name on it.  He was a visionary, apparently with a lot of money, and dreamed of building an oasis in the desert (he stole my blog name....lol), a resort that would bring the rich and famous from all over the world to the little town of Chandler.  He teamed up with the infamous Frank Lloyd Wright, his good friend, and the resort opened in 1913.  

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Then......it did bring the rich and famous as Dr. Chandler had envisioned, such as Fred Astaire, Joan Crawford, Bing Crosby, Clark Gable, Gloria Swanson, George Gobel and Cher.  Even President Hoover and his family stayed here.  They were seeking sunshine and warmth!
and Now.  It has undergone many updates and additions over the years and is currently for sale.  There is talk that someone is interested in buying it and turning it into condos -- sniff, sniff :(.

Well, it's still gorgeous.  This is a courtyard just outside a large dining room.

The dining room also boasts this beautiful covered outdoor dining space.  The Man and I hope to come down here for dinner one evening, just to experience the ambience.

Well, that concludes my little "Exploring AZ Tour" for this time.  Thought you might need a break from all the Christmas stuff going on.  Hope you enjoyed!

Carol

13 comments:

  1. Hi Carol! I can not believe that tree! That must have been really something to see in person. I'm surprised it doesn't "tumble" away! My tree fell the other day, but luckily the corner caught it long enough for me to help it. It's pretty big, so it was scary! Thanks for stopping over at RCD :) Merry Christmas! ~ Julie

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  2. I have never seen a tumble weed, so I would have never guessed. Great way to use what mother nature provides. Are they white in color or did they spray paint them?

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  3. That is so cute. Have heard about the tumbleweed tree. Thanks for sharing. Have a great day.

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  4. It's all so pretty! The tree is amazing!

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  5. That tree is awesome! I like how the color of the tumbleweeds make it look frosty :)

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  6. Hi, Carol

    What a great Christmas tree. LOL, its tumbleweed but looks great. Hope you are having a great week.

    Vanessa

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  7. Wow! That is one gorgeous gigantic tree! It looks even more stunning at night. Thanks for sharing....Christine

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  8. Wow - that's crazy! Never ever have I seen such a thing. We don't get too many tumbleweeds here in NC though. lol

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  9. I just showed hubb the tree. You know he is wanting to come to Arizona some day. I honestly don't know what a tumble weed is, so I will google it. I thought it was hay, lol. It really is pretty at night.

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  10. *sniff, sniff* I miss Arizona soooooo much. I wish I could talk Mr. Art @ Home into retiring out there. Got to LOVE the tumbleweed Christmas tree!!!! Thanks so much for sharing this with us!

    xo,
    RJ

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  11. Hi Carol. I love the tumbleweed Christmas tree! Thank you for letting me know about the email. I didn't know that my email was set to no-reply. I think I got it corrected, fingers crossed since I'm not computer savvy at all. Thanks for the sweet comments. Have a great week.

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  12. Good morning CAS...LOVE that gigantic tree!!!...What a "cool" place Chandler is!!...I can't wait to come back again...:)...Hope you are enjoying the holiday season...love all of your Christmas decor...I'm finally up and running again...come on over and visit...xo, Mariaelena

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  13. Hi Carol, thank you so much for your lovely comments on my blog
    Blessing
    :) XO
    Isora

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I truly love to hear from you and try to respond to each and everyone. If you have "no reply blogger," I will respond in my comments section and then visit your blog as soon as I can.

Make this a great day!
Carol