Humphrey Blog: Road Trip to Phoenix

We went to Phoenix for a short road trip, leaving on Friday morning and coming back on Saturday. We stayed overnight in Mesa at a Super 8 Motel. The room was okay, but I didn't sleep well as there was movement in the room above, it seemed all night. Never seemed to quit. We went to the big Mesa Swapmeet when we first got there, spending the afternoon wandering around looking in the different businesses, and just generally browsing. No major purchases. We had gone with Bob & Cathy. That afternoon we arrived at the Organ Stop Pizza place for super. We had been told that there was a Wurlitzer pipe organ & there was a concert about every 45 minutes that lasted about 45 minutes. At the end of the concert the big screen rolled down and on the the screen were songs that we all knew and could sing along with. We got there about 3:45 pm as the doors opened at 4 pm, and there was a lineup already. We had been told that the place gets very busy and expect to wait, but as we were in the lineup early we got in fairly quickly. We proceeded to the mezzanine floor as we were told that you can best see the organ from there rather than on the ground floor. The pipe organ & organist came up out of the orchestra area and were on a raised diaz and turntable. The sound was beautiful to listen too. Hard to explain all the things that happened while the organist was playing. There were trumpets, a player piano, drums, cymbals, accordian, chimes, bells, xyl0phone, and several more instruments that were featured in this concert, when he played. It was fairly dark in the pizza parlor and seating for at least 300 people. Now back to the pizza. When you first got in you walked up to the order desk, menu above on the wall behind the person taking your order. For example, Marge & I had a medium combination that had, salami, pepperoni, hamburger, black olives, mushrooms, onions, green peppers & cheese plus two(2) small salads. You got your own salad at the salad bar. Many choices of salad fixings. You then went on to the drink bar and you had a choice of different sodas , beer by glass or a pitcher, or bottled beer, different fruit drinks. The pizza came about 15 minutes after you placed your order. Very efficient and well organized. When your order was ready there was a board that lit up your order number when ready. You proceeded to the area for pick up and got your pizza. Total cost very reasonable and darn good pizza too. We left the restaurant well after 7pm. Bob & Cathy had some friends meet us there, Don & Pat. We sat visited, listened to the music, and had a great time.

Saturday morning after our continental breakfast at the hotel we went over to Don & Pat's who lived in the Maricopa area. We visited with them for awhile then proceeded on. We had made arrangements to visit with friends Al & Dee, who had left the park a couple of years ago for lunch. We got to their place in Arizona City about 1:15pm. They had a lovely lunch prepared for us. After a visit with them we got away about 3pm to head back to Wellton & the park. A fast day plus, but we got alot of activities in that short period of time. the organist played "O Canada" followed by "The Star Spangled Banner" national anthems. Rousing renditions and very patriotic for both countries.

Pictures of the Organ Stop Pizza Restaurant @ 1149 East Southern Avenue Mesa, AZ. Website: http://www.organstoppizza.com/