Downtown Scottsdale was awesome! I would refer to it as a little, big town. It had cute souvenir shops, amazing restaurants, outdoor bars, galleries and much more, all weaved around dozens of city blocks. All the buildings were short, so you didn't feel like you were in the city at all, but a bustling little, big town.
My favorite restaurant was Olive & Ivy Restaurant. Whether you sit inside the restaurant, which is adorn with hanging Edison light lanterns, or the outside, where you will find fountains laid beneath lighted greenery, the atmosphere is sure to impress. As far as the food goes, it's incredible! Everything is so fresh and delicious. I scarfed down my bruschetta topped with mozzarella, tomato marmalade, and basil, and since I consider myself a lasagna aficionado, I opted for the Lasagna Bolognese as my entrée. It was the best of all three different lasagna possibilities. It had meat sauce, spinach, AND ricotta cheese on top of skinny lasagna noodles, all served in a bowl. Once I finished the skinny noodles, I was literally eating the sauce left over; I couldn't get enough.
Go to downtown Scottsdale on a Thursday night if you can! We didn't know it until we were walking it, but Scottsdale holds an ArtWalk every Thursday from 7pm to 9pm. It's like an after-hours open house for the Scottsdale Arts District located primarily along Main Street. Main Street itself is drizzled with hanging lights draped from and around the trees, and the bubbling fountains and horse-drawn carriages make you feel like you're in a movie. I was surprised by the wide array of artistic styles in each gallery, which made for an awe-inspiring stroll. One piece that caught my eye, which was in one of the galleries we visited, depicted what looked like a river between the Grand Canyon walls at sunset. The stone walls in the painting were a stunning mixture of reds, oranges and yellows, and looked enormous next to the little canoe boat gliding down the river. This piece was place perpendicular to another wall you had to walk around. As I stepped farther around the wall, the painting became bigger and bigger until I finally saw it in its entirety. It had to be at least 10 feet tall by 20 feet wide. It was jaw-dropping, not to mention the jaw-dropping price tag that was over $100,000. Oh, to be a millionaire and to have the wall space for that massive thing.
