FYI: It is 85 today and windy, absolutely perfect….!

Call Spencer, Susan and Shea at Arizona Lodging Experts today.
602-404-2982
866-785-2350

The weekend really started to shape up when my lovely wife Lolis came up with the idea to make homemade Fish Tacos on Saturday, so off we went to the grocery stores to get the ingredients we would need. We decide to go with 2 different types of fish, Tilapia and Cod, and we also decide to make our homemade Cole Slaw, which only seems to get better and better each time we make it.

In addition, Lolis made delicious homemade Chips, Salsa and Guacamole, and a Chipotle Mayonnaise, which wasn’t too spicy “even for a wimp like me”. My wife Lolis and Spencer both swear up and down that the tacos were pretty darn good, and they even told me we MUST add the recipe to our monthly gathering.

On Sunday, we headed off to Scottsdale to help our Compadre Spencer move his Tv stand from his old apartment to his new Pimp Bachelor Pad, then we had lunch at Zipps Bar & Grill on Camelback. It was a really nice weekend from beginning to end, if I do say so myself.

After enjoying a few cold beers at Rock Bottom, we did a little window shopping as we past each store on our way to Fatburger. We like Fatburger more than In-N-Out burger, and of course a lot more than McDonalds and Jack in the Box. No comparison. Fatburger has well cook, made to order burgers which have a great flavor and fresh ingredients. I am glad we have a Fatburger so close to home.

If you have plans to enjoy a beautiful Phoenix or Scottsdale rental anytime soon, then contact the experts at Arizona Lodging Experts and they can assist you with your search. ALE “for short” can also help you with restaurant ideas, shopping ideas, you name it! They are the best at what they do and have proven so for over 12 years now. They are one of the only Phoenix Property Management Companies that can boast this.

Fatburger at Deset Ridge Mall

Great Burgers!

My wife and I had lunch with our good friend Spencer at the Thai House Restaurant in Mesa, Arizona, located on the N/E corner of Power & Southern. Spencer and Lolis have had Thai food before, so I was the “Thai Virgin” I guess. I know I can speak for all three of us when I say we have a wonderful meal and we would definitely recommend the Thai House to everyone we know. The portions were very generous, the taste was authentic Thai and the service was very good as well. The Mesa location was rather small with 5-6 tables and a small bar, but well worth the stop. You can have a sweet and savory meal made with coconut milk, or try a spicy meal from level 1 to 5 with some amazing Thai spices, “if you have the guts”.

For dessert, we do recommend that you try the delicious Fried Bananas, which we all found to be unique and tasty treat.

Below is a short video we made, so you could see how delicious everything was.

Thai House YouTube Video

If you find yourself staying in a wonderful rental home in Mesa, Arizona, you might want to try the Thai House during your stay. It will be a wonderful experience for your taste buds. The Thai House has 3 valley locations, so there might even be a Thai House close to you..!

If you need assistance finding lodging from experienced Scottsdale or Phoenix property management, contact Spencer, Susan and Shea at Arizona Lodging Experts at 602-404-2982 and 866-785-2350. They have over 20 years of personal experience combined offering premier Arizona Home Rentals and they are ready to assist you today!

The MIM (Musical Instrument Museum)

If you are staying in a rental from a Phoenix property management company, this wonderful place is not far away. The MIM is located in the Northern Phoenix area on the corner of Tatum Blvd and Mayo Blvd. The MIM is a couple blocks to the south of the AZ Loop 101 freeway.

Address: 4725 E. Mayo Blvd. Phoenix, AZ 85050

Phone: (480) 478-6000

The MIM’s Hours of Operation

Mon-Wed from 9am-5pm

Thurs – Fri from 9am-9pm

Sat – 9am-5pm

Sun – 10am-5pm

Admission

Adults ages 18-64 – $15.00

Senior Citizens age 65+ – $13.00

Kids ages 6-17 – $10.00

Kids under 6 – Free

The Vision of the MIM

Music is shared by people of all ages and backgrounds and can give a level of comfort to your life. Music brings people together and is used to celebrate many of the wonderful things in life. Music is something that all people in some way, shape, or form have in common.

The MIM stands for a celebration of all these moments and experiences we share. Music is a gift created by humans and way to celebrate our diverse cultures. People are invited from all cultures and nations to come to celebrate and share this common love of music. The MIM shares the diversity and beauty provided by musical instruments that have originated from all over the world. The MIM tells the tale of each instrument and the sounds they provide tell a story all of their own.

The Mission of the MIM

The MIM has exhibitions for the young and the old. The MIM gives each music lover the chance to experience the museum in their own way. Within the MIM you will find a very diverse selection of music and the instruments used to create it.

The MIM prides itself on displaying and showing artifacts of musical instruments from all the countries in the world. This is the only place you will really be able to capture the gift of music for generations to come. The displays and exhibitions are told by very high technology systems allowing video and audio so that you can see and hear the sounds like they are to be experienced in each of their individual cultures.

The MIM even has live performers from around the globe. This gives the visitor the opportunity to hear the music as it was intended to sound with the awesome acoustics, and super comfy atmosphere. Come hear the music of the world at the MIM.

 takes place at West World in Scottsdale, AZ

You can watch live auction coverage on the SPEED Channel.

 Schedule of Events:  

Monday January 17, 2011  

8am         – Gates open and Vendors and Sponsors open their booths

8am-3pm -  Cox Communications hosts Family Values Day

8am-3pm -  Entertainment provided by Radio Disney

10am       – The Tilted Kilt Patio opens

12pm-3pm – Appearance by Cox Communications on digital

7pm-11pm – Event Opener Gala *This Event Requires an Invitation

9pm-10:30pm – Fashion Show hosted by Dillards and makeup artist from CHANEL

 Tuesday January 18th, 2011  

8am-close -Gates open and Vendors and Sponsors open their booths

10am – The Tilted Kilt Patio opens

9am-2pm Automobile Memorabilia Auction

2pm-close – Barrett Jackson Auto Auction

5pm – Auction for Twilight

5pm-10pm – Auction is live on the SPEED channel

7pm-9pm – Celebrity Fashion Walk Show

 Wednesday January 19th, 2011  

8am-close -Gates open and Vendors and Sponsors open their booths

8:45-10am – Automobile Memorabilia Auction

10am-Close – Barrett – Jackson Car Auction

10am-12pm – Women who are into Speed panel

5pm – Twilight hours Auction

5pm-10pm Auction is shown live on the SPEED Channel

 Thursday January 20th, 2011  

8am-close -Gates open and Vendors and Sponsors open their booths

10am – Tilted Kilt opens their patio

10am-11am – Corvette Seminar for the Sports Car market

8:45am-10am – Automobile memorabilia auction

10am-close – Barrett – Jackson Car auction

5pm – Twilight hours auction

5pm-10pm – Barrett Jackson Auto Auction shown live on SPEED channel

 Friday January 21st, 2011  

8am-close -Gates open and Vendors and Sponsors open their booths

8:45am-10am – Automobile Memorabilia Auction

10am – Tilted Kilt opens their patio

10am-close – Barrett – Jackson Car auction

10am – Car polishing Seminar

11:30am – tips on restoring your classic car seminar

2pm – Dynacone wheel polishing seminar

3:30 – How to remove polishing swirls seminar

5pm – Twilight hours auction

12pm-11pm – Barrett Jackson Auto Auction shown live on SPEED channel

 Saturday January 22nd, 2011  

8am-close -Gates open and Vendors and Sponsors open their booths

8:45am-10am – Automobile Memorabilia Auction

10am – Tilted Kilt opens their patio

10am-close – Barrett – Jackson Car auction

10am – Car polishing Seminar

11:30 am – How to restore headlights seminar

2pm – Dynacone wheel polishing seminar

3:30 – How to remove polishing swirls seminar

5pm – Twilight hours auction

12pm-11pm – Barrett Jackson Auto Auction shown live on SPEED channel

 Sunday January 23rd, 2011  

8am-close -Gates open and Vendors and Sponsors open their booths

8:45am-10am – Automobile Memorabilia Auction

10am – Tilted Kilt opens their patio

10am-close – Barrett – Jackson Car auction

10am – How to remove polishing swirls seminar

12pm-4pm Barrett Jackson Auto Auction shown live on SPEED channel

The Barrett Jackson started between two car enthusiasts back in the mid 1960’s and has grown to be one of the biggest and most prestigious auto auctions in the world. It all started in Scottsdale, AZ back when Scottsdale was just a Wild West town that had yet to establish its own identity. The founders were Russ Jackson and Tom Barrett and they came to know each other by a car advertisement. Tom Barrett had been selling his 1933 Cadillac V16 Town Car and the most interested buyer happened to be Russ Jackson. A deal was never struck between the two men but a lifelong friendship had been created by these two car enthusiasts.

The initial meeting of these two car guys is what became the foundation for the legacy that would become the Barrett Jackson auto auctions. In 1967 Russ Jackson and Tom Barrett hosted their first car auction which was called “Fiesta de los Elegantes.” The Fiesta de los Elegantes was initially started as a fundraiser to donate to local charities, which included the community arts and the Scottsdale Public Libraries.

In 1971 Russ and Tom joined their talents to present the company’s first car collector auction, which featured classic autos from the two men’s private auto collections. The big headline featured a Mercedes 770 Phaeton that was priced to sell at $153k and this got the attention of auto collectors from around the world.  The sale of this rare vehicle set the Barrett-Jackson name into motion around the world.

In the 80’s there was a massive growth in the car collector business with prices reaching unbelievable heights and also the participation among enthusiasts grew to numbers the industry had never known. The Barrett- Jackson team refused to just ride the popularity wave and instead set the standard for the entire collector car show industry.

Tom Barrett by all means had the rarest and best vehicles in the auction and he earned himself the name “Grandfather of the Collector Car Industry”, and Russ Jackson had the talent of finding the vehicles and restoring them to “cherry” status. At this point Russ found that he would be able to be more successful by bringing his two sons into the mix and their names are Brian Jackson and Craig Jackson and also his wife whose name is Nellie for she ran all of the inner office management operations.

The company continued to change through the 1990’s and grew bigger and bigger each year. Russ Jackson died in 1993 and his son Brian also died of cancer in 1995. Barrett decided to retire in 1997 and died seven years later. In 1997 Craig Jackson took the company to a new level as he had been involved very early in the game and had all the necessary talents to take this company to new heights.

Craig Jackson and his many talents lead the Barrett-Jackson to growth they had never known by a big expansion and state of the art innovations. The auction started to have live appearances on the SPEED channels in 1997. In that same year you were also able to place auction bids online. The 1998 auction brought 65% increase in sales, a 17 million dollar sale, and over 100,000 spectators came to the auction from all over the world. 1998 marked this event as a major cyber success over the World Wide Web. This year also brought about the introduction of a world-renowned fashion show.

Through the next few years the Barrett-Jackson became more famous for offering more Hot rods and muscle car categories. In 2005 the Barrett- Jackson became one of the first auction houses to offer cars for bid with no reserve pricing which translated into the winner of the car was the highest bidder. This concept brought Barrett- Jackson to even newer heights with the sales totals in 2006 reaching above $100 million. In 2007 they saw an increase to $112 million, and then the recession hit and numbers began to slide a bit like in 2008 they saw revenues of $88 million, 2009 saw $63 million and $68 million in 2010. The business model Craig Jackson used worked and showed immense profits and success. Although the dollars may have been down the attendance in the years of 2008-2010 reached over 400,000 people.

Due to all the success that has taken place in Scottsdale, AZ they even started an auction in the eastern US. The first auction on the east coast took place in 2003 in Palm Beach, Florida. Not only did they show up but they also enjoyed a tremendous success in auction sales and high numbers in attendance from spectators. In the 2009 auction they had earned over $20 million in revenue from the Palm Beach auction. These numbers were reached by the sale of 480 vehicles and the admission of over 1,000 bidders. In 2009 Barrett-Jackson first endorsed Collector Car Insurance, which was policies created specifically for car collectors.

Over the last fifty years Barrett-Jackson have brought a simple love of cars to a thriving and very successful business that continues to grow with each passing year. They had seen a slump in sales from 2008-2010 and were not going to rest on the fact that the economy was sluggish, instead they took more aggressive measures to grow the company in a vertical direction. They teamed up with an equity firm and have continued to grow their shows to the Las Vegas, Nevada area where they hosted the show at the Mandalay Bay Hotel and Casino. This Las Vegas show saw profits of over $24 million which was the direct result of 533 auto sales and 50,000 spectators from around the world came to watch and bid.

In 2009 the owner of the company Craig Jackson decided to make an open commitment to bring the show to Orange County, California in 2010. In that show alone they were able to move 358 cars and had over 58,000 guests come to attend and watch the auction. The SPEED channel now has the auction on 18 hours a day of which all the coverage is live which brought profits to a level never seen before.

With all the changes and innovations this family run company makes they continue to strengthen their position on the worldwide stage. Because of the innovations made by Craig Jackson this sport can be enjoyed by more than just the ultra-wealthy and dealers but also by families and average auto enthusiasts. Every year marks a new success in the Barrett-Jackson legacy. 

Here is a cool drifting video we shot last time we went to the Auction.  Drifting at Barrett Jackson

I bet visitors who are in town enjoying a winter rental in Arizona were a little surprised to see fog on the ground, and I bet they most likely booked their lodging through Arizona Lodging Experts, the premier Scottsdale property management with over 10 years experience in helping people to find great rentals in Arizona.

It was exciting to see the foggy conditions, because it’s so rare for Arizona, but it was also difficult to drive in the fog without feeling a little unsafe, you know what I mean. It all worked out well as the fog lifted at about 9am to reveal the clouds over the surrounding mountains, including Camelback and Mummy Mountain.

We are being told to be prepared for a warm winter, so we are expecting more visitors to make their way to Arizona, and we welcome them gladly. If anyone is looking for lodging in Arizona, all you have to do is contact Arizona Lodging Experts at 602-404-2982 and 866-785-2350. They will do their very best to find you a great rental from one of their Arizona home rentals, condos or townhomes. Call the experts today!