Scottsdale - the Beverly Hills of Phoenix

Scottsdale sits about 15 minutes east of downtown Phoenix. With a historic downtown blended with a vibrant, modern arts, shopping, and culture district, Scottsdale offers a great walking experience, especially in the cooler months.

And while Scottsdale is far from a gay mecca, it even has its own gay bar, tucked away behind all the shopping. But more on that later.

When you arrive in downtown Scottsdale, there's not a whole lot to see - the city guards its secrets away on its side streets.

The downtown is divided roughly into four districts, radiating from the corner of Indian School Road and North Scottsdale Road - Old Town to the south east, the arts district to the south west, the shopping district (5th avenue) to the north west, and the entertainment district to the north east.

Starbucks, intentionally, we're sure, is at the center of this web. :)

We'll go over each of these districts in the newsletter, and what they have to offer. We'll also talk about lodging, including the gay owned place that we stayed that's not in Scottsdale, but that's very welcoming and an easy drive away.

Old Town

This was one of our two favotite districts in downtown Scottsdale, originaly built in the late 1800's.

Old town has a western charm, with historic wooden buildings and lots of shops where you can find all kinds of Southwestern decorations, art, and trinkets, including rainbow-colored indian rugs, dried chile peppers hanging from the rafters, turquoise jewelry, and much more.

One of the largest is the Gilbert Ortega store in the heart of Old Town (there are at least three of them scattered around downtown Scottsdale).

Enter the doors and you're surrounded by a bewildering cacophany of deer antlers, cow skulls, silver jewelry, southwestern colors and lots and lots of art: they had some of the most beautiful, mineral-inlaid globes we'd ever seen.

In Old Town, you'll also find some great sculptural art, both public and for sale.

in the parking lot across from the Gilbert Ortega store and down the street just half a block, one of the local galleries has some great stuff displayed under the warm Arizona sun.

In the heart of Old Town. you can also catch a carriage ride, or a pedicab ride (at left) - these are a great way to get around town - most of them don't charge an actual fare, just whatever you think is reasonable for a tip.

Look for the free walking guide "Historic Old Town Scottsdale" at the brochures cart in the middle of Old Town - you'll get a great dose of history on 15 historic structures, including The Little Red Schoolhouse, the Rusty Spur Saloon, and Cavalliere's Blacksmith Shop.

There's also the free Scottsdale Trolly shuttle bus (below center right) that winds its way through the Downtown area - look for the brightly colored stop signs (below right). The trolly runs every 10 minutes Monday-Sunday, from 11 am-9 PM (it does not run on major holidays).

For dining, Nello's Pizza is good for a quick bite, with very reasonable prices and decent pizza.

Fifth Avenue Shops / The Waterfront / Fashion

The northeast part of downtown Scottsdale is where you'll find most of the shopping in the heart of Scottsdale.

The main outdoor shopping area is the Fifth Avenue Shops, a number of small, locally owned boutique shops selling everything from art to clothing to southwester decor.

Puncuated by beautiful fountains and desert landscaping, this is a fun place to stroll through, looking for treasures and bargains. Many stores are in distress because of the bad shape of the current economy, so they'll be happy to see you stop by.

Also down here, you'll find a segway rental place called ContempoRide Segaway - if you've never tried one of these, they're a blast, but they are hard on your ankles, so be ready to take a soak in the hot tub after you spend an hour on one of these.

Fifth Avenue is also where you'll find downtown Scottsdale's only gay bar, BS West. It's a bit tricky to find it. Go to the corner of 5th Avenue and Craftsman.

Behind the building on the southeastern corner, you'll see a cute little courtyard with a green lawn and this fountain pictured at right at the back.

Walk behind the fountain, and turn south - you're facing a small alleyway.

Walk down the alley along the building to your right, and turn right at the next corner - voila - you're there.

At the back side of the 5th Avenue Shops, you'll find the creatively named Scottsdale Waterfront.

You gotta admire the vision here - the city took a rather nondescript water canal, and transformed it into a feature. With decorative landscaping, beautiful walkways, public art, and a playful water fountain, this is the newest area of Downtown Scottsdale, and it has a lot to offer.

To start, there are a number of restaurants with views of the lake. Our favorite? Olive & Ivy (see the pic below left), with a huge outdoor patio (at left), lots of seating indoors, and its own gelateria for ice cream on a hot Scottsdale day. They're open for breakfast, lunch, and dinner, and breakfast was excellent.

There's also a beautiful condo complex here overlooking the canal (pictured at left) and downtown Scottsdale which pretty much dwarfs downtown Scottsdale.

In front of the complex, there's a beautiful fountain with a little something extra - little playful bursts of water that soar up in beautiful arcs avery few seconds - see the pic below, right.

The waterfront also sports some great architecture - see the interesting modern building below center and the waterfront in tge evening, above left.

And behind the Waterfront, you'll find Fashion Square, Downtown Scottsdale's shopping mall. It's noce - not the nicest we've seen, but nice. It's certainly a great place to hang out when the temperatures top 110 degrees in the summer.

The fountain (below right) aroud the stairwell looks really cool, until you realize those perfect lines of water are really clear plastic with water running down them - kinda cheating, you know?

The really cool thing here? The glass roof above the food court, which can be opened on a nice day - very cool (below center and right).

Close to the Fifth Avenue Shops on Scottsdale Blvd., we found a little coffee and gelato place - Pastucci Coffee/The G Spot, which has fantastic gelato (longtime readers will know that this is a bit of a passion thing for us) and a great, covered outdoor patio where you can watch the pasersby and play the game Hybrid vs. Hummer - which does Scottsdale have more of?

Akthough it's not in Scottsdale, there's a great gay-owned guesthouse just 15-20 minutes away: Zenyard Guest House at 830 E. Maryland Ave. in Phoenix (866-594-0242, info@zenyard.com, zenyard.com).

The owners, Dale & Eddie, are real sweethearts - we were lucky enough to be able to enjoy dinner with them and two of their friends at Ticoz (see the restaurant section) while we were in town.

The property was run last year by a manager, but the guys weren't happy with the level of service, so they've moved into the home and are now running it themselves. They've embarked on a renovation which is already bearing fruit.

The pool area is gorgeous, with a lovely turquoise-blue pool (ask them to turn on the bubble feature) and a barbeque area. There's also a separate outdoor guest area behind the main house with patio seating, a bubbling fountain, and a hot tub, perfect fof the beautiful Phoenix evenings.

The five bedrooms include a private casita and a room that looks out over the pool area - great for man-watching in season. <grin>

The property is still a bit rough around the edges - but the owners have big plans, and their friendliness and charm make this a welcome destination for gay and lesbian travelers.

Zenyard Guest House is just 10 minutes away from Sky Harbor Airport and Downtown Phoenix, and about 15 minutes west of Downtown Scottsdale. The property is perfect for gay and lesbian singles and couples who want a comfortable, private alternative to the bland hotels. We expect great things from these guys as they continue to upgrade and renovate the property.