Crazy Christmas Light Displays Are A Phoenix Tradition

Have you ever noticed the tendency of Phoenix residents to go overboard with Christmas lights during the winter? Some say it is to compensate for the lack of snow, while others suggest that these people simply have too much time on their hands. Whatever the case, elaborate Christmas light displays are an annual tradition among Phoenix residents.

But of course, you don't want to waste your time looking at a couple of strings of icicle lights dangling from the roof of some guy's garage. You want to see the best light displays in town, and they're all listed here on the North Phoenix Blog!

ZooLights at the Phoenix Zoo - Phoenix, AZ
Lights: 2,500,000
Dates: November 26 - January 10, 2010
Time: 6pm to 10pm nightly
Price: $7 Sunday-Thursday, $9 Friday-Saturday
Check out more than 500 custom made displays of lights at the Phoenix Zoo! Great fun for the whole family! Visit the Phoenix ZooLights website for a complete event schedule and information about special discount days.

Glendale Glitters - Glendale, AZ
Lights: 1,500,000
Dates: November 27 - January 16, 2010
Time: 6pm to 10pm nightly
Price: FREE
The City of Glendale continues its tradition of excellence with the 16th annual Glendale Glitters event. Enjoy fantastic colored light displays along with food and beverage vendors, a 30-foot tall Christmas tree, and live music on select nights. Horse-drawn carriage rides are also available for $25.

Private Christmas Light Displays
If driving around to look at Christmas lights is more of your style, then I highly recommend you check out the Christmas Light Maps published by The Arizona Republic. They have maps of the best private displays in the whole valley, so check it out!

Some Phoenix residents have even put together their own websites detailing their elaborate Christmas light displays. One site you absolutely must visit is AhwatukeeHolidays.com. Not only does their display feature over 150,000 lights (one of the largest private displays in the state!), but their website is also a comprehensive guide to other fantastic displays around town.

If you know about a great Christmas light display near you, please post a comment below and tell us about it! No registration is required!

Weird Arizona Features Local Legends and More

I've always said that there's more to Arizona than just golf courses and suburban sprawl. If you need proof, just pick up a copy of the book "Weird Arizona." This book contains some of the greatest local legends and best kept secrets of Arizona's history, and it's all stuff that you won't find in ordinary Arizona travel brochures.

Weird Arizona by Wesley Treat features over 120 stories that cover everything from Roadside Oddities to Unexplained Phenomena. Have you ever wondered about the origins of Meteor Crater, or the gunfight at the OK Corral? What about the famous Phoenix Lights of 1997? They're all in here, along with plenty of other good tales that you may not have heard of before.

Learn about the mysterious vortexes of Sedona and the wooden plank road that once crossed the sand dunes near Yuma, Arizona. Read the tales of phantom hitchhikers and ancient civilizations. This is not fringe material from your local tinfoil hat-wearing yokels, these are genuine Arizona legends from verifiable sources. Whether you believe them or not, they're an important part of Arizona's history and culture.

There's a lot more to Arizona than you might think. Whether you're interested in history, trivia, or just anything out of the ordinary, Weird Arizona has something for everyone. Weird Arizona is an excellent gift for a friend, spouse, and even yourself! Grab yourself a copy today from Amazon, Borders, or Barnes and Noble today!

Microsoft Store Scottsdale Opening Day Photos

Yesterday was the grand opening of the new Microsoft Store in Scottsdale Fashion Square mall. I went down there to check it out and yes, it is alarmingly similar to the Apple Store. The real question though is whether Microsoft's retail store is strong enough to take a bite out of Apple's business.

Apple currently has six retail stores in the state of Arizona, with locations in Chandler, Gilbert, Glendale, Phoenix, Scottsdale, and one in Tucson. The Scottsdale location opened earlier this year on Scottsdale Road just south of Kierland Blvd.

The non-traditional nature of the Apple store has been a smash hit for the Cupertino-based computer company. Products are displayed on tables instead of in boxes, shelves, and display cases. They are plugged in and turned on, ready to be used by customers. Employees are friendly and ready to demonstrate the products instead of hiding behind registers. To top it all off, the stores are bright and airy with elegant wood floors.

Walking into the Microsoft Store today was like entering a parallel universe. I saw the same open-air products, ready to be used. I saw the same wood flooring and bright lighting. I saw the same hip, friendly employees with lanyard nametags. There was even cool ambient music playing in the background.

But instead of iPods and Macbooks, they were selling Zunes and netbooks loaded with Windows Seven. Instead of the Genius Bar, they had an Answers counter. It was weird at first, but like they say in "Pirates of Silicon Valley:" Good artists copy, great artists steal.

The store was absolutely packed with people during the middle of the day on a Thursday. There were hoardes of employees and a motley crew of customers including everyone from bearded old men to little kids. Several XBOX 360 game consoles were set up with their screens projected on the wall.

The walls of the store were covered in a massive array of nearly-borderless LCD monitors. They had a cool spacey-looking background with product ads cycling through every few minutes.

Several of the Microsoft Surface platforms were on display throughout the store, at various heights for various-sized customers. The shorter one was running a kids game while the taller ones were being used to demo the Photo Viewer and Virtual Earth applications. It wasn't long before I had a chance to use one for myself.

The Surface platform was like a magnet: anyone who walked by it stopped dead in their tracks to watch. Using only my fingers, I pulled up a map of the United States and zoomed in to Las Vegas, Nevada. I tapped the icon to switch to Satellite view and a high-resolution image of The Strip appeared. I was able to zoom in on some very fine details at each of the major resort-casinos. Overall it was very easy to use. The only thing I couldn't find was any sort of Street Level view, a feature found in Google Earth.

The Microsoft Store in Scottsdale had lots of cool things on display to see and touch. The employees were friendly and a cute female employee even gave me a free "Bing" t-shirt. If the new Windows 7 is strong enough to repair Microsoft's image with customers after the Windows Vista disaster, then this new retail store could very well be a key component of a new and stronger Microsoft.

What's So Special About In-N-Out Burger?

When In-N-Out Burger first came to Arizona nine years ago, I didn't understand what the fuss was all about. Now I have a much better understanding of what it is that makes In-N-Out so special: it's everything.

In-N-Out Burger started in California way back in 1948. Since then, they have grown to 248 restaurants with locations in California, Nevada, Arizona, and Utah. The first Arizona location opened at Scottsdale Road and Frank Lloyd Wright Blvd. in the year 2000.

At the time, In-N-Out's entry into the Phoenix area was an event that made headlines. It was more than just the grand opening of a new burger stand; it was an event that people came to be part of. My dad took me there on opening day and I was shocked at the long line of cars snaking its way around the parking lot. We must have waited over an hour to get to the front of the line, it was so busy! I had never seen anything like it. After all, they are just burgers, right?

After that first bite, I began to understand why In-N-Out's motto is "Quality You Can Taste." The burger was juicy and flavorful like nothing I'd ever had before. The bun was toasted and the preparation was first rate. My burger was put together with care and not hastily slapped together. The fries were plain, but good. Since that day, In-N-Out has grown on me to the point where I now preach its goodness to others.

Every location is owned by the company and not by a franchisee. This gives the company very tight control over each restaurant. The dining area is clean and spotless with an almost surgical precision. The employees are friendly and glad to see you. They treat you like a real person, and they have never gotten my order wrong.

The menu at In-N-Out has a basic offering of burgers, fries, and drinks with shakes for dessert. There are no gimmicky new items-of-the-month like wraps, tacos, or smoothies. The focus is squarely on burgers done very well.

Every In-N-Out restaurant is staffed with people who work hard, because you can see them preparing the food from the register. You can watch them cut the fries from real potatoes and prepare the burger to perfection right in front of you.

In an industry where things switch to drive-thru only after 10PM, In-N-Out offers dine-in service until 1am on weeknights and 1:30am on weekends. Somehow my local restaurant always seems to be packed, even after midnight on a weeknight.

There is no single factor that makes In-N-Out better than the competition, because they do everything differently. In the world of fast food, In-N-Out defies the "bigger is better" mentality of its rivals. This different way of thinking has earned In-N-Out the most loyal, dare I say, fanatical customers I have ever seen.

If you haven't tried an In-N-Out Burger for yourself, then you're missing out on "Quality You Can Taste." There are over a dozen Arizona locations that would love to serve you, so try it out today!

Check Out the Sunnyslope Art Walk on Saturday, October 10th

Phoenix's "First Fridays" Art Walk is the place to be if you like crowds, noise, and a whole lot of freaky people. The monthly event draws thousands to downtown, where they smoke and mingle and look cool. So where do you go if you're actually interested in local art without being trampled by scenesters? The answer may surprise you.

One of the best kept secrets in the Phoenix art community is the Sunnyslope Artwalk. On Saturday, October 10th over 125 local artists, craftspeople, and musicians will descend on Central Avenue and Dunlap Avenue for this FREE event, sponsored by Sunnyslope W.I.N.S. and the Second Saturdays committee.

All varieties of creative work will be on display; everything from paintings to sculpture, photography to music to jewelry and more! Stick around for the film festival "On the Wall." There's something for everyone. There will be a free shuttle available as well.

If you're looking for a smaller and more intimate art event, the Sunnyslope Art Walk is just the ticket. Forget First Fridays, it's all about Second Saturdays in Sunnyslope! Come on down Saturday, October 10th from 5 to 9 pm and support your local art community!