In "the batcave" at Carlsbad Tavern
Followed Monday's plan: swim for about 20 minutes, rotisserie in the sun for 10 minutes per side, then back in the pool for another 20 before getting out, grabbing drinks (strawberry daiquiri and raspberry margarita) and moseying over to the Oasis pool for the ritual card game. (Lauri won, bringing to tally to 5-2.) Then back to the room for a nap.
I brought the logbook up to date, sitting on the patio. It was warm, but not too much so. I pulled out the guidebooks and the few Sedona books we'd picked up the day before, to identify those places we'd been, the sights we'd seen, and to attempt to put names to all the rock formations we'd taken pictures of. The books didn't help much, as they don't tell you which rock formation is visible from which spot, the pictures of said formations don't have captions, and the actual names of them have changed over the years due to tourists getting the names confused.
It's our hypothesis that two different-looking formations both labeled Cathedral Rock are in fact the same rock formation shot from two different vantage points. We picked up with the Annual Vacation Cribbage Tournament (AVCT), playing two games on the patio while the temperatures crept upward. A 1-1 tie brought the standings to 6-3. During the between-game intermission, I popped over to the lobby to notify the concierge of our dinner plans. Made reservations at a place called Carlsbad Tavern.
After the 2nd game, it was time to get ready. We had double-checked the address to avoid a repeat of Monday's follies. The 6:30 reservation gave us plenty of time, and we headed south on Hayden again, past Camelback and into "uncharted territory." Found the restaurant easily enough. There's a big bat hanging over the archway entrance, and a faux-rock wall in the dining room completes the cavern theme. The place serves New Mexican cuisine, and by that I don't mean nouveau Mexican, but cuisine from the state of New Mexico. (The Carlsbad pun should have been a clue.)
We started with chips and salsa, worth mentioning because the chips came in 4 flavors and the salsas were very tasty - a traditional chunky tomato salsa that was intensely flavored but not hot, and a tomatillo salsa that was fresh, not creamy (as they typically are in Houston), with a vibrant tartness.
Lauri ordered the Chipotle Stroganoff Chicken Pasta (believe it or not, that's just one dish) while I picked the crab-stuffed poblanos. Both were very lively--like the place itself--with a bit of a kick that made my nose run. Inscribed on the back of the archway as we left: "Be careful, it's a desert out there."
No grocery stops needed on this outing, so we drove back to the condo to relax the rest of the evening. Lauri read; I updated the log.