riverECHO

We just spent the last 48 hours in Phoenix visiting my grandparents, specifically my step dad Steve’s parents, who, since my mom and Steve married when I was 8 years old, have treated me and loved me as if I was always their grandchild. A typical visit to Phoenix takes place over the Christmas holidays so this was a treat to spend time with Papa Joe and Grandma Dollie alone. We had no agenda and I don’t think we’ve ever just sat and chatted with them for as long as we did this time.

• We found out a lot about Papa Joe’s service in the navy. He spent about two years on a little island just north of Papua New Guinea called Manus during 1944 and 1945.
• They found out why we were traveling in the first place and why we enjoyed not knowing exactly where we were going to rest our heads the first night that we arrived.

The big outing for the weekend was visiting a new Asian market called Mekong and believe me, we will remember this experience forever. From the outside it looked like a regular supermarket just with and Asian influence. But as we entered the store, Papa Joe quickly ushered us to the meats and fish museum, I mean section. We gawked in amazement at the selection that was presented before us. Quickly passing by the typical display of steaks, ground beef, and brisket, we came to a quick stop at the poultry. First the whole chicken: head, long droopy neck and all. Then just the chicken feet. Then the cow stomach lining, heart, liver, and, of course, the cow uterus. Mmmmm. Behind the displays and displays of fish, including a purple and red parrot fish, were tanks of live crab, lobster, catfish and tilapia. I wanted to order a live fish just to see how they would package it. Would they put it in a plastic baggie with water like you get a goldfish at a fair? Luckily I didn’t have to find out on my own and someone else came along and ordered two tilapia. With a net in hand, the “fish man” reached into the tank and caught two. He waited for the approval of the woman ordering the two fish before throwing them on the floor. They didn’t flip and squirm long as he quickly whacked each one over the head with a large rubber mallet. Quick and painless, right? We explored the store a little more, finding frogs, pork blood, and dade – a larva like creature that apparently is served best over rice. We quickly agreed that if we lived nearby, we would frequent the store for some interesting kitchen experiments.

Other than a few dinner outings to China Town Buffet and Marie Calendars, the rest of the weekend was spent at home with Grandma and Grandpa, either reading, talking, eating, or watching their favorite Sunday morning CBS special. It was a great visit.