Robert Thoresen
PCQC members completed two photo shoots recently. On January 29 the group ascended up to the DeGrazia Gallery in the Sun to take photographs of the 10 acre historical site in the Santa Catalina foothills. Ettore (Ted) DeGrazia completed his second Tucson gallery, Gallery in the Sun, in 1952 and also built his residence on the site. The adjoining Mission in the Sun was also completed in 1952, honoring Father Kino and dedicated to Our Lady of Guadalupe, patron saint of Mexico. The mission is very rustic and offers sanctuary for visitors year round. The facilities were originally all hand built and are now home to 15,000 DeGrazia originals including oil paintings, watercolors, ceramics and sculptures. For lunch members headed downhill to the corner of Swan Road and East Sunrise Drive for the fabulous entrees at Trattoria Pina. Rated number 45 of 1,721 restaurants in Tucson by Tripadvisor.com, this has to be one of the best spots in town for Italian Cuisine. According to Dr. Tory on his visit last month—”My wife and I were excited to go to this restaurant for the first time because it’s hard to find good Italian in Tucson. We started off with fantastic bread and a bottle of wine (Bogle Zinf) which started the meal off right. The waiter was amazing and the meal wasn’t disappointing. Then the tray of ridiculous desserts came out; what to do? So many terrific choices. We chose the rocky road chocolate cake and the lemon coconut which both were delightful. We will be back with the kids because we heard that their pizza was fantastic as well.”
About three weeks later club members paid a visit to Philabaum Glass Gallery and Studio (philabaumglass.com), at the Five Points section of Tucson, seven blocks south of Downtown City Center. The gallery exhibits contemporary glass art from across the country as well as glass art created in the studio by owner Tom Philabaum and his team of artisans. The present gallery and studio was created in 1985, expanded from what was an original Tastee-Freeze. The studio spearheads blown glass and uses a broad array of techniques including kiln casting, fusing, slumping and calle de verre. Philabaum glass installations are found throughout Tucson and Phoenix locations that include residences, churches and commercial establishments. Lunch was served at the Barrio Brewing Company (O’Toole and 16th Street), located in a light industrial section of town boasting 12 microbrews. According to Larry S. on his visit on February 5, “Barrio has been a favorite for a long time. Not fancy, but just a cool place to have an awesome brew. The food is good, too. Love the location.” A rating of 131 out of 1,721 restaurants in Tucson will leave a good impression.
The PCQC was formed in 2009 and makes regularly scheduled field trips throughout the year. All Quail Creek residents are invited to the monthly meetings the second Wednesday of the month at the Madera Clubhouse. For current events and further details go to the club’s website at http://www.pcqc.org.