Some of the best days are the ones you barely plan. We met up with cousin Elana and Uncle Joby for a west-side outing — start with good barbecue, end with a science center, and let the afternoon fill in the rest.
🍖 Eric’s Barbecue – West Side
First stop, lunch. Eric’s Barbecue sits in an old Spanish-tile spot on the west side, and the second you walk in you know it’s a real one — graffiti-painted walls, hockey sticks and license plates, an Anthony Bourdain shrine, and the smell of smoke baked into the place.
The brisket and the mac were the real deal. Thumbs up all around — well, from the ones who eat barbecue.
Elana, loyal as ever, stuck to her one true love: the fries. Brisket, ribs, pulled pork — didn’t matter. Fries. Respect the commitment.
While we waited on the table, the girls found the corner arcade and went straight for the light-gun cabinet, dead-eye focus and all. And keeping watch over the whole room: Bourdain himself, with the only wall quote that matters in a barbecue joint.
“Barbecue may not be the road to world peace, but it’s a start.” — Anthony Bourdain
🔬 Arizona Science Center
Bellies full, we pointed the car at downtown and spent the rest of the afternoon at the Arizona Science Center — three floors of “don’t just look, go touch it.”
We climbed into a mock cockpit and pretended to fly the whole family to who-knows-where…
…stopped to gawk at a giant amethyst geode, the kind of rock that makes you go quiet for a second.
There was a wall of vintage cast-iron skillets and a big map of where the Valley’s water actually comes from — snowmelt, dams, canals, all the way to the tap. The grown-up favorites, honestly.
Then it was all hands-on. Up the spinning ball-pit ramp…
…hauling on the pulley to feel how the old canal crews moved the water…
…and a brave turn on the bed of nails (the trick is to lie flat and trust the physics).
The light-and-shadow rooms were the sleeper hit — freezing your silhouette on a glowing wall and chasing the colors.
There was a giant bubble you stand inside of…
…a big screen that put the girls right up on the wall…
…and a wall of glowing X-rays and microscope shots that was made for striking a pose.
🍦 One for the Road
We closed it out the right way — ice cream and cold water in the shade of the downtown courtyard, everybody worn out in the best way.
Good barbecue, good cousins, and a whole lot of buttons pushed. That’s a day.
“Go touch everything.”