This week's "Slice of" holds a special place in my heart, because it's the town where I attended college! I loved the four years I spent up at NAU, and some of my closest friends and most favorite memories were made there. It's so neat to see it through someone else's eyes! Enjoy.
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Hey, my name is Steffani {sounds like Stephanie} from IffyInklings and I'm the ripe old age of 19 years old! Danielle has given me the wonderful opportunity to tell you about my rad town, Flagstaff, where I live with my partner Vince and my dog Roxanne. I've lived in Flag my whole life and as I grew up, I hated the place. There was nothing for me to do, and I wanted to live in some big exciting city like New York or San Francisco. Now that I am actually grown {somewhat}, the thought of having to leave this beautiful place makes my heart speed up and my lungs constrict. I absolutely love Flagstaff, Arizona and am proud to say I am a local {there aren't many of us left!}.
So without further ado, here is my wonderful little town:
Going right through the center of downtown are the train tracks. Build in 1882, they are old and rickety and noisy. While the train no longer blows its whistle{as of a few months ago}, it comes through town MANY times a day. I live within hearing distance of the whistle, and I must admit that I miss hearing it everyday. It does whistle when people are in the way, though, and every time it does it makes me nervous thinking someone will be run over, which has happened many times! The Amtrak also comes through town 9:30 most nights with passengers, so I still get to hear the whistle and the actual bell that's on top of the train.
One of my favorite places to eat in Flag is Cafe Ole. It's a rather large family-owned Mexican restaurant that seems small and cozy because it's separated into multiple rooms. It is FILLED with traditional Mexican art and figurines and has Christmas lights all around, giving you a relaxing vibe. Their patio is also so amazing and is surrounded with greens and a fountain so it feels like you're in some far away paradise. You are seated by the same sweet lady every time and it is always extremely quick service. I order the exact same thing; 3 green chicken enchiladas with beans and rice! Their beans are to die for. They are just homemade pintos with barely any seasonings, which makes them taste different then the mass produced canned pintos that most restaurants serve. The salsa is also delicious, but by the time the food comes my tongue is on fire; the spice creeps up on you so watch out...
One of my favorite things in the world to do is to eat, so I'll tell you of another favorite restaurant of mine: Hiro's Sushi Bar and Japanese Restaurant. I hate hate hated sushi, until I ate sushi from there. Their rolls are rolled super tight and it's always chilled, as opposed to room temperature, which makes me gag. My favorite rolls are the Cactus, the Boston, and the Alaska. The Cactus is a roll with spicy tuna inside and the cactus is on the outside mixed with wasabi. {Side note for those gluten free eaters: I used to have to bring my own soy sauce because I am gluten free, but they now have gluten free soy sauce!}
A must-see is the view from the top of the San Francisco Peaks. There are activities up there year round, whether it's sunny and 80 degrees, or snowy and 20 degrees. During the summer there are disc golf baskets set up and tons of the most beautiful trails to go hiking on. At Arizona Snowbowl {the ski resort}, you can take the Agassiz chair lift to the top of the mountain and walk around. Be sure to wear a jacket though, because it may be 70 degrees at the bottom of the lift but could be 50 degrees at the top!
Even though I live in the middle of the desert, I live at a high elevation so we get SNOW! During the winter, you can take the lift to the top of Snowbowl and snowboard or ski down. I prefer snowboarding, though. ;)
The last thing I love about my town is the art. Art is ALL OVER downtown on buildings, sidewalks, telephone poles...pretty much anything you can draw or paint on.
It's so fun to walk around and notice the new art that popped up that week. Occasionally business owners will paint over stuff, but most of the time they just leave it.
There are also many beautiful murals that you could stare at for hours.
For a long time, this train was parked a couple blocks from my house in the train yard
I would take my dog down there to play in the snow and it always made me smile. I mean, seriously, instead of some crude art theres the word hope! How could it not make you smile? {Recently someone graffitied over it with the word 'oshit' and I cried a little inside.}
It's really hard to narrow down my favorite things about my town because there are tons of ideas that come to mind. I didn't include the cute little shops, the juice stand on the corner, local sewing shops...so many things! Now you have to come to good old Flagstaff, Arizona and take a look for yourself!
Oh, and look for these losers:
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