After dropping Caroline off at her Sunday meeting on the corner of Camelback and Central I walked three miles to a coffee shop on 7th Street, south of Thomas Avenue, called Bikini Beans. Along the way, I passed a tavern that was packed before lunch (there was no hint of brunch specials, just booze). I passed a church and a strip club and Cruisin’ 7th, claiming to have “The Best Drag Show In Town.” Of course, I came across a number of other coffee shops but I was heading to the place featuring bikinis.
So was it worth the extra miles? Well if it’s a cold day you won’t be seeing much in the way of a bikini, though I was assured they were on and it was even proven. Sadly, there is no indoor service but they do have wifi and four small tables outside so I had a spot to jot down this brief blog entry.
There are a lot of people looking to catch a glance of a bikini-clad young woman on a Sunday morning because their drive-thru stays busy. Next door is the Bible Baptist Church promising bible studies which make for the perfect contrast of Bikinis and Bibles. Across the street, the Urbancookies Bakeshop beckons, but I have an ounce of willpower left.
I wasn’t going to be here very long as I have three miles to walk back and in any case, there’s no gawking without being a creeper. This though raises the question of my dilemma by straddling a generation that was raised on titillation and having become a person who would like to be beyond the juvenile antics of copping a glance. Then again would anyone judge me for ogling some drag queens up the street or praying fervently in front of Jesus nailed to a cross?
My walk back will take me through some residential streets in order to avoid some of the homeless people I passed on the way here and to keep me a distance from the heavy traffic on the main thoroughfare. Being outside on this pleasant day while news reports talk of heavy snows in the Pacific Northwest and sporadic snow in the Northeast reminds me of how lucky we are to live in Phoenix, Arizona, where I can enjoy an iced coffee while wearing shorts and having my sleeves rolled up.
Walking through the side streets I heard drums in the distance and those could only mean one thing: the annual Heard Museum World Championship Hoop Dance Contest. I stopped in for a short while to reminisce about a previous visit and realized that Caroline and I should have made time yesterday to sit in on the competition. I couldn’t stay long as Caroline would be done with her meeting around 3:00 pm and I still had a couple of miles to walk back to our car.
We learned about No Festival Required from Lisa Takata, a local group dedicated to bringing interesting films to the Valley. Today they were showing the documentary Keep Talking about saving the Kodiak Alutiiq language spoken on a tiny island where only 40 people can still speak in their native tongue. Sadly we weren’t able to attend but hopefully, the organizers will have some other inspired titles coming up. And that’s how we spent a good portion of our Sunday.