Back in town, Scottsdale's Fleischer Museum is a strange place. The urban, Post-Modern round building of pink and green marble rises from the middle-of-nowhere desert landscape. It houses Morton Fleischer's finance corporation, as well as his collection of American Impressionist paintings. Rich. Focused. Fleischer especially likes early 20th century California plein-air paintings: landscapes of chaparral-covered hills, missions, Cambria.
Our plan was to end the trip with a visit to the Mystery Castle, a quirky mansion at the city's south end, built over 30 years out of stone and scavenged material. But we scrapped the idea to explore (translation: window shop) the Borgata, a Tuscan-style shopping mall on Scottsdale Road. Creeping fig climbs the towers; cafes have tables on shady patios. Soooooo relaxing. After a late lunch there at Cafe Terra Cotta, we forced ourselves back out into 21st century Phoenix, and drove to the airport.
