Don’t worry: Musical Instrument Museum

Before we get started, the above is the view from the window of our suite at the Sonesta. But before you condemn our fruit-deprived lodging choice as the stuff of fools, you should know that we drove 15 miles back from downtown Phoenix last night, after befriending the Oscar Mayer neuroscientist, only to find that she and her wiener mobile are staying at the Sonesta with us!

It’s a funny thing about this hotel too. As modest as it looks, it’s right on the border of a little town called Paradise Valley. Every time we leave the hotel to stroll over to the closest strip mall, Ron and I are falling apart over the cars that are driving by. I’m a serious car person despite my 13-year-old SUV. There are $150,000 Porsches by the dozen. Tonight, in the strip mall across the street, waiting for some takeout, was a $507,000 2021 Ferrari Spider. We have seen hundreds of Teslas, a Rolls Royce, a $230,000 Bentley Continental convertible and more, more, more.

I needed to know more. A little research shows that the per capital income for Paradise Valley is $132,000. Compare to Phoenix? $34,000. Tacoma? $33,000. Looking around online, I cannot find a city with a higher per capita. I welcome corrections.

A few of you reached out to mention that we were going to miss out on seeing the Musical Instrument Museum (MIM) because I failed to list it yesterday. Fret not – we were there today.

I know I went on and on about the Hall of Flame museum but the MIM is just an epic place. While it purports to be an impressive collection of over 8000 musical instruments from 200 countries, what really makes the MIM special is the intuitive layout and flow of the building.

The building flows out in various hallways. One hallway is Asia, another is Europe etc. And once you’re in a hall, you find single displays for each country, along with a few clothing items, a bit of cultural information, and a bunch of instruments. Each display also has a video loop of citizens playing some of the weirder instruments. Here’s a board for Romania and then Turkey:

Here are a few of the instruments that grabbed my attention:

None of these pictures really do justice to what I loved so much. The museum is really a travelogue, a way to almost float around above the world, peering into hundreds of cultures from the comfort of one building. I left with a few memorable pictures but with my mind ablaze with rekindled memories of what I love so much about traveling. I had vast, sweeping plans as I walked around: entire year off to circle the world, residential stays in Botswana and Poland, me in a sarong that magically stayed tied, swapping stories at a bar in Bali.

I worry that I’ll be fired from my job for even putting all of this in print but such is the level of euphoria to be gained from the MIM. If you find yourself in Phoenix – GO! Our last day is tomorrow – the Wrigley Mansion and Taliesen West.