The Organ Stop

The top photo is Mike and Julie Sorkki and Gary and me. Mike is Gary's cousin. We had lots of fun with them--not only sightseeing stuff, but two rousing evenings of Mexican Train. They are living in Mesa for the winter to see if it helps Mike's asthma--so far so good. The rest of the year they live in Astoria.



The Organ Stop is an amazing pizza place in Mesa. Mike and Julie took us there and we had yummy pizza and were treated to two sets by this organist on the biggest pipe organ I've ever seen. It rises from the basement and turns so each side of the restaurant can see the keyboard, then stops for the main part of the show, then descends as he finishes the last song. The place was packed. Of course, he played a lot of oldies and singalong songs of my folks' generation (I Want a Girl, Just Like the Girl That Married Dear Old Dad, etc). From our vantage point on the second floor, we could see how many Canadians come to Mesa in the winter when he played "O Canada" (they were all standing--at least 2/3 of the audience on the ground floor. Then he played "God Bless America" and we all stood and sang along. Very loud but lots of fun. I recommend it to anyone who travels to Mesa, AZ!