Congress Hotel - Tucson AZ

 

March 2014 - Tucson AZ

As is normal for me I came across these photos while looking for something else.

I had breakfast at the Hotel Congress on our itinerary for Tucson on one of our drives across the US.

I didn't actually have a photo of our coffee, but breakfast was in the Cup Cafe.

Menu and why Dillinger (see below)? 

The Hotel Congress is a federally-recognized historic building located in downtown Tucson. It was built in 1918 and designed by the Los Angeles architectural firm William and Alexander Curlett as part of an expansion of Congress Street and in conjunction with the theatrical venue Rialto Theatre, which sits north of Congress Street.  

The name "The Congress Hotel" was chosen through a naming competition organized by the Arizona Daily Star newspaper in 1918. The winning suggestion was announced on April 30, 1918, and it was submitted by Dorit Dinkel, who won $15 worth of baby bonds for having their name chosen. 

The Hotel is known for being the site of the capture of gangster and bank robber John Dillinger in 1934. After a series of bank robberies, the Dillinger Gang arrived in Tucson to hide out. On January 22, 1934, a fire started in the basement and spread up to the third floor, where the gang resided under aliases. 

After the desk clerk contacted them through the switchboard the gang escaped by aerial ladders. On the request of the gang, two firemen retrieved their luggage, identifying who they were. After being transferred to a jail in Crown Point, Indiana, Dillinger escaped again and was eventually shot down in Chicago, Illinois.

The hotel has basically maintained the inside decor as it was during the 1930s when the notorious gangster John Dillinger and his gang were arrested in 1934.

The Cup Cafe floor is made of 177,000 pennies. Sadly, as of 2021 the penny floor is gone in lieu of the original tile laid down in 1919.

I'm pretty sure this wasn't there in 1919 either.

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April 2021 - Toronto ON

Click here for a history of Toronto lane naming and a list of other lanes. That post is a work in progress, and gets updated frequently.

Front St. near St. Lawrence Market

It appears that Farquhars Lane is named not after any individual, but for a Farquhar family, who were builders, pavers, stonecutters and construction workers in the late nineteenth and early twentieth centuries.

James Farquhar (d.1890) was an English-born mason who had been employed by John Worthington at Queenston in the 1850s, and later partnered with a nephew, George Farquhar, to operate stone quarries, lime works, and a building-material and contracting business. James had two sons, Ewart and Charles, who initially worked for him, and then in 1873 established their own contracting firm, E. & C. Farquhar, specializing in street paving.

Toronto-born, elder son, Ewart (1848-1935), withdrew from the firm about 1889, successfully ran in Toronto for alderman in 1891; then returned to the building business as a member of Messrs. Farquhar & Yorke, Cut Stone Contractors & Builders. 

Charles, was born in Queenston in 1853. After the dissolution of E. & C. Farquhar, Charles operated his own business, at times employing as many as 300 workers, principally in street paving in Toronto.

In addition to this definite Farquhar family in the construction business, there was also a William Farquhar, who had “a stonecutting business at the foot of Church Street”, as cited by Eric Arthur in his book, “Toronto: No Mean City.” In the 1860s, William operated in partnership with David Ramsay as Ramsay & Farquhar, and his stonework enjoyed considerable prominence, most famously in Toronto in The Golden Lion, a building constructed at 33-43 King Street East for dry-goods merchants, R. Walker & Sons, the largest retail business in Ontario in the late 1860s. The site is now occupied by the King Edward Hotel.

In the 1870s, William operated W. Farquhar & Co., in partnership with Alexander Manning and others, to build the Parliamentary Library in Ottawa.

Whether William was also a member of the above family, I have been unable to determine as yet, but with such personal distinctions, and the proximity to the lane of some of them, I am inclined to believe that it is actually William alone who is the namesake.

Of note - the King Edward Hotel plaque mentions it was built by Gooderham's company. One of Gooderham's buildings is just down the street from Farquhars Lane, it's green domed roof can just be seen in the photo above.

The Gooderham Building, also known as the Flatiron Building, is an historic office building It is located on the eastern edge of the city's Financial District (east of Yonge Street) in the St. Lawrence neighbourhood, wedged between Front Street and Wellington Street where they join up to form a triangular intersection. Completed in 1892, the red-brick edifice was an early example of a prominent flatiron building.

The Gooderham Building is the focal point of one of Toronto's most iconic vistas: looking west down Front Street towards the building's prominent rounded corner, framed on the sides by the heritage commercial blocks along Front Street, and with the skyscrapers of the Financial District towering in the background. The CN Tower is also visible from certain angles behind Brookfield Place. This vista frequently appears in imagery of the city.

The mural in the plaque below is on the back side of the building.

Day 32 New Zealand - Rotorua to Auckland

Wednesday 25th March, 2015 - (GS47AL) Rotorua to Auckland via Waitomo incl Lunch
Transfer Type: Seat in Coach
Duration: 7.75 hour(s)
Pick up: 7:25am Millennium Hotel Rotorua , Rotorua , New Zealand
Drop off: 3:10pm SkyCity Hotel Auckland , Auckland , New Zealand


Enjoy a day trip from Rotorua to Auckland through lush rolling farm landscape to the mystical
Waitomo Glowworm Caves.


Up, packed and ready to go, once again. Our guide this morning is Shelly, a Maori. She is helpful, knowledgeable and fun.

We are first on the bus, yeah! We pick up an Indian couple who we had encountered somewhere along the way on another tour. We then pick up a couple who were at last night's dinner, although they don't recognize us. They proceed to sit on either side in the two rows directly behind us. This is a large tour bus and there are only two other couples aboard.
Then they have a rather loud conversation about where they will store their luggage in Auckland while waiting to go to the airport. How much more NZ money they may need. Then have sandwiches.

 Our mascot for the ride.

We start out in the fog as we drive through prime cattle country.

Shelly stops and says kia ora to these fishermen.

We pick up more fog.

Coffee break and John has a delicious sausage roll.

We drop a couple off before the caves.

After lunch enjoy a guided tour through the galleries and lofty chambers of the Caves. Your tour culminates with a boat ride through the Glowworm Grotto - lit up by thousands of tiny living lights.

We do the caves before lunch. No photography allowed in the caves for safety reasons. It is too dark and there are too many people.

This is a video talking about glow worms.

The Waitomo Glowworm Caves attraction is a cave at Waitomo on the North Island of New Zealand, known for its population of glowworms, Arachnocampa luminosa. This species is found exclusively in New Zealand. They are around the size of a matchstick.

The attraction has a modern visitor centre at the entrance, largely designed in wood. There are organized tours that include a boat ride under the glowworms.

After walking through the caves we boarded the boat where the guy beside me proceeded to whack the side of my glasses with the strp of his backpack while trying to put it on.

You are asked to be as quiet as possible while in the caves. It is a very hallowed feeling as you glide under the canopy of glowworms covering the ceiling like stars in a cathedral.

We were allowed to photo once we were leaving the caves.

We are the only people from our group that had lunch included with their tour. Shelly meets us and directs us to a reserved table. We browse the menu, not very hungry, it is only 11:30.

Shelly takes our wine order and then a meal is brought to us. It is a set menu. Steak and fish. And then dessert came!

We pick up a few more people at the caves for the journey to Auckland.

Continue your journey through to Auckland.

Kiwis are grown behind these privy hedges to protect them from New Zealand's persistent winds.

Coffee break.

Auckland, a city where one out of every six residents owns a boat, is nicknamed the City of
Sails. Sprawling across two large harbours, it is the largest city in New Zealand. As the main gateway to New Zealand, Auckland has a multi cultural population of more than a million people and is surrounded by expansive parklands and water.
Cultured and cosmopolitan, progressive and historic, Polynesian and European, accessible to
beaches and forests, adventure sports and leisure activities, Auckland offers something for everyone.

Accommodation:
SkyCity Hotel Auckland

Duration: 1 night


Located on the corner of Victoria and Federal Streets, this hotel is located right in the centre of
the city close to all major attractions and shopping. Part of the SkyCity complex which includes a
casino, the hotel has 344 rooms of varying standards most of which have harbour views.

This is our last evening before we head back to LA.

This hotel is right smack in the middle of the city and right next to the Sky tower. Taken as we drive in.

We check in and ask for a late check out tomorrow. It is free until noon and then $28 until 4 PM. Perfect.  Dicky, taking our bags to the room assures us that he can get us the best price, for cash, to the airport tomorrow, just come see him in the morning.

Outside the hotel, which is across from the Sky City Grand Hotel are some restaurants with outside seating.

 We head out to do some exploring. This is a very hilly city much like Seattle!!
I stop into this wool shop and can't resist buying a merino cape.

Great location, bad wine. John even asked her if that was their house brand, as it was so bad and she said no.

KZ 1 was a sailing yacht used to challenge for the 1988 America's Cup. KZ 1 is now on display near the National Maritime Museum in downtown Auckland.

We climb up Queen St.

We decide to go for pizza at Da Vinci's around the corner from the hotel. It was excellent and the service was outstanding.

Fuzzy cell phone pics.