March 9, 2004 - 9:53 p.m.
CAREFREE, Ariz. -- There are places where moments feel like forever but the days fly by. Places where the only indication of the passage of time is the slight movement of the burning sun. This is one of those places.
Carefree, Ariz., is about 45 minutes northeast of Phoenix and home to The Boulders resort community, where I'm making my home for the week. The houses and buildings here are built to look as though they were hewn right out of the mountains upon which they sit. Easy Street and Nonchalant Avenue intersect near Sundial Circle, which surrounds the world's largest sundial in the center of town.
Everything here is built for comfort, and since it's 92 degrees here this week, everything built for comfort is living up to its purpose.
The zoning laws here are strict. Only certain parcels of land may be bought and in The Boulders community, houses may only be built on certain portions of the lot. It's partly to preserve the environment, but also to allow everyone who lives here a decent view of the desert.
People here sit on patios and chat, or take early morning strolls. Some use golf carts to get from A to B and everyone -- I mean everyone -- enjoys the outdoors. This is an amazing place.
Carefree is next door to the community of Cave Creek. If Carefree is that neat, cleancut kid we all knew from high school who played golf and was captain of the football team, then Cave Creek is the pot-smoking, beer-drinking hippy who hung out in the hallway. But that's what makes Cave Creek great. Zoning laws are absent from this small town. In fact, a lot of laws are absent from Cave Creek. Buildings are built any way their builders please, anywhere their builders please. "The Horny Toad" bar is just down the street from its counterpart, "The Satisfied Frog." The president of the Hell's Angels celebrated his 65th birthday at a bar in town. There are art galleries, open air shopping malls and a fantastic restaurant we're going to on Thursday. It's a weird combination of crass and class and absolutely one of the coolest places in the desert.
What I've noticed about both places (Cave Creek and Carefree) is that the people in each seem ridiculously happy. We talked to the owner of "Hollywood Cowboy," a store that sells humungous posters from old western movies. He was an investor on Wall Street -- had a seat on the Exchange -- and left it all to come here. Bought property on a whim, started the store on another whim, and has been here since. He never felt like going back to the city. For 340 days out of the year, the sun shines on Arizona. It's hard to find that anywhere else, and I think because of that, it's hard not to love this place.
 |
 |
