Last night Matt and I decided we’d try something different for our Friday evening out. What better choice is there than to go to a dog event?! I can’t think of any either…so we made our way to Downtown Mesa, AZ for an event called Dog Daze. I had never heard of the event and I don’t spend any time in or near Downtown Mesa, so I thought it’d be fun!
We had Khloee and Wynston in tow, and arrived Downtown around 6pm. It was an abnormally cool day, with a high of 75 degrees. By the time 6pm rolled around, it was chilly! I’m glad we went while the sun was still out. I really didn’t know what to expect from the event since I had never heard of it or known anyone who has gone.
Historic Downtown Mesa is really cute. It’s like a quaint small town in the middle of a big city. Although some of the stores are closed or run down, there are a lot of fun local restaurants and antique stores. The main Downtown drag was lined with vendor booths on both sides of Main Street for the event. It spanned about a half mile on each side. Most of the vendors were local artists and small businesses, with the occasional corporate company such as DirecTv.
I love supporting small businesses, but since the event is called Dog Daze, I was hoping for more pet oriented booths. I really thought it was going to be a dog event, but it didn’t seem like one at all. Some people had dogs, but more people DIDN’T have dogs.
There was scattered entertainment along Main Street which included local artists trying to make their mark on musical society. The food for sale at the main entrance booth was also local, as a majority of it was homemade.
The best part of the event was just walking the dogs with Matt. We didn’t stop any many booths because we just weren’t interested in any of the product being sold. Downtown Mesa has a lot of art history so I enjoyed stopping to take pictures of Wynston in front of monuments, statues and walls with historic significance.
Overall, it was fun for Matt and I to get out with the dogs to do something different. Next time I’d like to eat at one of the cute corner restaurants with a patio. Most of the food joints were packed since it was dinner time on a Friday night. I probably wouldn’t go back specifically for this event, but I would love to visit Downtown Mesa again for a nice stroll.
Do you go to any local pet events?
Bernard Lima-Chavez says
Your description of a small town downtown took me right back to my childhood! However, enjoyed reading about your experiences mor than my own real-life ones. Too bad it wasn’t more dog-oriented!