Yesterday in my post "The Big City Hunt" I went over a unique and very modern way to explore the city you are visiting, or in my case, the city you already reside in!

Today, I'd like to share some of the pictures we took during our Big City scavenger hunt from this past weekend, that as well as some history of the sites we explored. 

The first stop on our journey was visiting this landmark of St. Francis of Assisi:

I had never heard of St. Francis of Assisi before. Here is a little blurb about him from Wikipedia:

"St. Francis of Assisi was an Italian Roman Catholic friar and preacher. He founded the men's Order of Friars Minor, the women’s Order of Saint Clare, the Third Order of Saint Francis and the Custody of the Holy Land.[1] Francis is one of the most venerated religious figures in history."

Apparently he was quite the important historical figure. This is another blurb about St. Francis of Assisi from Wikipedia:

 "It has been argued that no one else in history was as dedicated as Francis to imitate the life, and carry out the work of Christ, in Christ’s own way.[1] This is important in understanding Francis' character and his affinity for the Eucharist and respect for the priests who carried out the sacrament.[1]

He and his followers celebrated and even venerated poverty. Poverty was so central to his character that in his last written work, the Testament, he said that absolute personal and corporate poverty was the essential lifestyle for the members of his Order.[1]He believed that nature itself was the mirror of God. He called all creatures his “brothers” and “sisters”, and even preached to the birds[37][38] and supposedly persuaded a wolf to stop attacking some locals if they agreed to feed the wolf. In his “Canticle of the Creatures” (“Praises of Creatures” or “Canticle of the Sun”), he mentioned the “Brother Sun” and “Sister Moon”, the wind and water, and “Sister Death”. He referred to his chronic illnesses as his “sisters". His deep sense of brotherhood under God embraced others, and he declared that “he considered himself no friend of Christ if he did not cherish those for whom Christ died”.

If you look closely at the above picture you will see a couple quarters as well as a couple dollars sitting in the hands and lap of his statue. A very prominent figure in the Catholic community, some people come to this site and give money as a form of offering to the Saint. 

Next was the courtyard outside of St. Mary's Basilica:

In all of our excitement I forgot to get a picture of the church itself. It really is a beautiful building. Here is a picture I pulled from the internet to give you a visual:

I found some information about the church on Wikipedia:

"Saint Mary's Basilica, officially named The Church of the Immaculate Conception of the Blessed Virgin Mary in the Roman Catholic Diocese of Phoenix, was founded in 1881 and staffed by the Franciscan Friars since 1895. 

The church was completed in 1914, dedicated in 1915, and listed on the National Register of Historic Places as St. Mary's Church in 1978. The oldest Roman Catholic parish in the greater Phoenix, Arizona, area, it was the only Roman Catholic parish in Phoenix until 1924 and is home to Arizona's largest stained glass windows collection."

Next our journey took us over to The Phoenix Convention Center:

The Phoenix Convention Center is a massive building that encompasses over 24 acres. It is considered one of the premiere venues for trade shows, concerts, and all kinds of different exhibits and exhibitions. It was built in 1972 and has had 3 major add-ons since, including one major renovation in 2008.

I hadn't been there since I was a little kid. I hadn't noticed it then, but I was blown away by it's sheer size. It plays host to one of my all time favorite events, NBA Jam Session, during All-Star weekend. I remember waiting in line outside this place for hours trying to get in. I hadn't really paid attention to how massive the building was, I guess I was more concerned with all the festivities taking place inside, go figure! 

Our next stop was for lunch. I forgot to take a picture, but it lead us to "Five Guys Burgers and Fries." 

You may have heard of it?

We were supposed to answer some trivia in order to gain points during our lunch stop. I will pose one of the questions we were asked to all of you and see if you can answer it without "googling" it. 

How many guys actually founded Five Guys Burgers and Fries? 

A) 11

B) 6

C) 5

D) 9

Let me know in the comments section below. 

This post is getting rather long so will post the rest of our Big City Hunt adventure in a following post. Thanks for reading!

Live well my friends!

Sources:

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Francis_of_Assisi

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/St._Mary's_Basilica_(Phoenix)

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Phoenix_Convention_Center

Image Sources:

https://www.pinterest.com/royalpalms/pictures-of-phoenix-scottsdale/ 

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/St._Mary's_Basilica_(Phoenix)

http://www.mhsmustangnews.com/2015/03/10/five-guys-review/

The others were taken by me while on the Scavenger Hunt...

Follow: @jrcornel