Two-Step – BOOT SCOOTIN' REVIEW™

The Ranch

CE — Wed, 14 Nov 2018 22:37:44 +0000

These are pictures of our favorite place to dance, The Ranch.

See below for the Review of “The Ranch”.

BOOT SCOOTIN’ REVIEW

The Ranch

1025 E. Ball Rd #101A

Anaheim, CA 92805

RATING: ***** Five stars (out of 5)

INSIDE:

This is one classy place! When you enter and exit, you will be greeted by their very courteous and friendly staff. The dance floor is a very good size and well maintained with the added bonus of an excellent sound system. Mr. Andrew Edwards, owner, has paid attention to every detail of his patron’s entertainment experience. And, don’t be camera shy, just smile and your picture may be taken and seen on The Ranch website. It’s a great way to remember your special night. It is hard not to be impressed. This venue is definitely a treat, especially if you have never been here. The teaching staff, Dev, Shelley, Kerri and Kimberly are excellent in their instruction and encouragement for all level of dancers to participate and learn new dances which includes couple dancing, two stepping and line dancing with occasional contra-dance lessons. Leo is their DJ who plays the most danceable music around with Mark heading up the great sound production. If you are looking for some dancing duds, look no further this link, Country Western Apparel.

Cover Charge: $15.00 ages 18-20, $5.00 ages 21 & up

Age range: Usually, 40 and up at opening, 5:30- 7:00pm, and then the 21 and up start arriving

Dress Code: Yes, see “Etiquette and Dress Code” listed on the website.

Dance Floor: Beautifully maintained, large dance area with rules enforced for the safety and enjoyment of the dancers

Dance Mix: Mostly Country Western music that’s very danceable music with occasional pop/rock for free dance

Dance Music: DJ music is all danceable and Leo will take requests, LIVE BANDS begin at 8pm

Live Music: We like Rob Staley, Kelly Huff, Chris Lozano, Brad Johnson, and Arnie Neuman

Dancing: Friday or Saturday night 40% Two-Stepping, 40% line-dancing, 20% couple, swing and other types of couple dancing like the waltz or contra dancing (dancing in opposing lines facing a partner) & free dance

Dance Lessons: There is always a couple lesson (usually 2-step) followed by a line-dance lesson. We are particularly enthusiastic when we learn a new one, especially when we really like the song or the dance steps or both! For us it is all about fun, getting those synapses and neurons moving, keeping those brain cells sharp. In addition to the healthy exercise that we get from our dancing😊

Food: EXCELLENT! The Ranch has a separate full-service five-star restaurant right next door to the Saloon and that food can be ordered as well. In the saloon, there are booths and tables overlooking the dance floor, that can be reserved for meals and drinks as well. The food is amazing high-end gourmet on the high end and a treat to eat while dancing there. There are appetizers, entrees and desserts available also in the Saloon. We’ve attended many celebrations and what a perfect place to celebrate a special occasion!

Beverages: Iced Tea (our favorite), beer, wine and liquor

Restrooms: Unbelievably impeccable!

Security: At the door and in the venue

ATMOSPHERE: Definitely new/modern Country Western look with lots of beginners to experienced dancers who dance with lots of energy and enthusiasm. Everyone we have met here is nice and willing to help out newbies on the dance floor. That’s how Carol and I learned to dance! There is a variety of terraced seating areas, 2 bars, all with great views of the dance floor. This is in addition to lots of experienced dancers you can watch and/or get next to on the dance floor.

NEWBIES: There’s a slow dancing zone in the center of the dance floor to practice in and you can also take the basic two-step lesson to help you get started or just polish up your 2-step. If you would like to learn a beginners line dance before you go to The Ranch, you can click this link to MY Maria line dance video lesson

Specifics: As you may have guessed, this venue is our home base for country western dancing. It has easy access, being just off the 5 freeway in Anaheim. Y’all will find a Country Western home base too, if you really get into dancing, like we are. Wherever that may be, we wish you a lot of happy times and memorable dancing!

FINAL THOUGHTS: What we love about the ranch… We usually arrive at The Ranch about 5:30PM as the door opens. We say hello to Anthony and Frank (security staff) as we walk in and greet the girls at the check-in. We look down at the dance floor and check to see if our regular seats are open and head down to the rail seats. On the way, we bump into Heather (the entertainment director) and Vince (the operations manager) and chat with them for a few minutes, they are so nice. The waitress stops by and soon after Vincente’ arrives with some iced tea. He is always smiling, and usually gives us the scoop on what’s happening (last week it was a party of 60 people due to arrive).

We also chat with our friends for a few minutes, but we’re always itching to dance. Leo, the DJ, puts on a nice slow two step and that is perfect tempo for us to use as a warm up. We step out on the dance floor and we’re off. The place begins to fill and we see Carol and Richard come in and, oh there’s Theresa And Ray. We give them a wave and they smile and wave back. We’re already having fun and getting warmed up too. Leo puts on a slow line dance now, Rock Me, that is perfect line-dance to get us started.

As we line dance, we see Sandy, Dean, Larry, Marsha, Art, Jeff & Mary and Mark smiling and waving as they come in. The Ranch has become one big family to us. We dance for another hour and it’s time for the first lesson. Tonight, it is intermediate two-step. We know its going to be fun because Dev and Shelly (who both taught us how to dance) are in the house and that means all dancers in the lesson will get lots of help. We dance for another hour and it’s 8pm and time for live music from an OC local band. Heather comes out on stage and announces the band (Rob Staley) and gives us a treat as she announces the owner of The Ranch, Andrew Edwards is going to sing in the first set. He does a rousing set, finishing with Electric Slide singing Achy Breaky Heart. There is a loud cheer for the beloved owner. We dance our last dance about 9pm and say goodnight to our friends and the staff at The Ranch. You can see why we love the ranch so much and why we love to dance…

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Harold’s Cave Creek Corral

CE — Tue, 13 Nov 2018 22:59:03 +0000

This is a historic site with a history in Hollywood Films and a flamboyant owner.

BOOT SCOOTIN’ REVIEW

Harold’s Cave Creek Corral

RATING: 3 STARS *** (OUT OF 5)

6895 E. Cave Creek Rd.

Cave Creek, AZ 85331

INSIDE: This is a place of yesteryear. Movie stars, and people that built the dam took respite here. Formal table cloths greet the diners. Lots of old pictures on the walls and a forward on the menu which tells of the venue’s history. It’s a historic venue est. established in 1935. Dance floor was right off the dining area. The night we were there started with DJ music and dance lessons and then the LIVE band followed.

Cover Charge:

Age range: All Ages, it’s a family restaurant

Dress Code: Casual, lots of cowboy hats and boots worn by the diners.

Dance Floor: Small dance floor area but looks like they could expand it into the dining area. They said they did move the tables, several times a year for big events, but the night we were there they didn’t.

Dance Mix: Can’t really say as the opportunity to dance was not there. The live band came on and only played pop/rock.

Dance Music: A Live Band was there the night we attended but they played more rock than anything else and we did not find a danceable country western song to dance to.

Dancing: We danced minimally

Dance Lessons: Good but sparsely attended there was only one other couple besides ourselves

Food: Was good but they were out of their ice cream/sherbet that night. They have a very large and very nice seating area inside and out on the patio.

Beverages: Alcohol, Beer, Wine & Iced Tea

Restrooms: Very clean

Security: Understated in that we did not notice any staff other than the door person and the restaurant staff. We did not see security type people outwardly dressed as such.

ATMOSPHERE: Nice table dining areas and historic western motif. Most of the diners looked to be locals eating there because of the good food. Very few stayed and danced though.

NEWBIES: No advice based on this visit. Most of the dancing was free dance. We sat and listened for about an hour without dancing. Our advice is to call ahead or look on their website to see what type of music they will be playing before you decide to go there to Country Western dance.

Specifics: Seemed like country western dancing was just not on the agenda that night even though they are referred to as a country western dance venue. But, it was not the emphasized when we attended.

FINAL THOUGHTS: Would need to visit again to get the full flavor of this place. Our feeling about Harold’s is that, it is a very unique restaurant and dancing venue that has been around for 80 years and we really liked the old-time western feel of the place along with its illustrious history. It has the feel of the 30s-50s restaurant that probably loves to let it rip several times a year. If they’d move the tables, had a great country western band play, and had the dance floor full with of dancers two-steppin’ the night away it would have been perfect! Unfortunately, we weren’t there on one of those nights. No tables were moved, no country western playing band materialized and nobody tore up the dance floor. We were there on a night that had only a handful of dancers that danced to a very average pop/rock band. This review is based on that one moment in time. We hope to visit again in 2019 on a big night at Harold’s Corral.

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Grizzly Rose

JE — Thu, 25 Oct 2018 18:53:19 +0000

BOOT SCOOTIN’ REVIEW

Grizzly Rose

5450 N Valley Hwy.

Denver, CO 80216

Wow! This venue is like a little western town. There’s a huge dance floor with shops around it, a pool hall, a place to eat and dueling bulls plus lessons can be had in a separate dance studio! Did I mention live music, events and easy access via Hwy 25? It was a quick find for us.

A funny thing happened to us there. The week that we went, the dance lesson was Cowboy Cha Cha. There was a basic lesson and then there was the advanced lesson. Since we were from out of state, she asked us if we knew the Cowboy Cha Cha and we said, “Yes we did.” Then, she asked if our Cowboy Cha Cha moved around the dance floor and we said, Yes.” She said, “That’s not it, ours stay in a stationary spot.” So, we took the basic lesson, and guess what? We have a dance in California we call the Denver Cha Cha, and it is the dance that you all call the Cowboy Cha Cha! So, we already knew it. We love the dance and we had a great time learning it from Miss Rosalie in Denver😊

I wonder if they know our Cowboy Cha Cha because our Cowboy Cha Cha is not the California Cha Cha (that’s a whole different dance)! We had a great chuckle. No matter what, we enjoy our travels whether it’s learning a dance we know by a different name or a new dance. It’s the FUN and laughter that we have along the way that makes these adventures so memorable.

INSIDE:

Cover Charge: See the website

Age range: 18 + on Tues, Weds, Thurs, Fri. 18 if there is a concert otherwise 21+, Sat. 21 + Sun. Family Night

Dress Code: Yes, no motorcycle club colors or representation allowed. There were lots of people wearing cowboy boots and hats. Typical wear is jeans and leather sole boots/shoes to easily dance country western dance steps.

Dance Floor: Large, approximately 50’x 35’and floor condition was excellent

Dance Mix: Line dancing 10%, Two-Step 70%, Swing 10%, Waltz 10%

Dance Music: Country western 90%, Pop/Rock 10%

Live Music: The band was good (we felt most of the DJ music was too fast or too slow for the Two-Step)

Dancing: Dances are not necessarily called

Dance Lessons: The only days they do not have dance lessons are Mon. and Fri. (See website calendar for specifics)

Food: We had the garden salad, Grizzly Wrap and sweet potato fries, moderately priced food and pretty darn good

Beverages: Iced Tea, soda, water, beer and liquor

Restrooms: The restrooms are very large and impeccably clean.

Security: Security personnel located throughout the venue. It was a nice crowd.

ATMOSPHERE: Night club lighting, patrons and staff were very friendly and helpful. The initial inside impression was of a very wide and expansive area. There was an impressive use of space throughout. The separate dance studio was very surprising and appropriate for the dance lessons.

NEWBIES: Great dance lessons in a private dance studio by a very knowledgeable teacher, Miss Rosalie. It would be helpful if the dances were called so that everyone would be dancing the same dance and going in the same direction. This is a place where you put on your dancing duds (or not) take a dance lesson and then get out on the large dance floor and dance your heart out all night. You’ll also meet lots of nice folks.

SPECIFICS:

Ranking 1 – 5 (5 being best)

Dance floor ***** Excellent, well maintained area and nice size for dancing.

Lessons ***** Miss Rosalie was just the nicest teacher, with succinct directions

and monitoring of her students

Food ****

Music *****

Restrooms *****

Parking *** It’s about a two-block walk or so to an unlighted area if front parking is full.

Feeling safe **** Inside was a 5, but outside overflow parking and lighting was limited.

Come early if this is a concern.

FINAL THOUGHTS: We loved the energy, enthusiasm of the dancers and friendliness of the people and staff i.e. at the door, chef at the Chuck Wagon, security and the roving staff that were making sure the tables and trash on the floor were picked up. We appreciated the hospitality.

There is one thing we personally would have liked. It would have been a better dance experience for us if occasionally a dance was called so that line dancers, two-steppers and couple dancers alike would not have to worry about near collisions. But all in all, this is a GREAT place to dance, have a meal and just have a ton of fun. We rate the Grizzly Rose a 5-STAR country dancing venue.

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