“Gas prices are up, food costs are up, but that’s no excuse to not eat well,” says Marc Ehrler, Loews Ventana Canyon Resort Executive Chef.

He’s pleased to announce the Five Diamonds, Five Courses, $55 promotion in the AAA rated Five Diamond Ventana Room for June.

The Five Diamond menu will feature a chef’s choice of light, summer selections.
Wine pairings will be available, as well, and now is the perfect time to sample new wines in the Ventana Room.

Ventana Room Maitre D’ Hotel Michael Scherzberg has also lowered the prices on the wine list by 25 to 50 percent– and that’s a permanent change. “We’re competitive in price with all the well-known wine bars and restaurants around town now,” he said. “Guests will be very impressed.”

For more information on the Ventana Room visit www.ventanaroom.com or call the Concierge at 299-2020.

Come celebrate the University of Arizona’s Phoenix Mars Mission at Loews Ventana Canyon Resort on the eve of the landing.

The party will be hosted by Rob Bovill, test engineer for the Phoenix Mars Lander, and Sanlyn Buxner, an education and public outreach specialist for the mission, and will include educational games and activities about Mars and space exploration as well as stargazing and telescope views of Mars.

The Phoenix Mars Mission is the first mission to Mars led by a public university. Peter Smith of the UA’s Lunar and Planetary Sciences Department is the mission’s principal investigator.

The Phoenix mission, named after the mythical bird that dies and then is reborn from the ashes, comes after two previous unsuccessful missions to Mars: Mars Polar Lander and Mars Surveyor 2001 Lander, and thus rises from its predecessors’ ashes into rebirth.

The object of the mission is to land near the artic circle on Mars and collect data to assess if the Martian artic can support life, and what the history of water is in that area.

EVENT DETAILS
WHEN:
Saturday May 24, 2008
7 – 9:00 pm Activities and Presentations
8:30 – 10pm Stargazing

WHERE:
Kiva Patio at Loews Ventana Canyon Resort, 7000 N. Resort Drive
HOW MUCH:
It is free and open to the public.

WHAT TO SEE AND DO

Dirty Ice Snow Cones
Build your own Martian “dirty snow cone” with yummy treats as we explore the remote sensing data gathered by the 2001 Mars Odyssey Gamma Ray Spectrometer that led to the discovery of sub-surface water ice around the poles on Mars.

Mars Match Game
Compare surface features on Earth and Mars in this fun matching game as you explore exciting discoveries of the Martian surface.

Robotic Arm Challenge
Test your skill with our remote controlled robotic arms to demonstrate the difficulty of running robotic missions on other planets.

Sky Viewing - Mars and other objects
Explore the night sky with local astronomers to view Mars, Saturn, stars, star clusters and galaxies.

Live Presentations
Get up-to-date information and an overview about the mission and learn about the engineering side of a mission to Mars in live presentations at 7:15 and 8:15 pm.