What not to miss in Phoenix

[riverdees05 Platinum Contributor Find all posts View Profile Close riverdees05]

What not to miss in Phoenix in November, including day trips.

[bluka Member Find all posts View Profile Close bluka]

What not to miss in Phoenix in November, including day trips.

while in scottsdale, the family and i enjoyed taking the free trolley thru-out the downtown scottsdale area (we picked it up from the the mall) we got off at various spots and ended up eating an evening treat at the sugar bowl restaurant. (ice cream of course)

We also took a ride into Chandler? (i think to a indian res. ) to a place called (Rawhide) a makeshift cowboy town for a pretty good steak dinner , were i used a $100 visa gift card for touring the marriott canyon villas (MCV)

[philsfan Administrator Find all posts View Profile Close philsfan]

The Apache Trail is a winding scenic drive that will take a good part of a day if you keep going after it turns into a gravel road that leads to Roosevelt Lake and Dam. Be sure to stop in the restaurant in Tortilla Flat for some awesome Chili if you go. The Dolly Steamboat will take you on a ride on the lake if that interests you.

There are casinos within an easy drive if you are the gambling type.

There is a sticky on this forum that has a link to Phoenix Fall Festivals, there is a Shrimp Festival in Gila Bend and an Arabian Horse show in Scottsdale the weekend of the 9th.

Tucson is 2-3 hours away where Mount Lemmon goes up about 10K feet. Some great views from the scenic overlooks on that road, too. They make great cookies at the Mount Lemmon Cookie Cabin in the town of Summerhaven near the top.

[falmouth3 Senior Member Find all posts View Profile Close falmouth3]

We had one last day in AZ after our vacation in Sedona. We went to the Wildlife Zoo, just outside of Phoenix. (It's not the Phoenix Zoo, it's different)

We expected to spend a couple of hours there, but we ended up spending the entire day. It was empty on a Friday in early Sept, which surprised us greatly. Some of the more interesting things we did were hand feeding two types of birds. We actually went into the enclosures to do this with zoo employees. I also fed giraffes. That was very cool, but I found out that I shouldn't put the food in my hand and let them eat out of my hand. Those tongues are long and gooey. But they will stick out their tongues and you can drop the pellets onto the tongues. We also got to pet a baby llama in the petting zoo. He was incredibly soft. It's not a San Diego Zoo, but it was much more interesting than I had anticipated.

Welcome to Wildlife World Zoo

Sue

[riverdees05 Platinum Contributor Find all posts View Profile Close riverdees05]

Thanks for the suggestions, look like fun things to include in our stay.


Any other neat things to do in and around Phoenix?

[philsfan Administrator Find all posts View Profile Close philsfan]

If you like to hike, Piestewa Peak is close by. I've never been there but it is a popular spot for hikers.

The Arizona Fall League will still be in progress if you like minor league baseball. The Scottsdale Scorpions play at Scottsdale Stadium.

How about a ride in a Hot Air Ballon?

There are several desert jeep tour companies in the area if you want to get up close and personal with a cactus.

The concierge at SDO is very helpful, too. Of course, the will try to rope you into a TS presentation....run away, run away....

[stasik Member Find all posts View Profile Close stasik]

Depends what you are interested in.

I made my wife go to the State Capitol Museum because I am into that sort of thing. Its not used by the legislature anymore but has some interesting mockups of how the government worked when Arizona became a state. There is an exhibit on the USS Arizona which was sunk at Pearl Harbor. Most of the ship's silver service is there as are other artifacts.

My wife in turn, made me go to the Mining Museum which is small but has tons of minerals and stones found all over the state. She likes rocks.

The Botanical Garden has a pretty comprehensive collection of desert flora and a lot of information about those cacti that you see all over the area.

One thing about Phoenix that I really remember was that in any of the museums or other sites, I could stop to BS with a guide or curator at any of the above places and they would be absolutely full of suggestions on what to visit. The nice gent at the State Capitol Museum was especially helpful.

[riverdees05 Platinum Contributor Find all posts View Profile Close riverdees05]

More great ideas, keep them coming

[taffy19 Gold Contributor Find all posts View Profile Close taffy19]

Canyon Lake in the Superstition mountains was a trip well worth visiting several times when I was there for three months. I enjoyed Arizona and loved the warm evenings outside and the thunderstorms were spectacular during the summer. I had never seen something like it. I also saw a dust storm in Chandler.

http://www.arizona-leisure.com/canyon-lake.html

http://www.arizona-leisure.com/super...-mountain.html

[philsfan Administrator Find all posts View Profile Close philsfan]

Canyon Lake in the Superstition mountains was a trip well worth visiting several times when I was there for three months. I enjoyed Arizona and loved the warm evenings outside and the thunderstorms were spectacular during the summer. I had never seen something like it. I also saw a dust storm in Chandler.

Canyon Lake in Arizona | Canyon Lake Boating, Fishing, Camping, Directions

Best of Superstition Mountain Arizona

This is the lake the Dolly Steamboat cruises.

[philsfan Administrator Find all posts View Profile Close philsfan]

What not to miss in Phoenix in November, including day trips.

Did you do any of the things mentioned in this thread while you were in Phoenix?

[riverdees05 Platinum Contributor Find all posts View Profile Close riverdees05]

We purchased ($ 34 each) the Show Up Pass

(www.showupnowpass.com )

which included admission at the following:

Arizona Museum for Youth
Arizona Museum of
Natural History
Bead Museum
Deer Valley Rock Art Center
Frank Lloyd Wright’s - Taliesin West Panorama Tour
Heard Museum
Mesa Contemporary Arts
Phoenix Art Museum
Phoenix Museum of History
Phoenix Zoo
Pueblo Grande Museum
Rosson House
Scottsdale Museum of Contemporary Art

so that kept us pretty busy. We did go to the

Cosanti Originals ~ 6433 E Doubletree Ranch Rd ~ Paradise Valley, AZ 85253 ~ 800-752-3187

Cosanti Originals, Inc.

We purchased three bells and had them shipped home. The savings on not having to pay sales tax more than paid for the shipping.

[tabbyc Senior Member Find all posts View Profile Close tabbyc]

Restaurants I always visit in Phoenix/Scottsdale

Dick's Hideaway (north of the corner of 16th and Bethany Home)
6008 N 16th St Phoenix, AZ 85016
No sign just a silver door on the northwest corner.
Excellent Eggs Benedict!

Richardson's is right around the corner and they have great New Mexican food, an extensive bar and is full during eating hours.

Sushi Brokers is on Scottsdale road just north of Frank Lloyd Wright in the same complex as FedEx Kinkos.
The seafood dynamite has shrimp and lobster in it and the sushi is good.

Pepes Taco Villa is on Camelback just east of I-17 and has inexpensive home made mexican food.

Arena Sports Grill 6245 E Bell Rd # 101 Scottsdale, AZ 85254 (480) 948-0008
has many sports channels on the dozens of Televisions, pool tables, video games, good hamburgers and mexican food, a great bar and a happy group of waitresses and bartenders.