Elessar78 Posted March 9, 2012 Share Posted March 9, 2012 I've got a short trip to Arizona but will have two days to ourselves (Wife and toddler). We'll be based in Phoenix. I've always wanted to see the grand canyon, but that's a trek. Reluctant to waste 8 hours driving to the Grand Canyon, but then again that's my major attraction. Looking for stuff closer to Phoenix so we can maximize our recreational time. Thanks. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Bang Posted March 9, 2012 Share Posted March 9, 2012 The Painted Desert.. there's a lot of peaks you can climb relatively safely. (My 9 yr old neice does it all the time down there.) Petrified Forest is there I believe. ~Bang Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Corcaigh Posted March 9, 2012 Share Posted March 9, 2012 Sedona is worth a visit and a lot closer than the Grand Canyon. I wouldn't go to the Grand Canyon unless you plan to spend a day hiking in it. The view from the top is nice but nothing like getting in there. The toddler probably doesn't want to spend the day hiking and it would be hard work with the kid on your back. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
The 12th Commandment Posted March 9, 2012 Share Posted March 9, 2012 Sedona is very nice and has plenty of really good restaurants. There's a fossil shop there that is amazing. Tombstone isn't too far and the Sonoran Desert Museum is well worth the time. The airplane graveyard between Phoenix and Tucson is neat and you can stop at Rooster Cogburn's Ostrich Ranch and pet a big bird (kinda facetious on that one). I agree with those recommending a longer stay when you do the Grand Canyon. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
#98QBKiller Posted March 9, 2012 Share Posted March 9, 2012 Arizona's a beautiful state, at least from what I've seen. I've only been to Tucson, but it was great. If you feel like driving the 2-3 hours to get there, I'd recommend going up into the Santa Catalina Mountains and checking out the saguaros and the awesome views of the city. I'd also check out Tombstone. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Larry Posted March 9, 2012 Share Posted March 9, 2012 Have to confess. When I think of "what's Arizona famous for?", I think of Sheriff Joe, and Birthers. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
DCsportsfan53 Posted March 9, 2012 Share Posted March 9, 2012 Another vote for Sedona, went there the only time I was in the state. Beautiful land. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Lombardi's_kid_brother Posted March 9, 2012 Share Posted March 9, 2012 Aw...Phoenix....it's like living inside a clothes dryer filled with sand, but not nearly as much fun. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
PokerPacker Posted March 9, 2012 Share Posted March 9, 2012 I do believe any good vacation starts with propping your feet up on the AC Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
The Evil Genius Posted March 9, 2012 Share Posted March 9, 2012 While not as good as New Mexico - you have to get some green chile. Also, try cactus (nopales). If you are going this month - I would def recommend catching a spring training game. There are a dozen or so parks within driving distance of downtown Phoenix. Also, if you get near the DBack stadium, check out Alice Cooper's restuarant. http://www.alicecooperstown.com/ Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
GoSkins0721 Posted March 9, 2012 Share Posted March 9, 2012 You can take a guided Jeep tour of the desert. An awsome experience. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Corcaigh Posted March 9, 2012 Share Posted March 9, 2012 Have to confess. When I think of "what's Arizona famous for?", I think of Sheriff Joe, and Birthers. And this is why you might need to take a break from political and news sites. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Predicto Posted March 9, 2012 Share Posted March 9, 2012 I do believe any good vacation starts with propping your feet up on the AC Dammit! Too slow. ---------- Post added March-9th-2012 at 10:59 AM ---------- Anyhow, some nearby countryside is beautiful, but other than that, it is really amazing how a city can be as large as Phoenix and have so little of interest in it. Old people, Applebees, dust, strip malls and 10 lane highway/streets connecting gated communities that go on forever. Less culture than a cup of yogurt. Unless you are interested in golfing, get the hell out of Phoenix and go to Sedona. Don't come back until an hour before your flight home. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Adam Posted March 9, 2012 Share Posted March 9, 2012 I've got a short trip to Arizona but will have two days to ourselves (Wife and toddler). We'll be based in Phoenix. . Both Sedona and Tucson are great. Sedona is two hours north. Great views with a upscale shopping and restaurants, Tucson is two hours south. Arizona Sonora Desert Museum is amazing. Well worth the drive. Another 70 miles southeast from Tucson you could check out Bisbee. An old mining town that has a great history that is an artist community now. The drive there from Tucson is amazing once you leave the interstate. There is a cool tour there where you go into an old mine. Tombstone is next to Bisbee but I would avoid going there. Its a tourist trap. Another great place to check out in that area of Arizona is Kartchner Caverns. Not sure if its toddler friendly though. I lived in Tucson for close to twenty years and it always amazed me how little culturally there is to do in Phoenix. But the Heard Museum, Desert Botanical Garden and old Scottsdale are great and basically in the same area of Phoenix. You could enjoy those in an afternoon and not be in a car all day. Spring training games are fun if you are there in March. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mr. Sinister Posted March 9, 2012 Share Posted March 9, 2012 Damn, I was going to say it. Alice Cooperstown. My uncle recently spent a little time there in the Phoenix area on a vacation. There (at Alice Cooperstown), you get a chance to get a little taste of Randy Johnson's Big Unit. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
The 12th Commandment Posted March 14, 2012 Share Posted March 14, 2012 Dammit! Too slow.---------- Post added March-9th-2012 at 10:59 AM ---------- Anyhow, some nearby countryside is beautiful, but other than that, it is really amazing how a city can be as large as Phoenix and have so little of interest in it. Old people, Applebees, dust, strip malls and 10 lane highway/streets connecting gated communities that go on forever. Less culture than a cup of yogurt. Unless you are interested in golfing, get the hell out of Phoenix and go to Sedona. Don't come back until an hour before your flight home. Sorry P, but that's BS. It may be a cultural vacuum for someone who lives in one of the richest cultural centers in the country but to most of the rest of us it has a lot to offer. The heat for 5 months is really the main downfall of the place and makes it entirely unsuitable for year round habitation IMO, but there is a lot to do during the good weather and the good weather is REALLY good. I go a couple times a year to spend time with my sister and the kids and we never have a shortage of activities. There is a lot of outdoor based activities as you might expect. The Chinese Cultural Center is a yearly visit for the fish tanks and to stock up on asian ingredients. The variety and affordability of the restaurant scene is fantastic (though there are plenty of Applebees). To anyone coming from someplace smaller (and there are a lot of us) it's full of goodness that we don't get at home. I think it's from being what they call a primate city in demographics and it's that for a very large area. Course the OP is from DC so that's probably the same perspective that you have. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
visionary Posted March 14, 2012 Share Posted March 14, 2012 Sedona is really nice, although when I went there was little in the way of places to eat at night, so keep that in mind and maybe eat dinner earlier. One place of paricular interest in Sedona was Bell Mountain. There is a cool pictograph place somewhere near there too. In Tuscon the Sonora Desert Museum (zoo really) was really nice. Also the Tohono Chul park has some cool scenary, walking paths and good food. Closer to Phoenix or Mesa you could check out the wind cave trail and the Boyce Thompson Aboretum. http://www.trails.com/tcatalog_trail.aspx?trailid=HGS493-049 http://arboretum.ag.arizona.edu/ Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
No_Pressure Posted March 14, 2012 Share Posted March 14, 2012 Hope I'm not too late: I used to live in Flagstaff which is a little over two hours north of Phoenix. It is in a massive pine forest on a mountain, it is the largest population for a city at that altitude in the United States. It provides great views of Mt. Humphries, a former volcano which erupted very long ago. There are many such dormant volcanoes dotting the area around Northern Arizona. We used to get feet of snowfall per storm in the winter and there was a booming ski community there- not something many people know about or expect when they think of Arizona. For some reason they think its all 100 degree weather and saguro cacti. Anyway, Sedona is a little under an hour south and a little west of Flagstaff, if you're coming north on I-17 there will be exit signs to take to get to Sedona. There you will find the famous red rocks and all the tacky touristy stuff to do. I would however actually recommend the pink jeep tours, basically you go driving mildly off road in a jeep and bounce around a little bit while the driver tells you about certain things. On some of them you get out and walk around and maybe hike a little bit- they'll let you know the difficulty. The last time I took one was years ago but they had a trip out to some Hopi cliff dwellings which was actually quite fun and interesting. They also have a place called Tlaquepaque arts and crafts village which is a fun place to wander around if you're into that sort of thing- I always went there just to look at stuff when I was down in Sedona for the day. Going north from Sedona towards Flagstaff if you go up 89A you'll drive up Oak Creek Canyon which is a whole lot of fun. In Flagstaff, there isn't a whole lot to do and see. Its a town with a college and a train station that's about it- it is however a good jumping off point for two other attractions- meteor crater and the grand canyon. Driving east out of Flagstaff for about 45 minutes brings you to meteor crater. Type in meteor crater, az in google maps and you'll notice that you can actually see it from space on the satellite view. This is one of the best examples of a meteor impact crater you can visit and it was amazing to see (and i've been to see it multiple times). From Flagstaff to the grand canyon it takes about an hour and 45 minutes. Its the grand canyon however. There is only one on this planet and there is nothing else remotely like it. I've been to see it five times and it was amazing each time. I know you said you don't want to do 8 hours of driving but in Arizona you don't have many choices to the contrary. There are small flights you can take between Phoenix and Flagstaff which could cut a 2 hour drive off the trip but you would still have to drive an hour each way (generally) to get to Sedona and back to Flagstaff, Meteor Crater and back to Flagstaff, almost 2 hours to the grand canyon and back. Sedona and the drive to the Grand Canyon are beautiful drives, but if you don't have much time it may not be a good option for you. As for food places, I don't know what to recommend. If you like a good burger visit the Dog Haus in Flagstaff or Bun Huggers (I know, sounds dumb but they make good burgers). If you want good pizza go to New York...no there is one place I loved out there called NiMarco's Pizza in Flagstaff right on the edge of the NAU campus. Good luck. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Kosher Ham Posted March 14, 2012 Share Posted March 14, 2012 From what I understand, Mexican food at real Mexican restaurants is worth the trip. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
deejaydana Posted March 14, 2012 Share Posted March 14, 2012 I just roadtripped through Az with the wife and was really impressed with Flagstaff. It has the feel of Denver and a lot of cool microbrew restaurants. It's surprising cold right now due to the elevation but it's really a pretty town. If you're in the Phoenix area you can take in some MLB farm games (probably not ideal w/a toddler I'll admit). They do have an attraction called "bearizona" just outside of Flagstaff that looked great, it's an animal attraction and we wanted to do it but ran out of time. The reviews on Yelp are all very favorable. It looks ideal for a young family. The only negative I came away with was Tucson, it's a really barren and boring town especially since it's a college town ( which u think would make it better but that's not the case). Avoid this town if you can. ---------- Post added March-14th-2012 at 10:30 AM ---------- Have to confess. When I think of "what's Arizona famous for?", I think of Sheriff Joe, and Birthers. You need to get out more often is all Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
HogNose Posted March 14, 2012 Share Posted March 14, 2012 I would definitely head up to Sedona...it's beautiful and you could spend an afternoon there shopping, enjoying the views, and choosing from some good restaurants. I could see myself retiring there someday. Also Slide Rock State Park is just north of Sedona ( about 5 miles) and is a great park. If you do find more time or can take an extra day then I would take the drive up to the Grand Canyon. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Elessar78 Posted April 19, 2012 Author Share Posted April 19, 2012 Well it turned out to be a bit of a bust. The kid got dehydrated the second day we were there, nothing serious but we had to stay close to home. It's harsh out there my body couldn't get over the dryness. We did have some pretty good Mexican food. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Lombardi's_kid_brother Posted April 19, 2012 Share Posted April 19, 2012 Well it turned out to be a bit of a bust. The kid got dehydrated the second day we were there, nothing serious but we had to stay close to home. It's harsh out there my body couldn't get over the dryness. We did have some pretty good Mexican food. Eh. Live and learn. You will notice that all the suggestions here consisted of driving at least 2 hours away from Phoenix. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Elessar78 Posted April 19, 2012 Author Share Posted April 19, 2012 I wouldn't say it was a bad trip. Not even with the kid getting sick, but our relatives there seemed hard pressed to show us anything. But it was fun nonetheless, we hung out a lot and they probably convinced me to give golf a try. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Lombardi's_kid_brother Posted April 19, 2012 Share Posted April 19, 2012 I wouldn't say it was a bad trip. Not even with the kid getting sick, but our relatives there seemed hard pressed to show us anything. But it was fun nonetheless, we hung out a lot and they probably convinced me to give golf a try. There is that. I can't mock Phoenix too much. I live in Houston. My parents have now visited twice and I am completely out of ideas for things to do that are unique. And one of the things we did was drive to Galveston. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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