One business that caught my attention was The Downtown Clifton Hotel Tucson. While leaving 5 Points we drove up the block and passed this mural:

Catches your attention, right? Then I noticed it was a hotel. And I wanted to know more!

When I returned home I learned that the hotel was the end result of a real estate deal turned passion project and that the owner (Moniqua) was also the person that convinced the owners of 5 Points to open their restaurant in the space they currently occupy.

In addition, Moniqua’s mother owns the building that houses the restaurant, Café Desta (more on that), and her own little boutique called Bon, which is a francophile’s dream shop. It really was a family affair and all these parties have one thing in common. This little area is just one example of the many things places to stay, eat and play in the downtown Tucson area.

They love Tucson.

And as I continue my explorations, so do I.

Here is my free printable on things to do in Tucson.

Mr. Misadventures and I decided to attend a Lantern Festival that was being held between Phoenix and Tucson. We used it as an excuse to return to Tucson and the first thing I did was book a room at the Downtown Clifton.

Then I reached out to Moniqua to see if I could interview her. Just checking out the great photography, soaking in the sassy vocab, and exploring the information about Tucson on their website made me want to know more!

We arrived on Friday evening at around 6 pm. After a chat with the hotel manager who gave me lots of recommendations, we left our bags and walked up the block (3 minutes) to Café Desta for a delicious Ethiopian dinner.

There are very few restaurants in this area and as tired as we were from a long week, we were happy to try out Cafe Desta. The local neighborhood vibe inside Cafe Desta is very welcoming. There were date nights, friends having dinner, a party of ladies, and even business discussions taking place as we dined on a combo meal that was very friendly to our diet.

In fact, they have a lot of vegan as well as gluten-free options. It was the first time eating Ethiopian for Mr. Misadventures and he really enjoyed it!

Although I have to say what he enjoyed most was the excellent Ethiopian coffee he had on the terrace after dinner! 5 Points and Café Desta share a terrace, in fact when we had dinner, the door between 5 Points and Café Desta was open and the server said if we wanted to sit over on the 5 Points side we could.

We declined but did move to the terrace post-dinner, looking into 5 Points knowing we would be visiting for breakfast.

We returned to The Downtown Clifton in a food coma and took a few night shots of our room and the outdoor space.

Here is what it looks like during the day:

Although we couldn’t get into other rooms (they were fully booked!) I know that each room is individually decorated. The bed frame is made in Tucson and the furniture and knickknacks are locally sourced.

The small details really make a big impression.

The next morning we got up well-rested – the bed is super comfy – and headed to 5 Points for breakfast. When we checked into the Downtown Clifton we received (2) coupons for $10 off at the restaurant, since that was our breakfast spot of choice we were thrilled!

The hotel also has a Key Holder’s Club. Your room key is the “key” to discounts at other businesses downtown all the information was provided upon check-in, we felt like VIPs!

Our breakfast was just as delicious as the first time we visited, Mr. Misadventures couldn’t help having the salmon Benedict again (I had the Eggleston sandwich). You can’t blame him as the recipe is something that the owners Brian and Jasper perfected over the years serving it to their friends and family on holidays and brunches. As soon as I can sit down with Jasper, I’ll tell you more!

We walked back to the hotel and prepared to leave, Mr. Misadventures wasn’t feeling very well, likely from extreme fatigue from trying to do everything at once with our move, so while we will DEFINITELY return to the Downtown Clifton hotel again, we didn’t stay long enough to get better daytime photos than one more shot of our room.

Please do visit their website to check out room photos!

The fun, funky, and friendly nature of the hotel, owner, and the staff at Downtown Clifton make it a place you should consider when looking for hotels in Tucson. The décor is retro, the attitude is hip and the amenities are ample (Roku and Netflix in your room, plus R bars!)

You have built-in breakfast/lunch and lunch/dinner spots with 5 Points and Café Desta (along with the many options with your Key Holder’s Club privileges that The Downtown Clifton Hotel offers). You can walk to them both as well as to the Barrio Viejo to visit the colorful adobe homes of the historic neighborhood, or simply cross the street to visit the St. Augustine Cathedral which has been in Tucson for over 60 years and is open during the day.

And now, a little more about the hotel from my interview with the owner, Moniqua.

Where does the name Clifton come from?

Our original designer is a man named Clifton Taylor, a downtown Tucson personality and icon (here's a little piece on his home). He and my then partner, Phil Lipman, and I were standing on the corner trying to figure out how to pretty up the then very drab building we had just purchased, really, how to give it some genuine personality, when someone suggested we name it after Clif. He agreed and the rest is history.

What inspired you to buy and refurbish the hotel?

Honestly, it didn’t start out that way; it started out as your basic boring real estate deal, but the insides, the heart, of that building, we're really too beautiful for us to leave hidden from the world (the ceiling, floors, and bathroom telework are all weirdly original). So, we thought we’d return the building to its original use as a motel while we figured out what to do with the lot next door.

Well, that decision just unleashed in me a love of Tucson that I had always known I’d carried (I’m a native Tucson), but never really had an outlet to express. I often say that we created this place for the community, for Armory Park and Barrio Viejo specifically, and we did. This hotel is a love letter to Tucson that we’re hoping other people read.

What was your inspiration for the decor?

Clif and I really had a mind-meld on this particular thing. We’re both Tucson natives and though we’re about a decade apart in age, we both very easily went to the same Tucson of our childhood memories, Tucson as it was in the late 1960s and early to mid-1970s. It was our intention to create a late-mid-century Tucson bunkhouse; a place where the cowboys and ranch hands who still kicked up dust in the streets of downtown Tucson then, might feel comfortable.

Where do you source your decor?

Mostly local thrift stores, artisans, artists, and antique dealers. Tucson has a great vintage community, be it clothes, furniture, barware, or housewares, and we have to give love to those businesses and people who made our look possible, so thank you Stan and Becky Hare, Kathy McMahon at Midcenturyville, Adobe House Antiques, Tom’s Fine Furniture, and Collectibles, St. Vincent de Paul Thrift Stores, Russell’s Retro Furnishings, The 22nd Street Antique Mall and the many, many others who, thankfully, have a much better sense of classic style than I do and are happy to keep it here in Tucson.

Who's your target demographic?
Our guests are people who love Tucson and the borderlands region as much as we do. It’s great when people find us knowing how they feel about this place and are excited that we’re here, but it’s even better when people didn’t know that they love it here and we help them figure that out.

If you don’t feel that way about this community, this place, and the people here when you get to our doorstep or by the time you’re hitting the road, then we’re probably not for you.

Generally, though, our guests tend to be leisure travelers, traveling without children, looking to explore Tucson on its own or as part of a larger journey through the Southwest. We get a good amount of local business travelers, by which I mean travelers who are working with locally-owned businesses (typically between Tucson and Phoenix), and we love it when neighbors put their loved ones up at our place. We like being part of the neighborhood family.

What's your mission in life?
Ha! I’m not wired that way. I’m just trying to do a thing.

What's the best thing about Tucson?
The best thing about Tucson is that it doesn’t give two sh*ts about what Phoenix or Los Angeles or Portland or Austin or Boulder or whatever the trendiest best city in America is doing. It really stays pretty true to itself and its people. You don’t like it? More Sonoran dogs for us.

What's the worst thing about Tucson?

It doesn’t give two sh*ts.

Tucson favorites: Breakfast/Brunch, Coffee, Lunch, Dinner, Bar

Well, of course, I’d have to point you to our Key Holders’ Club for some of these answers, but, even though it’s not a part of the Key Holder’s Club, I would personally, and we do at the hotel often, recommend The Cup Cafe inside The Historic Hotel Congress.

They’ve been feeding and giving drinks to people at Tucson’s crossroads for almost 100 years. If you want to sit inside Tucson, sit inside The Cup. You haven’t been to Tucson if you haven’t been there.

Thanks Moniqua and I look forward to staying at the Downtown Clifton again!

UPDATE: The Downtown Clifton Hotel has expanded! There are even more rooms to stay in! Check it out!

Downtown Clifton
485 Stone Avenue
Tucson AZ 85701
(520) 623-3163

More on Tucson:

Visit Tucson Arizona
Weekend Explorations in Tucson
More Weekend Explorations in Tucson
Locals Guide to Tucson Bike Trails
Weekend Staycation in Tucson

What do you think? Is The Downtown Clifton Hotel someplace you'd like to stay?

If you want my FULL Phoenix and Tucson Phoenix and Tucson Activity + Day Trip List with day trips and things to do in Phoenix and Tucson, it is available for $4.99.

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If I was to move to Arizona all over again, there is no question that my city of choice would be Tucson. Sitting in North Carolina and looking back on our 2 years in the Phoenix area, our most memorable outings with both indoor and outdoor activities, sunsets, sunrises, hikes, and more were in and around Tucson, a place that's surroundings surround you.

Whenever Mr. Misadventures and I would get on I-10 (or more likely I-8 because we enjoyed the slightly longer scenic route through the Sonoran Preserve) heading South, in 2 short hours we would find ourselves in a place with an incredible sense of community.

Tucson is a hodgepodge of cultures and creeds, scientists and students, artists and outdoorsmen, and there is nothing like it. An oasis where we found we could unplug and create our own experiences and adventures and explore without boundaries.

Here is my free printable on things to do in Tucson.

And then there is the food. You know me. Always the food.

Tucson has it in spades. Sure, there are lots of cities with world-class restaurant scenes, but in Tucson, the culinary roots run deep. It has one of the longest-running food heritages in North America. The mixture of Native Americans (the ancient O'odham people), Sonoran (Tucson is in the Sonoran Desert), Hispanic, and Southwestern ingredients and cuisines mixed with those of international mining and working-class immigrants led to a culinary scene built on ingenuity, local ingredients, and sustainability. For this reason and more, Tucson became the first, and 1 of only 2, American cities that has earned the title of UNESCO Capital of Gastronomy.

The Amazing Food of Tucson

UNESCO City of Gastronomy

Yes. You read that right. Tucson is a UNESCO City of Gastronomy.

Tucson’s passion for food extends way beyond any meal produced by chefs in restaurants. There are farm cooperatives, seed cooperatives, and food banks. There are botanists who can tell you the family tree of, well a tree (trust me, Google Rev. Eusebio Francisco Kino), like nobody’s business! And food archaeologists who not only helped Tucson prove that its food heritage dates back to 4,000-year-old cornfields, but also do food tours in the desert!

My kind of people! My kind of place!

Best 23 Miles of Mexican Food

You know what else they’ve got in Tucson? The Best 23 Miles of Mexican Food has some of the best Mexican food on Earth. Mapped out and ready for you to try. I love Mexican food. I have followed a lot of food trails before, but this one? ¡El mejor! (The Best!) Some of the best restaurants in Tucson are on this list, along with hole-in-the-walls, fine dining, and the nation’s oldest Mexican restaurant in continuous operation by the same family (now run by this amazing lady!).

Within the Best 23 Miles of Mexican Food, you will also find the very weird and wonderful Sonoran hotdog. A strange concoction indeed. Its layers reflecting the cultural mix that make up the very fabric of Tucson epicurean delights. It is a hot dog wrapped in bacon with pinto beans, tomatoes, green salsa, jalapeño, mustard, and mayonnaise, and with avocado and cotija cheese on top. Make sure you hit BK Carne Asada & Hot Dogs or El Guero Canelo, a James Beard award-winning version!

Two of my favorite spots on this trail are Boca Tacos and Tucson Tamales. Boca Tacos has very unique tacos. I am a fan of the octopus one with garlic sautéed lemon butter and the cauliflower one in curry cilantro and orange oil. These gourmet tacos are enough to get me in the door, but the incredible range of homemade salsas kept me coming back for more. Mr. Misadventures and I first discovered Tucson Tamales when we were staying at the RV park.

We went to the Pima Air & Space Museum (more on that later) and stayed so long we missed lunch and rolled right into dinner. So, I Googled for a good spot near us (because we were hangry!) and stumbled to this mecca of tamales. I will tell you that the hubby wasn’t a huge fan of Mexican food (mind changed now) and when I explained what a tamale is (steamed masa dough in a corn husk with meat) he wasn’t impressed, but being the adventurer that he is (and you know, hangry…) he went along with it. Not only did he love them, but we practically bought the store out to stick in our RV freezer. We slowly doled those out on the road for a few months until they were no more. When we visited Tucson for the first time after moving to Phoenix, it was the first place we returned to!

Celebrating All Food Cultures – Senae Thai Bistro

Tucson is a very welcoming place. It has to be. There is a huge mixture of cultures and a large influx of people from all over the world because of the universities, aerospace, and military in the air. Instead of being exclusive, they welcome the mélange. In fact, they celebrate it. So when Chef Dee Buzier of Senae Thai Bistro was selected as 1 of only 32 chefs around the world to participate in the THAI SELECT Project that recognized her for her “authentic and creative Thai dishes” no one was surprised.

That is just how they do it Tucson. If you are going to do food, do it right, do it local, be authentic. Chef Dee sources local ingredients as much as possible and works with the University of Arizona’s Community and School Garden Program to grow some of the greens in her dishes. I had the pleasure of meeting her in person with Mr. Misadventures and I dined there and she was the most adorable, humble, smart, and nicest chef I have ever met! A true citizen of Tucson.

A Food Desert Hero in the Desert – 5 Points Market and Restaurant

A food desert is a neighborhood, usually urban, where finding healthy food (including grocery stores) is nearly impossible. That was the case for the area near the colorful Barrio Viejo (more on this area later!) south of Tucson's early business district. And that’s exactly where you can now find 5 Points Market and Restaurant. Jasper Ludwig and Brian Haskins opened this spot in 2014 and recreated family recipes that had been tucked away in their recipe boxes. They also incorporated local, seasonal ingredients which they procure by working with small local farmers and fields. Their market is stocked for the neighborhood surrounding them and their dishes are all $10 or less so that the locals can afford it.

They promote the farms and vendors they buy from, listing them on a blackboard inside their gorgeous space. I have eaten there countless times and every darn dish is phenomenal. They are true community members, and very neighborly, they share a wall with an amazing Ethiopian restaurant called Cafe Desta, and allow them to use their seating space in the evenings!

Tucson is a village where you can feed your body and your soul.

And my work here is done. Kidding. Or am I? I know for my foodie friends that is all it takes to get them hopping on the next plane (Tucson has a great regional airport [TUS] with over 200 flights a day!) to grab a knife and fork! Of course, at the moment, as we all sit at home riding out the ‘Rona, we can’t exactly do that.

But that’s okay because I am going to give you the download on all my favorite spots to eat, sleep and do in Tucson to help you plan that trip as soon as we can get off our couches and get back into the world.

Once we can all free ourselves, free yourself in Tucson!

Where to Eat in Tucson

Of course, I am continuing with where to eat. Are you new here?! And I have already highlighted most of my favorites, but here they are again, plus a few more that I’ve been to.

Boca Tacos (533 N 4th Ave.) gourmet tacos and salsas. Part of the Best 23 Miles of Mexican Food.

Tucson Tamale (7159 E Tanque Verde Rd) exceptional tamales of all varieties, plus frozen ones to take home! Part of the Best 23 Miles of Mexican Food.

El Charro Café (multiple locations, I went here: 6910 E Sunrise Dr) classic Mexican dishes from the nation’s oldest running (same family) Mexican restaurant. The El Charro family has a ton of restaurants throughout the city, including a new seafood one. Part of the Best 23 Miles of Mexican Food.

5 Points Market and Restaurant (756 S Stone Ave) an American bistro with fresh local ingredients near the Barrio Viejo.

Cafe Desta (758 S Stone Ave) authentic Ethiopian cuisine and coffee.

Blue Willow (2616 N Campbell Ave) a Tucson mainstay set in a 1940’s adobe home serving home-style goodness.

Senae Thai Bistro (63 E Congress St) authentic, award-winning Thai cuisine.

Saffron Indian Bistro (7607 N Oracle Rd) my pals from Coleman Concierge brought us here. We had good lamb, chicken, and Murg Malai Kabab.

My Favorite Things to Do in Tucson

Arizona-Sonora Desert Museum

I can’t count how many times Mr. Misadventures and I have been to the Arizona-Sonora Desert Museum. It feels like a home away from home. We became members after our first visit! We love the size, the variety of activities, the passion of the 400+ volunteers, and the endless possibilities of the seasons in this outdoor museum. If you are staying a few days you may be around when staff leads you through a saguaro harvest with a Tohono O'odham family or a prickly pear harvest. After spending a day soaking in all that the Arizona-Sonora Desert Museum has to offer, don’t miss the sunset at Gates Pass in Tucson Mountain Park right near the museum.

Saguaro National Park

There are 2 parts to this unique national park on either side of Tucson and you will be quickly enthralled with the funny poses the saguaro make. Frankly, it is one of the things I miss most about not being in Arizona, I kind of got used to seeing these majestic cacti! Saguaro National Park has driving trails, walking and hiking paths and trails, a picnic area, and sunset spots – just always remember to have plenty of water and a hat!

Pima Air & Space Museum

I have been to a lot of museums in my life, here and abroad, and I can honestly say that one of my all-time favorites is the Pima Air & Space Museum in Tucson! I love airline, space, and aviation history, but the icing on the cake is the boneyard where you explore in, around, and on 100’s of airplanes!

Biking and Hiking

If you have a bike you want to bring it to Tucson! (P.S. you can rent them too!). There is a system of 120+ miles of mixed-use (biking, walking, running) trails in Tucson. The largest loop is 53 miles, but there are lots of smaller loops and paths to follow (like the one to the farmers market perhaps…). There is a very active pro-bicycling culture and you should enjoy the fruits of their labor.

There is good hiking in Tucson as well. Sabino Canyon Recreation Area and the Catalina Mountains to name a few. We camped in Catalina State Park and hiked the Canyon Loop Trail and part of the Romero Canyon Trail. Sabino Canyon is car-less and you have to hike or tram in. This park affords a great opportunity to see owls.

Festivals, Rodeos & Shows

Not surprising, there are several food festivals that take place throughout the year in Tucson. But there are also art, film and heritage festivals which would be a bonus to any trip. My absolute favorite is the Tucson Modernism Week that takes place in October. If you love all things Mid-century Modern you will love this event! There are films, lectures, design and architecture exhibits throughout the city, and a fun vintage trailer show. Palm Springs who?

One show that brings people from all over is the Tucson Gem & Mineral Show held at the end of January/beginning of February each year. There are 100’s of vendors selling bling – old and new and at all price ranges. Nearly every time I speak to someone about Tucson they mention this show!

You can find a rodeo happening during any given month in Arizona, Tucson holds their version, La Fiesta de los Vaqueros Tucson which is a rodeo, and a parade in February. I don’t know about you, but I love rodeos and get a kick out of people-watching there!

Other Great Things to do in Tucson

Tucson Botanical Garden (2150 N Alvernon Way) a beautiful 5.5 acres of gardens, a gourmet cafe and exhibit space (I saw a great Frida Kahlo exhibition there!). You will be amazed by the variety of plants that grow in the Sonoran desert!

Barrio Viejo (Meyer & 17th/19th, Park at Meyer/19th, walk back. Continue on Meyer at 19th and around the block to the left.) is a historic working-class neighborhood with colorful adobe homes. A real treat for photographers. Be respectful it is a neighborhood people (and families) live in.

Tucson Murals (all over, but here is a list of 45!). Tucson has a solid art scene full of talented artists, many of whom take their creativity to the streets. Err. The walls.

Rillito Park Farmers Market (4502 N 1st Ave) is a year-round farmers market with actual food (I’ve been to so many so-called markets that are more like arts and crafts shows!. I often coordinated our last activities of the day to be near this market so we could grab farm-fresh products for our trip home.

Mission San Xavier del Bac (1950 W San Xavier Rd) is a historic mission on the Tohono O'odham Nation San Xavier Indian Reservation. You can also try native foods from locals in the parking lot.

Where to Stay in Tucson

There are plenty of hotels and resorts to choose from of all shapes, sizes, and wallets, but here are some of my picks, all places I have stayed in.

Fun & Funky The Downtown Clifton

If you are going for something with a retro vibe and hip decor, look no further than The Downtown Clifton hotel. Not only is it super close to one of my favorite restaurants, Five Points, but also walking distance from Tucson’s colorful historic adobe neighborhood, Barrio Viejo.

Hacienda del Sol Guest Ranch Resort

I did not know I was missing an authentic hacienda experience until I had one. I went there looking for a romantic weekend staycation and got so much more. Hacienda del Sol makes you feel like you are a million miles away from it all at the foot of the Santa Catalina mountains, even when you are still in the heart of Tucson!

El Conquistador Tucson

My good friends Jenn and Ed of Coleman Concierge invited Mr. Misadventures and me to a weekend at the El Conquistador Tucson. Ed lived in Tucson for years and the two of them shared a lot of their favorite spots over meals and conversation. El Conquistador was the perfect backdrop for a weekend away at a resort.

Airbnb Adobe Casita

We stayed in this adobe casita which was the first load-bearing straw bale home built in the U.S., if you stay there you can check out a fascinating book on the topic as well as be within walking distance to downtown.

Lazydays KOA Resort

If you are RVing and planning to stay in Tucson, I recommend Lazydays KOA Resort.  We stayed there a couple of times during our RV adventures and think it has a good location. We appreciated their sustainability efforts as well. Not RVing but looking to rough it? They have cabins that you can rent there as well!

Day Trips from Tucson

While there are a ton of things to do in Tucson, you have the freedom to road and Tucson serves as a great home-base for exploring a few areas outside of the city. You are staying a few extra days, I recommend you check out the following, we certainly enjoyed doing so!

Mt. Lemmon

Mt. Lemmon is a wonderful respite from the heat in the summer and a nearby spot for skiing in the winter. Lots of camping and hiking for spring and fall. Beautiful lookout points and you can sit amongst the monarch butterfly migration in September, they surround you!

Sonoita & Patagonia

Sonoita and Patagonia are known for 2 things: amazing birding and delicious wine. There is also the Sonoita Creek State Natural Area and Patagonia Lake State Park for hiking, bird-watching, boating, and more. We did some off-roading there on Ruby Road, there is even a haunted mine out there. But I am partial about the wine 😉 There are dozens of wineries and tasting rooms. Have some sips, grab a bottle to go, and bring them back to Tucson!

Titan Missile Museum

Titan Missile Museum is a former ICBM missile site. You can tour the facility (note, make reservations online ahead of time, this is a very popular spot) and the missile silo along with getting a bit of history of what it was like to grow up or live in the U.S. during the cold war.

Biosphere 2

Biosphere 2 is a science research facility run by the University of Arizona. The 3-acre glass building and domes house 7 model ecosystems that are part of active research projects which you can tour to learn about Earth sciences.

Kartchner Caverns State Park

Kartchner Caverns State Park has camping and cabins, with lots of hiking and outdoor activities, but people come for the caves. There are nearly 3 miles of passages in the world's longest stalactite formation and tours available daily to see it (reserve in advance!).

Kitt Peak National Observatory

Kitt Peak has the largest accumulation of telescopes in the world, 24 in all! They offer 2 or 3 different tours a day (depending on the day) and they are well worth the trip up the Quinlan Mountains.

Organ Pipe National Monument

Another national park property dedicated to a specific species of cacti, Organ Pipe National Monument is pretty awesome. There are 2 parts to the park you can drive through and get out to [cautiously] explore as well as plenty of picnic opportunities. Don’t miss the opportunity to check out Ajo as well.

Tombstone

Get your cowboy on in Tombstone where famous cowboys like Wyatt Earp and Doc Holliday and other gunslingers ruled. Visit the O.K. Corral and the Bird Cage Theatre to get a sense of Wild West history!

Chiricahua National Monument

Chiricahua National Monument is known as the “Wonderland of Rocks” and “Land of Standing Up Rocks” because there are rocks on tops of rocks on top of rocks, a photographer’s dream!

I hope that my love letter to Tucson illustrates the wonderful vibrant multicultural food culture and heritage that is a huge part of why you should visit this desert oasis. If you don’t visit for the food, there are still endless possibilities to fill your vacation dance card and create your own experience. It is an outdoor mecca where you can relax and recharge.

With its parks and gardens, hills, and canyons for hiking and biking, museums, festivals, institutes, fun, and funky shops, and community art and food projects, there are plenty of things to tempt you and your family with!

If you want my FULL Phoenix and Tucson Phoenix and Tucson Activity + Day Trip List with day trips and things to do in Phoenix and Tucson, it is available for $4.99.

How about you? Have you been to Tucson? If yes, what was your favorite part (or meal!)? If not, are you inspired to go (when it is safe), and why? Do share!

For a visual summary of this post, check out my Visit Tucson web story!

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I've been on this planet long enough and seen a good chunk of its geography to have witnessed my fair share of towns that through a twist of fate, a curve in the road, a closing of a business is set on a path of bad luck and circumstance. Historically, take a look at some of the towns that thrived on Route 66, or for those familiar with France, National 6. These once-vibrant areas now suffer and are oftentimes abandoned. It takes a very dedicated person or people to stick around and people with hearts of gold to have faith in the future. In Ajo Arizona, those people gather around the Sonoran Desert Inn.

Before I dive into more detail, if you've been reading Misadventures with Andi for a while you will know that I am a movie buff (and if you haven't been reading for a long time, just take my word for it) and there is a film that I think about when I think about Ajo. It is a French movie with an actor I enjoy (Lorànt Deutsch) called “Un village presque parfait” which means, an almost perfect village. It is the story of a small village in France that is seeing hard times because its main employer, a smoked salmon factory, shut down and moved out of the country. For them to attract a new company, the village must have a doctor. So the mayor of the village, along with a few other rascally characters trick a Parisian doctor into falling in love with their town…and the story goes on.

I don't think the co-directors of the Sonoran Desert Inn & Conference Center, Stuart, and Emily Siegel, are tricking anyone, but they are trying to work a miracle and I, for one am rooting for them and the entire Ajo community who have dedicated their blood, sweat, and tears to this endeavor.

Ajo Arizona was once a bustling little town on the Southern Arizona and Mexico border. For multiple generations, there had been a copper mine and the town was built to support the miners. It was a model-planned community with pretty pre-fab houses and a Spanish colonial town square. The town planners sought to keep the miners and their families happy and satisfied.  But in 1985, union disputes broke out, copper prices plummeted and the mine closed overnight leaving 1000s of people without work. Families moved away and the town was practically abandoned.

So why isn't Ajo Arizona one of those ghost towns that people drive through on the way to somewhere else?  Two words.

People and Arts.

A community of people wanting to fight to change the future of Ajo through art.

Truth be told, they have only started. They do have a ways to go. But the heart is there and stories like this help raise visibility to why you should visit Ajo. Why you should Stay in the Sonoran Desert Inn and why you should spend some of your hard-earned money there. If you are interested in learning more about Ajo Arizona, here is a great article from The Atlantic about its history. The Sonoran Desert Inn also has a great page on their site that weaves their story with the town of Ajo's and it is very well written, I recommend checking it out.

Mr. Misadventures and I enjoy visiting places in the off-season. Full transparency, summer is NOT the best time to visit Ajo Arizona. BUT I find rainbows in the clouds wherever I go and I believe everything happens for a reason. We had some rainbows on our trip.

Why visit Ajo?

To be clear, I am not going to say that Ajo is a destination spot. But I do think it is a great stopover, a nice weekend or a cool spot for a small conference. Ajo is 2 hours from Phoenix. Take Highway 85, avoid Interstate 10 and see the lovely Sonoran desert landscape. Ajo is just a notch over 2 hours from Tucson. Take Highway 86, avoid Interstate 10 and see the Tohono O'odham Nation and one of my favorite spots right in the middle between Ajo and Tucson, Kitt Peak National Observatory. The space geek in you will love it.

Most people pass through Ajo to visit the Organ Pipe National Monument. We did ourselves when we spent a long weekend in Tucson last year. Organ pipe cacti are unique and are only found in the Sonoran Desert. They look like pipe organs and the park has tons of them!

There is also the Cabeza Prieta National Wildlife Refuge (the visitor center is located in Ajo) with 275 different species of wildlife. You are also 2 hours south of Puerto Peñasco, also known as Rocky Point on the Sea of Cortez in Mexico. It is a fishing and resort town and quite popular for its beaches.

So that's some of the why you might find yourself close to Ajo. The Sonoran Desert Inn has also partnered with REI Adventures for hikes in the Sonoran desert, check out the inn's events page for more information. The inn is host to lots of community events including culinary, spiritual, and plain old business conferences. The property is an old school known as the Curley School Campus and I love the sense of nostalgia I got while walking down the hall, not to the principal's office or to the school nurse, but to our room. They call the decor “Southwestern industrial” and I dig it.  I would also call it very clean!

Our room had a nice bathroom and a kitchen to prepare food and beverages. It did not have a television (that scores points in my book!) but did have wireless. Notice the cute javelina pillow? That's kind of the town's mascot and we will come back to that in a minute. The rooms are converted schoolrooms and I love the vibe! Also, notice the industrial art hanging from the ceiling built with old mining equipment. And P.S. I have those striped pillows on my guest couch at home – true story!

The center hosts a community garden, local artists, and a meditation center among many other things I did not have time to discover.

So remember those rainbows I mentioned? When we arrived at the Sonoran Desert Inn we were a bit tired. It was hot, we had spent 3 hours outside touring Kitt Peak and we were hungry. There is not a lot (read practically zero) options for food in the summer. But there are tamales! Yes. You read that right. Tamales. One of the employees of the inn makes fabulous tamales and she sells them in the office. So when you check-in, ask about them and buy a dozen! We got 1/2 a dozen and wished we bought more. They even provide you all the instructions you need for heating them in your room. Rainbows and little bundles of heaven I tell ya!

The next morning we rose as early (as we always do!) and went to check out Ajo's Artist Alley. The Sonoran Desert Inn and the town of Ajo itself are very committed to supporting local, regional, heck, any artist. There is an artist in residence program and there is Artist Alley.

Everywhere we turned there were amazing pieces on the walls covering all types of topics: Native American culture, spirituality, education, Sonoran life, culture. Beautiful work.

We were all alone so we didn't have to fight people for photos: off-season and early risers for the win!

Plenty of talented artist in Ajo!

After taking in all the different murals, we decided we were hungry, but the restaurants offering breakfast were not open until 7:00 and it was 6:15 so we decided to drive through some of the residential areas to look at the homes that were built to house miner families. There is a movement to restore some of these older homes, but they still need a lot of work. There aren't a ton of people that live in Ajo year-round, most of them are border patrol and their families as there is a large border patrol facility between Ajo and Pipe Organ park. There are also a lot of retirees as well (and a ton of RVing snow birders in the winter). Quite frankly it is like a ghost town. I know because where we live in the northwest of Phoenix is practically the same!

We had the streets to ourselves. That is until a gang of javelinas showed up. That is not the official scientific name for a group or family of javelinas, but you don't want to mess around with these animals so I like the gang reference. Except I just looked it up and it is a squadron and that is totally cool! They have a squadron of javelina's at the Arizona-Sonora Desert Museum (one of my favorite things to do in Tucson) but I have only seen the shape of them under the bridge or in the bushes. This badass squadron was in the wild. Well sort of. If you call a neighborhood of homes in a small town the wild! You get my point. Hopefully.

I was driving and rolling super slow so that we could keep up with them and so that Mr. Misadventures could get a photo.

There must have been about 30 of them wandering around and it was hard to get them!

Then a coyote rolled onto the scene. A small guy. The squadron decided to cross the road and the coyote stopped, sat, and waited until they all crossed. Also smart enough to know that you don't mess with these guys!

By the time we finished chasing them around the neighborhood, it was 7:00 am. Time for breakfast. The restaurant we were going to (there was only one choice on a Sunday morning in the summer) was right around the corner from where we were so I pulled into the parking lot and noticed that there was nobody home. Sunday morning, people might get to work a little late, so we waited until 7:15. I double-checked their Google business listing, it said they were open. I checked the photo I had taken with my phone from the information book in our room that said it was open, but nada.

[Update: the kind of owners of the above-mentioned restaurant actually reached out after and offered us a gift card as a means to apologize for not being open. Can you believe how awesome this town is? Of course, I turned it down because only a restaurant is hard, owning a restaurant in a town as small as Ajo, harder. But I will gladly return in the autumn try have a [paid] meal.]

Enter rainbow number 2.

After a quick check on the interwebs, we found that the closest spot for breakfast was in the next town over. I personally wouldn't call it a town. It is heading the direction of the Organ Pipe National Monument and it is a corner with a 2-way stop sign, a gas station, a Mexican insurance office (you need to buy car insurance for driving in Mexico if you head to someplace like Puerto Peñasco) and one single restaurant called Grannymac's Kitchen. I don't know who Grannymac is but I love her. This restaurant run by 3 generations of fierce women is dah-li-cious!!! We had a great breakfast with probably the best just-made-right-from-the-top-of-the-oven tortillas.

There is no reason why I would ever stop in Why. If it hadn't been for our off-season stay where most of the restaurants were closed we would not have experienced those tantalizing tamales or tortillas. There is always sunshine on a rainy day.

And wild burros when you leave town.

And now, on my next visit to the Sonoran Desert Inn in the autumn, I know I will be seeing Ajo at its best. But you know what? I already think it is pretty darn good.

How about you? Have you been to Ajo? Have you heard of it? Do you want to come to visit the Sonoran Desert Inn? Do tell! Have you been to a town that has been struck by an economic downfall that's trying to turn itself around? Do share!

For a visual summary of this post, check out my Ajo web story!

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There is no shortage of mega-resorts in the Tucson area (and for that matter Phoenix/Scottsdale as well), but I sometimes feel that most of them have very little soul and very little authenticity. They definitely serve a purpose and I don't mean to belittle anyone who may frequent them, there is a place for everyone in this world. For me (and Mr. Misadventures) that place is the Hacienda del Sol Guest Ranch Resort.

Mr. Misadventures is a Swiss-trained engineer and I am a keen observer (the hubby says I missed my calling and should have been a detective!) so we notice the details. All the details. Details matter and from the moment we stepped foot inside the beautiful adobe archway of the Hacienda del Sol we could tell that details mattered to them as well.

Everywhere you turn there is a photograph in the making. Every component of the gardens, the buildings, the pool, and the rooms have been thought through, even if a guest never notices.

Mr. Misadvenures and I wandered around with mouth agape, like Alice in Wonderland taking in the beautiful desert landscaping, the art and sculptures, and the water elements, all placed in just the right spot. The tiling on the staircases, the strategically placed windows that bring in the natural light into the darkest corners. This place has been designed to embrace its history and its geological location. There is a respect for the elements and a celebration of them as well.

We arrived with little or no plans for the weekend. After a very busy spring and what looks to be a jam-packed summer, we just wanted to get away from our home and relax. When I met the resort's PR person at an event in Paradise Valley she gushed about the property, its history, its ample photogenic nature, I knew that I must see it for myself. And I must tell you, the reality lived up to the marketing 🙂

Hacienda del Sol Guest Ranch Resort started out as an all-girls school in 1930, mainly for wealthy daughters of prominent families. As the United States entered into World War II, it was difficult to find teachers and the school closed in 1941 only to open again as a guest ranch in 1944. But the ranch had already begun evolving and transforming in the late 1930s. After a fire damaged part of the property, Josias Joesler, a Swiss architect who had moved to the Tucson area with his wife in 1927, was commissioned to rebuild parts of the ranch.

Most of Mr. Joesler's other surviving work is located in the area around the Hacienda del Sol in the Catalina Foothills Estates and the Historic Blennman-Elm neighborhood where his traditional southwestern style of hand-crafted decorative motifs and iron/tin work can still be found. A student of Mr. Joesler, Lewis Hall, an architect known for his Sonoran revival style in the Tucson area, continued the work that Mr. Joesler had begun at the ranch. He designed churches and commercial spaces but loved designing homes. Some of his signature touches include floor-to-ceiling windows, spacious gathering areas, large brick fireplaces, and wood beams. He worked on the Hacienda del Sol until 1948.

As the years progressed, the guest ranch became a popular hideaway for Hollywood personalities such as John Wayne and Clark Gable (perhaps because of the proximity to the Old Tucson Studios?) as well as romantic couples such as Spencer Tracey and Katherine Hepburn (the resort even has a casita dedicated to them). At some point in time, the hotel began to change owners and was lost in time for a bit until a group of Tucson residents took on its restoration. Since that time, the restoration has continued organically, and holistically, never sacrificing the spirit of its locale.

The Misadventurers are incredibly discerning when it comes to food. Sorry, not sorry. We've lived all over the world. Traveled over the world and have had the luxury of having had really amazing food. That's not to say that all that food has been in luxury restaurants and hotels. Because that is definitely not true. But when we do stay in a starred property we do have certain expectations and when it comes to the dining at Hacienda del Sol, we were impressed. Mr. Misadventures is even more exigent than I am and he gave everything a thumbs up! That is impressive to see. And to taste.

The main restaurant, The Grill was added in 1997 and is an award-winning spot for Best Grill, Best Brunch, and Best Place to take out-of-town guests. Unless you yourself are that out-of-town guest, like I was for the weekend, in which case you are just lucky! Mr. Misadventures and I enjoyed a lovely smoked salmon breakfast in the Grill taking in the Santa Catalina mountains.

Even if you sit in a seat not facing the mountains you are entertained by the plethora of aviary acrobats taking place outside of the large windows. Everywhere you look the desert landscaping is impeccable, not to say it's like the crisp and all-to-well-manicured style gardens of some hotels or English gardens, but rather a naturally managed authentically chaotic desert ecosystem. And the amount and variety of birds on the property attest to that.

In fact, that is what Mr. Misadventures did our first night. We sat on the terrace of our Catalina room (part of an expansion added in 2015) taking in the sunset, imbibing cold, bubbly Prosecco, snacking on an excellent cheese and fruit plate, and watching the myriad of birds visiting the giant saguaro next to our room. We sat there for quite a while. Without devices. Simply appreciating the moment.

There are 2 pools on the resort property and we had the one near our room all to ourselves! It's a small pool, but strategically placed on the hill with a beautiful view of the Santa Catalina mountains and the sunset is lovely from there as well.

The weather was warm so we slipped outside in sprints in order to photograph as much of the ground details as we could. We just couldn't help ourselves. In between, we would hop in the pool or escape to our room to cool off, read, and refresh. It was a largely digital-free weekend and the sights and sounds of. wildlife and flora and fauna made an impression on us. There is color and shape and texture everywhere!

We decided to partake in the more casual fare offered by the resort in their Terraza Garden Patio & Lounge rather than The Grill. The restaurant has a lovely patio which is wonderful for winter dining. We chose to eat inside, plus as a bonus, there was live jazz.

Our dinner was exceptional. It is safe to say we have very high standards when it comes to food and since leaving San Francisco we are rarely impressed, but the culinary team behind the food at Hacienda del Sol Guest Ranch Resort is talented.

We ordered a fried calamari starter. That was followed up by tacos. Not sophisticated but well thought out and balanced. I had carnitas tacos which will say were not well-plated (the meat should have been left to rest a minute, the grease/fat coming off the meat was not attractive), but the taco itself was delicious.

Mr. Misadventures had mahi-mahi tacos which were memorable as the fish was super moist, a rare find when it comes to fish tacos. But the real star of the plate was the beans, or as stated on the menu, borracha (drunken) beans.

The layers of flavor were quite complex and you can tell a lot of love went into them. The meal ended on a high note with a goat milk cheesecake (with a basil graham cracker crust) that was one of the best desserts I’ve ever had. It reminded me of 2 other desserts on my all-star list. A tomato-strawberry- basil dessert from Grand Vefour in Paris Palais Royale and a goat cheesecake from La Ferme Saint Aubin in Paris as well.

We retreated back to our room and back to the quiet for the sunset. Except it wasn’t completely quiet. A lone coyote stepped onto stage also known as the golf course down the canyon and began a solo concert. We don’t know who he or she was calling to but it was impressive.

There was a perpetual smile on our faces the whole weekend. This is the kind of rare paradise that you generally want to keep to yourself. But out of generosity and kindness of my heart, I'm sharing. You're welcome!

The Hacienda del Sol Guest Ranch Resort is celebrating its 90th anniversary and has Historic Rooms at $90 – these are the rooms in which the daughters of the Kelloggs (cereal), the Pillsburys (biscuits), the Campbells (soups) slept on the outer edges of the historic courtyard – where the beautiful yellow-walled photos were taken by Mr. Misadventures.

If you want to soak up the nostalgia of one of Hollywood's greatest couples, try out the Tracy-Hepburn Casita, or for something in between try one of the Catalina rooms which we enjoyed. Whichever room you choose, do it soon as you deserve this in your life!

Oh, and if you like horses they have stables (the daughters of all those rich families kept horses at Hacienda del Sol) and you can go horseback riding! We walked down to the stables to check out the horses but didn't do a trail (it was 100!).

Hacienda del Sol Guest Ranch Resort has received many accolades, but most recently they were rewarded 4 stars by Forbes as a verified luxury resort in the Forbes Travel Guide. So you know it is the good stuff! They are located at 5501 North Hacienda Del Sol Road, Tucson, Arizona 857185501. It is 2 hours from Phoenix. It is the perfect romantic Tucson weekend getaway and I highly recommend it.

Thank you again to the wonderful staff at Hacienda del Sol Guest Ranch Resort who allowed me to invite myself over for a weekend staycation. I could not have asked for a more perfect slice of desert heaven than you!

More on Tucson:

Visit Tucson Arizona
Weekend Explorations in Tucson
More Weekend Explorations in Tucson
Locals Guide to Tucson Bike Trails
Weekend Staycation in Tucson

How about you? Don't you think that Hacienda del Sol Guest Ranch Resort looks like the perfect desert getaway? Or a romantic weekend getaway? Do you have a favorite place you like to escape to? Do share!

If you want my FULL Phoenix and Tucson Phoenix and Tucson Activity + Day Trip List with day trips and things to do in Phoenix and Tucson, it is available for $4.99.

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This spring was a busy time for the Misadventures family. We had my mother-in-law from France for 3 weeks, and we went to Brittany for 10 days and it was a sprint, we packed a lot in – Dinan, Saint-Malo, Cancale, Fougeres, and more. I came back home to run a successful collaboration event in Scottsdale. We did a backroad-offroad camping trip and on top of all that it is the busiest time for my real day job. Whew!

Mama needs a Staycation!

Does it count if your staycation is 2 hours away? I feel like it does. Tucson is in our own backyard and so under the radar. Hey, all you folks coming into Phoenix and heading to that grand national park to the north, head the other direction and see what you are missing!

Since arriving in Phoenix 2 years ago, we’ve visited Tucson every few months. We’ve done a couple of weekend explorations (here and here) and since we’re members we’ve gone to the Arizona-Sonora Desert Museum at least once a quarter if not more and we’ve got camping reservations for the fall in Catalina State Park.

So when Enterprise approached me about helping me find my weekend self, I said:

“Enterprise take me away!” and “Here we come Tucson!”

For the longest time while living in the San Francisco Bay Area, we only had one car and whenever I needed an extra car I rented from Enterprise. I commuted into San Francisco on public transportation and getting to the airport or rental car office wasn’t convenient, but Enterprise had a program where they would pick you up and bring you to their office, a service I used quite a bit while working in San Francisco!

However, I first learned about Enterprise a few years before that while working at Logitech. I worked at this Swiss-American company for over a decade in corporate marketing and during the last couple of years of my time there, the company began developing a Customer Experience program and department with a mission to approach everything they did from a customer’s point of view.

Because of my role in the company I was on the initial task force to work on the initiative. At the time one of the most important factors of customer experience was NPS or Net Promoter Score. A score that companies are ranked against by a few factors but the most important one being: would you recommend us to others?

We studied companies with high NPS ratings. My bank was one of them and Enterprise was another. Enterprise offers outstanding customer service. They have a total transportation solution with an extensive network of convenient locations and affordable rates. But so do other rental car companies, the difference always comes down to the service!

I could go on and on about the experiences I’ve had with Enterprise, like when I flew into Portland last year for my Oregon coast road trip. I learned that I accidentally had 2 member numbers. The manager offered to take care of it. Not just to do it on the phone while I stood there, but she sent me on my way and said she would take care of it and email me when it was complete. I got an email that same day, job done!

For our most recent trips to France, we rented a car at the Enterprise office right down the street from our house and drove to LAX before flying to Paris. We’ve found that it’s less stressful than worrying about delayed or canceled flights.

Okay, enough of the background and why I love Enterprise, on with the weekend!

As I mentioned I really needed a bit of refueling so we planned for a “light” weekend rather than our usual jam-packed don’t stop until you drop kind!

We started our day with lunch at Senae Thai Bistro (sadly the restaurant is now CLOSED). I fell in love with Thai food in college – I ate and studied at a small family-owned Thai restaurant 3 to 4 nights a week! I met my first husband who I didn't realize was Thai (he was oddly tall for a Thai person) while bragging about how much I loved Thai food at a company picnic.

His family moved to the US from Thailand when he was in 5th grade and while we were dating (and married) I ate at my mother-in-law's house many, many nights during the week, and love good authentic Thai food. I have been dying for an excuse to visit Senae Thai Bistro because of its chef, Dee Buizer.

In 2015, Tucson was named “City of Gastronomy” by the United Nations, the first in the U.S. Tucson is a UNESCO Creative Cities Network for gastronomy! Part of the reason is people like Chef Dee who is one of the 32 chefs chosen by the Thailand Ministry of Commerce to be a part of a very special program called Thai Select whose mission is to promote authentic Thai cuisine.

We were blessed to live in Berkeley where Chef Dee opened her first restaurant, Sweet Basil and now we have had the opportunity to experience more of her food at Senae Thai Bistro.

We’re still following a low-carb lifestyle but rarely do cheat days, so I was very much looking forward to indulging in a few carbs, but I actually 3 of the 4 dishes we ordered were fairly low-carb.

I didn't feel deprived as 3 of the dishes I ordered are long-time favorites: Lab Gai, a salad with ground chicken (or pork) red onions, cilantro, mint, and roasted rice among other things; Neurh Nām Thok (or waterfall salad) with beef which is almost exactly the same as Lab Gai; and Gai Kra Prow, minced chicken and long beans, fried onions and garlic in a basil chili sauce. We also had Mu Yāng which is grilled pork with cilantro.

The thing I love about Thai is the layers of flavor you get from the spices and various preparations of the individual ingredients. It was the tastiest meal we've had in a very long time! If you want to make Thai food at home, it can be done, my friend Renee of Thai Caliente recently shared her recipe for Nue Nam Tok and I can't wait to try my hand at it!

We left the restaurant in downtown Tucson thrilled that our weekend was starting off on such a good note. We hopped into the car and headed to our home away from home for the weekend of unwinding.

I became intrigued by the Hacienda Del Sol Guest Ranch Resort when I chatted with their PR rep at an Arizona media event held at Mountain Shadows Resort. I loved the history surrounding the property, a former all-girls school, a Hollywood hideaway (Katherine Hepburn and Spencer Tracey fell in love here!), and a lovingly restored architectural showpiece with good bones (it is one of the oldest examples of Swiss architect Josias Joesler's work in the Southwest).

Our Catalina guest room facing the Santa Cataline mountains did not disappoint and we enjoyed a quiet evening on the terrace taking in the sunset and watching the fascinating play of bird dynamics in the giant saguaro next to our room.

I'm not going to go into all the details of our stay, I've written a post dedicated to the hotel, but needless to say, our stay definitely helped me transform into my weekend self and refuel and recharge for a new week!

I was able to do one of my favorite things in the world, reading a book. A real book, not my Kindle. I carried it around in the hotel, and at the pool and I really enjoyed sinking my teeth into Ruth Reichl's latest gourmet memoir, Save Me the Plums.

After indulging ourselves in a peaceful respite at the resort we decided to prolong our return home by taking the long way. We headed towards Pipe Organ National Monument with the intent of visiting the part we missed last May but were pleasantly surprised to find the road to Kitt Peak National Observatory open early (there are gates blocking the entrance between 4 pm and 9 am) so we headed up the windy road to the top of the mountain.

At the top, we found the largest accumulation of telescopes in the world, 24 in all. We did 2 of the 3 tours and learned so much. The space geek in us was thrilled. Tucson is the astronomy capital of the world and the mountain ranges surrounding the city are dotted with them.

It was the perfect way to top off our weekend and I can't thank Enterprise enough for suggesting that I take the time to refuel and have a weekend getaway and for providing the means to do it!

How to Find Your Weekend Self

• Take a little trip. Your location should be a short distance 2-3 hours by car or plane away from home. Or a Staycation at a local resort. Come to Phoenix or Tucson in the summer it is low-season and there are FANTASTIC deals to be had!
• Rent a car. If you're flying pick up an Enterprise rental car at the airport. If you are driving, give your own car a break and rent something fun!
• When you get to where you are going, unplug, I know it's hard, but it feels amazing!
• Relax!
• Take a moment to reflect on all the good things in life and remember to take refueling breaks every month or so.

If you’re ever looking to rent from Enterprise in the Surprise/El Mirage/Sun City/Sun City West area consider the office in El Mirage on Grand Avenue and say “Bonjour” to Rochelle she’s a fellow Francophile and offers exceptional customer service!

And for more road trip inspiration check out some of these trips on the Pursuits with Enterprise site!

More on Tucson:

Visit Tucson Arizona
Weekend Explorations in Tucson
More Weekend Explorations in Tucson
Locals Guide to Tucson Bike Trails
Hacienda del Sol Guest Ranch Resort – A Romantic Tucson Weekend Getaway
The Downtown Clifton Hotel

If you want my FULL Phoenix and Tucson Phoenix and Tucson Activity + Day Trip List with day trips and things to do in Phoenix and Tucson, it is available for $4.99.

How about you? How would you find your weekend self? Where would you go to recharge? Do share!

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For the long weekend, we used Tucson as a home base as we explored inside and outside the city, including parts of Southern Arizona. Given the holiday weekend, I expected crowds, but in fact, everywhere we went it was the opposite. We had Tucson and the surroundings to ourselves – it was delightful. My guess is that the university students had just left and summer tourists had not yet arrived, whatever the case, me likey!

Here is my free printable on things to do in Tucson.

Here's how our weekend played out.

Friday Night: Sunset at San Xavier del Bac Mission

When it comes to sunrise and sunset photography, you have to be ready for anything. On Friday we left Phoenix about 3:30 and drove to Tucson, we dropped off our clothing and food supplies at our Airbnb and headed straight to the San Xavier del Bac Mission to do reconnaissance for a sunset shoot the next morning. When we arrived the sky was gorgeous, the mission was empty and the clouds were happening! On our previous visit, there had been a lot of scaffolding on the building as there is ongoing renovation work taking place. This time the visible construction was minimal and we had the mission to ourselves (except for a few people who headed up the grotto hill to watch the sunset).

Having had such good luck with the sunset shoot, Mr. Misadventures said we didn't need to get up at 4 a.m. to do a sunrise – hooray! I love that kind of photo luck!

Saturday: Patagonia, Sonoita and Ruby Road

Our main objective for the weekend was to check out the Patagonia and Sonoita area of Southern Arizona. All week when people asked me what I was doing for the holiday weekend I would say I was “going to Patagonia, but not that Patagonia!” There really isn't a whole lot there, but Patagonia is a great little town to pick up supplies, they have a great organic market, and use it as a starting point for hikes and bird watching. The area is well known for birding but is also a sleepy artist community. And the entire area with Sonoita Creek is great for wine-tasting. And right down the road is Patagonia Lake State Park which is very active for boating and camping.

After spending some time in Patagonia and buying some organic tomatoes we headed to Ruby Road. This road is an offroad (4×4) byway inside the Coronado National Forest. It's named after an old mining camp that is now a ghost town you can visit. It's supposed to be quite beautiful to see the fall foliage so we wanted to drive the 20 miles to map out spots we'd want to return to in the autumn.

At the start of the road/trail is a little camping area where we stopped to use the facilities and get hydrated. That's one thing about Arizona that we are still getting used to, the vast amounts of water we have to drink! Plus always having a hat and wearing sunscreen. (I'm serious about my 7 things to pack for a trip to Phoenix!)

This is also where we started seeing all the warning signs about being alert for illegal crossing and smuggling. The US-Mexico border is about 50 miles away from this area, but for the next 2 hours as we made our way along the 20 miles (the road allows for about 10-20 mph) we passed border patrol agents every 5-10 minutes and were even buzzed by a border patrol helicopter, so I'm pretty sure there was no risk of us running into anyone! Apparently, it is worse at night, so I'm not sure if a sunrise or sunset shoot on this road is in our future, but it certainly is gorgeous in this area.

Just imagine this in the fall when the colors change. The rolling hills and beautiful trees really are something else. Plus the road is fun to drive, it has been a while since we did any 4x4ing. 

From Ruby Road, we headed back to Tucson with a stop in Tubac. Tubac is a little artist colony and Arizona’s oldest European settlement. It was once the site of a Spanish presidio and has become quite popular as a resort stop. There are beautiful homes and they do an architectural tour in January. It's got over 100 art galleries, studios, and shops. For us, it's not really our thing (although I would like to do the tour) so we walked around a bit and headed back to Tucson for a break before our evening activities.

Sunset on Signal Hill in Saguaro National Park

After an hour or 2 of enjoying our Airbnb, we headed out to Saguaro National Park for a sunset shoot. Our objective was to photograph the petroglyphs on Signal Hill with the saguaros in the background during sunset. The park was practically empty and we had Signal Hill practically to ourselves except for a couple who were doing a time-lapse video of the sunset, but they were facing so we all had plenty of space to move around.

Once Mr. Misadventures got set up we had an hour to wait for sunset (ah the life of a photographer's wife!) so we played around with photos by the petroglyphs that were left by the Hohokam people, one of the four major ancient cultures of the Southwest, sometime between 200-1460 AD. And they're still there!

Once the sun started going down, Mr. Misadventures got down too busy and I enjoyed the view. Or views actually as I was getting the opportunity to view the saguaros in the valley from a 360-degree perspective. Once Mr. Misadventures was “done” he turned around behind him and saw how awesome the clouds looked and captured this:

Sunday: Rillito Park Farmer's Market, Mt. Lemmon & Tacos!

Sunday morning we woke up and headed to the Rillito Park Farmer's Market. We had been so disappointed with the farmers' markets in the Phoenix area, we did have big hopes for what we find. Boy, were we wrong! Unlike the arts and crafts shows masked as vegetable markets we'd previously been to, this one was the real deal and we wandered around buying a few tomatoes, some delicious radishes which we would picnic on later, and eyed some lamb. We are heading back to Tucson next month and will definitely hit this market again!

With our tomatoes and radishes stowed away, we headed to Mt. Lemmon. Every time we ran into someone in the Tucson area or discussed Tucson with someone, they always said: “go to Mt. Lemmon.” I wasn't sure what I was expecting, but it wasn't to be as wowed as I was! Mt. Lemmon is part of the Santa Catalina Mountains inside the Coronado National Forest and is about 90 minutes from downtown Tucson. It rises from the Sonoran desert to an elevation of 9,159 feet!

The journey up the mountain is quite impressive. From the bottom until about 4,000 feet there is an impressive batch of saguaros. There are lookouts along the way (and do be cautious there are a TON of cyclists). When you continue to rise in elevation you pass a series of hoodoos and sycamore trees. Climbing further you get into aspen trees. It is called the Sky Island Scenic Byway and it is just gorgeous. There is skiing up here (yes, the second place we have found in Arizona, yes Arizona, where you can ski! The other being Flagstaff.) with a little ski town and then further up an observatory that also has many hiking trails stemming from it.

We went from 95 degrees to 60 at the top and it was a delicious way to cool off.

We will back to see the late fall foliage in the autumn and for some night photography near the observatory, and heck, maybe even some skiing this winter!

After a few hours exploring Mt. Lemmon, we headed back down the mountain and into Tucson for a late lunch. Tucson is known for its tacos and has a famous 23-mile Mexican food trail. When it comes to exploring food in Tucson we are just getting started. We decided to head somewhere close to our Airbnb and opted for Boca Tacos which is near the university and popular with students. Our intent was to stick to our low-carb diet and they advertised cabbage wrap tacos, but they were all out and I had to go for the “real” deal (although Mr. Misadventures did do a salad because he is less tempted by tacos than I am!).

I got 4 as you can see, one was actually meant for the hubby but he declined. I would have eaten them all except they just weren't that awesome. I did the ribeye with a poached egg (2), octopus, and shredded pork. The shredded pork one was delicious, but I would pass on the other two. The shells were really good, very fresh, and not too greasy, but I wasn't a fan of the fillings. I'm not too concerned, with 23 miles of Mexican food, there are plenty of other spots to try!

Monday: Organ Pipe National Monument

On Monday morning we got up early and said goodbye to Tucson leaving our weekend home base for Pipe Organ National Monument. It’s 3 hours from Tucson and 3 hours from our home in the Phoenix area so we decided to make a day trip of it to explore the park to see if we wanted to return at a later date. During our RV trip we visited a lot of national refuges and monuments, but nothing that felt as remote as the road to Organ Pipe from Tucson! It takes you through the Tohono O’odham Nation right along the Arizona/Mexico border. Let’s just say there ain’t much there!

We did pass the road to Kitt’s Peak another seemingly beautiful spot with a renowned observatory, but we were there too early, the road to the peak was closed. (But we did eventually get to visit on another weekend!)

We stopped here and there to take a few photos of saguaros and then arrived at Organ Pipe (although not before going through another border patrol!) we stopped at the visitor center and picked up a map and plotted our course. There are 2 main routes through the park: Ajo Mountain Drive and Puerto Blanco Drive. We chose Ajo Mountain Drive which is the shorter of the 2. You can drive these roads without a 4×4 but it’s going to be a little rough. We took our time and stopped a lot for photos.

Organ pipe cacti, look like, well, organ pipes and are rarely found in the US. The vast majority are found inside the 330,000 acres that make up the national monument. Besides the organ pipe cactus which gives the park its name, there are also a lot of saguaros.

The landscape is quite beautiful and we definitely want to return in the autumn. After finishing the Ajo Mountain Drive we drove a few miles on Puerto Blanco Drive to a picnic area where we enjoyed lunch alone. In the 4 hours, we spent in the park one car passed us on the trail!

There is a wildlife refuge, a lake, and another park in the area so I could definitely see spending more time here although I don’t know quite where we’d sleep! Maybe Ajo which is a small town we saw a few miles after the park on our way back home.

All in all, it was another fabulous weekend in Tucson. We still have only scratched the surface of things to do in this area and we look forward to more explorations coming up!

More on Tucson:

Visit Tucson Arizona
Weekend Explorations in Tucson
Locals Guide to Tucson Bike Trails
Weekend Staycation in Tucson
Pima Air & Space Museum
Hacienda del Sol Guest Ranch Resort – A Romantic Tucson Weekend Getaway
The Downtown Clifton Hotel

If you want my FULL Phoenix and Tucson Phoenix and Tucson Activity + Day Trip List with day trips and things to do in Phoenix and Tucson, it is available for $4.99.

How about you? Have you explored any of the amazing things around Tucson? Have more spots for me to check out? Do tell!

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Okay, clearly I need a lot more practice taking photos in front of murals but you get the gist. From the content of the “Greetings from Tucson” mural, you can see the wide variety of places, food, and culture that this town has to be proud of. (Plus in my defense, it's really hard to be graceful when you are wearing pants 3 sizes too big!)

In reality, the weekend we spent in Tucson was not our first. During our RV sabbatical, we stayed at the really awesome KOA near the fairgrounds. It was only one of two RV parks we stayed in during our near 2-years on the road in the RV that had solar energy (the other one being in Santa Fe). We also previously visited while staying in Phoenix when we totally geeked out at the Pima Air and Space Museum and wolfed down some of the best tamales we've ever had.

But for this weekend we were on a mission, we wanted to get a taste of some of the best things to do in Tucson. It was a reconnaissance operation to explore what we wanted to come back for. Given that it is only a 2-hour drive from Phoenix, we had the opportunity to return often. Trouble is, now that we've discovered just how truly awesome Tucson is, we may need to spend every weekend here!

Here is my free printable on things to do in Tucson.

But if you only have one weekend, let me give you some of the best things to do.

Saguaro National Park

While Arizona has a lot of national monuments, trails, and recreation areas, it also has 4 national parks, with the most famous one, of course, being the Grand Canyon. However the big advantage of visiting Saguaro National Park is that it is so close to Tucson, you truly have the best of both worlds. Hikes and visits to the two parts of the national park and a huge variety of infrastructure and logistics to choose from when it comes to hotels, restaurants, and things to do.

• You will need a National Park Pass

Summertime is monsoon season in Arizona and the weather can change very quickly going from dark and gray to perfectly blue skies, it is a really cool phenomenon we are adapting to as new Arizonians.

We visited both the west side of the park which has a dirt road loop trail, short hikes with sites like petroglyphs and where the saguaro cacti are denser, and the east side of the park which has a larger driving loop (paved), trails, and taller more spread out saguaro since this part of the park is at a higher elevation and gets more rain.

The saguaro cactus is not endangered but it is protected in Arizona. There are regulations about harvesting, collecting, or destroying them. What is so interesting about this species is the arms that they grow which take 75-100 years for the very first one to show up. After that, they can have as many as 25!

The variety of cacti in the park is outstanding and we saw some of our old friends like the ocotillo which we saw a lot of in Borrego Springs and the cholla which there is a whole garden of in Joshua Tree. Word of caution about the cacti everywhere, be careful everywhere you step!

We returned to the western part of the park to try a sunset one evening. There is a really great trail and overlook at Gates Pass. We hiked up the trail but the sunset wasn't spectacular and I was a little afraid of climbing down the rocks in the dark (mainly because my other pair of too-big-for-me pants were sliding down as we descended!).

Arizona-Sonora Desert Museum

The Sonora Desert Museum is a largely outdoor site just outside the western part of Saguaro National Park and it's outstanding. The museum really captures the essence of desert life. We enjoyed our visit so much that we became members. There is a small zoo, a huge botanical garden, and an art gallery. We learned so much during our visit and plan on returning for more photography including sunsets on Saturday when the museum is open later.

This spot is less of a museum and more a living experience. You will see flora and fauna everywhere you look.

My advice to you is to arrive early (it is the desert after all) bring plenty of water, wear a hat, put on sunscreen, and have good shoes for walking in the sand and rocks.

There is a small cafe inside the museum shop, also a tiny ice cream shop – those will both get you cooled down after your explorations!

Tucson Botanical Garden

We enjoyed our visit to the Desert Botanical Garden in Phoenix so we decided to check out the Tucson Botanical Garden (get your discount pass here!) to see what it was like. Plus we read that they have a secret weapon. Inside the gardens is an adorable restaurant called Cafe Botanica run by longtime and raved-about Tucson native and Gallery of Food chef, Kristine Jensen.

It's a beautiful oasis inside the gardens and a great place to have breakfast or lunch, or even just a cup of coffee, which is all we had room for after our big breakfast (more on that later). We sat and spoke with the server about the food, the restaurant, and the local Tucson area. In between helping others and speaking with us, she visited with a beautiful bird on the terrace.

Meet Frank. Isn't he a beauty? He was just one of many birds we saw as we explored more of the gardens.

Whether you eat inside or on the terrace, the culinary traditions of the Sonoran desert are celebrated in unique dishes that also mimic the current garden exhibition. At the time of our visit, the exhibition was focused on photographs of Frida Kahlo by Nickolas Muray. But at the moment they are getting ready for the return of the butterfly exhibit in October and the new focus is on Origami in the Gardens.

I took a moment on the terrace to gather my notes. I could see myself spending quite a bit of time writing here! Maybe I can be their blogger in residence!

We learned a lot in the individual exhibits and I think they are very smartly laid out because it is not a huge space. And now I've got some new favorite trees like the Chilean mesquite tree with gorgeous twisting branches offering an amazing amount of shade and these adorable cacti which you just want to pick up and cuddle…but don't!

Mr. Misadventures thoroughly enjoyed taking photos of the beautiful displays and I took a moment to check my Insta in the Zen garden. Bloggers never stop! My Type-A-Mom “Blog hard. Play hard.” captures the spirit of that!

The gardens have a couple of cool events like the Dog Days of Summer where you can bring your pet inside and let them explore with you. Pro tip: The gardens are open later (4:30 -8:30) on Thursday and Friday evenings and the restaurant also serves dinner on those nights. If you make a reservation for the restaurant you get into the gardens for free after 4:30.

Mission San Xavier del Bac

For a little more culture we headed to the beautiful Mission San Xavier de Bac just outside of town. Located on the Tohono O'odham San Xavier Indian Reservation, it's a Catholic mission and the oldest intact European structure in Arizona. It is currently undergoing renovations making it hard to photograph, but I did get a good shot from the parking lot. I lagged behind Mr. Misadventures because I was checking out some stands that were set up to cook fry bread and other Indian dishes. I got distracted (what else is new)!

It was Sunday morning and an extended mass for the victims of Harvey was taking place so we were unable to visit inside, but we checked out the museum and beautiful courtyards. Next door (not officially on mission grounds) is Grotto Hill which offers great views of the city. The entrance to the hill is guarded by two lions statues. There are also a few other lions on the mission grounds so I am intrigued as to what they symbolize.

We will be back to see inside the church. And maybe to eat some fry bread.

Murals

In an attempt to build and strengthen the city's vibrant culture and support artists (as well as mitigate graffiti and improve underserved areas of the city) Tucson supports an ongoing murals project. Many of the murals are found in the Warehouse Arts District, but we saw murals all over town. Although murals have been written about as far back as 2006, a lot of the newer ones were added in 2016.

We didn't have nearly enough time to explore them all and I have a ton of pictures for another post when we capture the rest, but this one on the side of the Tucson Warehouse and Transfer Co. building as you enter the Warehouse Arts District is beautiful. Isn't it fantastic? At night, the colors seem to get brighter in the twilight.

The mural is located at the corner of East 6th Street and North 6th Avenue. The building was built in 1918 although the company's history dates back to 1892. There is also has a cool vintage sign on top (not pictured).

If you want to find the Greetings from Tucson sign, it's located at E 7th Street and North Arizona Avenue (one street over from North 6th Avenue and a few streets over from North 4th Avenue where there are lots of funky shops, bars, and restaurants) and is part of a cool project called Greetings Tour. You can read more about how this mural was created on their site.

NOTE: we went by at night and the mural is lit, but they are fluorescent light which is terrible for photos. The first two times we passed by someone was parked in front of the sign (bummer). And some lamebrain decided to put a Port-a-Potty next to the mural so you have to be careful with your shots!

Barrio Viejo

There are several historic districts in Tucson, in fact as we drove around exploring we kept running into new ones, but hands down our favorite was Barrio Viejo, which is also one of the most colorful. As the name indicates, Barrio Viejo is an old neighborhood made up of 19th-century homes, many of them adobe style with a rich history of inclusion and cultural diversity.

The area has had its ups and downs with razing, gentrification, and now revitalization, and many people considered it the cultural heart of the city. The neighborhood was also known as Barrio Libre (Free) because it was free of rules and regulations and you can still see whispers of counter-culture here. (One of my favorite signs in front of one of the houses was: “If you aren't mad, you aren't paying attention!”)

The small one-way street of South Meyer Avenue running between 17th and 20th has a lot of colorful homes that just beg to be photographed! There are other neighborhoods that boast colorful adobes and we will be seeking them out on future trips.

Pima Air and Space Museum

As I mentioned, we didn't visit Pima Air & Space Museum on this trip, but it is worth mentioning if you are planning a weekend in Tucson. This was the funnest museum I've ever been to! We're space and history geeks in the Misadventures household so that along with the ability to climb on planes – cool!

The Food

This post is about things to do in Tucson, not about the food, but if you have been reading Misadventures with Andi for any length of time you've probably figured out that food makes my world go around, so of course, we tried out a few restaurants. But I'll be honest with you, we are still in the thick of our low-carb high-protein diet so we decided the best strategy for us was to eat a big breakfast which sustained us through lunch and then eat a simple salad for dinner.

Our strategy worked for us in that we had two amazing breakfasts, but it doesn't work for you in terms of giving you recommendations for meals.

Fear not. When we found out that Tucson is the ONE and ONLY place in the United States that has been designated a City of Gastronomy by UNESCO, Mr. Misadventures nearly fell out of his chair and I nearly stopped our escrow process to look for a home there! Yes, I love me some national parks and beautiful gardens and fabulous murals, but this girl loves all the food and we are going to be spending a lot of time in Tucson learning more about its devotion to its food heritage, and I'm pretty sure I will be praying at that altar.

One breakfast we did enjoy was at 5 Points Market and Restaurant, an American bistro with fresh local ingredients near the Barrio Viejo. We were so impressed with this spot that we have already reached out to the owners to learn more.

I had their Bandito Blanco with grilled shaved ham and poached eggs served over a potato pancake with house mornay sauce (a French Béchamel sauce with grated Gruyère cheese). The potato pancake was a real treat given our diet but was worth every cheat day bite.

The other breakfast that Blue Willow, a Tucson mainstay set in a 1940's adobe home serving home-style goodness. We arrived about 15 minutes before they opened and found a whole bunch of people waiting including a family that spends every birthday and anniversary at this little spot.

I went with the Blue Willow Special which is scrambled eggs with shredded chicken, Hatch green chiles, tomatoes, chopped corn tortillas, cheddar cheese, warm salsa, and sour cream. For the sake of the diet, I had to pass on pinto beans and warm corn tortillas which come on the side. That made me sad, but only until I ate the first bite.

A Bit of Cowboy History

I love cowboy history. So the idea of exploring a movie studio originally built in 1939 by Columbia Pictures and now converted into a theme-park sounds fun. The location is very close to Saguaro National Park and the Arizona-Sonora Desert Museum so if you are headed to either spot consider visiting Old Tucson Studios as my friend Sage did. After that, if you need more cowboy culture, you'll have to drive another 90-minutes to Tombstone, one of my recommended things to do if you are visiting the greater Phoenix area.

That my friends is our whirlwind 3-day holiday weekend in Tucson! Whew. And as you can see, it's not a problem to find things to do in Tucson, the problem is that you will want to go back over and over again, which is pretty much the situation we are in now!

How about you? Have you been to Tucson? Did you do any of these things? Did you do something else? Got any restaurant recommendations? If you haven't been to Tucson, have I convinced you that you should visit? Do tell!

Tucson Addresses

• Saguaro National Park EAST (also known as the Rincon Mountain District) is located at 3693 S. Old Spanish Trail, Tucson, Arizona 85730.
• Saguaro National Park WEST (also known as the Tucson Mountain District) is located at 2700 N. Kinney Road, Tucson, Arizona 85743.
• The Arizona-Sonora Desert Museum is located at 2021 N Kinney Rd, Tucson, AZ 85743.
• The Tucson Botanical Garden is located at 2150 N Alvernon Way, Tucson, AZ 85712. Cafe Botanica is inside the gardens.
• Mission San Xavier del Bac is located at 1950 W San Xavier Rd, Tucson, AZ 85746.
• The leopard mural is located at 7th Ave and Toole Ave, Tucson, AZ, 85705.
• The mural on the side of the Tucson Warehouse and Transfer Co. building is located at 100 E 6th St, Tucson, AZ 85705.
• The Greeting from Tucson mural is located at the corner of 7th St & N Arizona Ave, Tucson, AZ 85705.
• Barrio Viejo colorful homes are found on South Meyer Avenue running between 17th and 20th.
• Pima Air and Space Museum is located at 6000 E Valencia Rd, Tucson, AZ 85706.
• 5 Points Market and Restaurant is located at 756 S Stone Ave, Tucson, AZ 85701.
• Blue Willow Restaurant is located at 2616 N Campbell Ave, Tucson, AZ 85719.

More on Tucson

• I did another weekend write-up with more things to do in Tucson here.
• And a little more about food and other things to do if you visit Tucson.
• This is a great Tucson biking guide from a local!
• Looking for a good hotel in Tucson? I love the Downtown Clifton and the Hacienda del Sol!

Save some money with THIS pass!

• Good for  savings at over 60 attractions: Tucson: Southern Arizona Attractions Discount Pass

If you want my FULL Phoenix and Tucson Phoenix and Tucson Activity + Day Trip List with day trips and things to do in Phoenix and Tucson, it is available for $4.99.

Like it? PIN it!

For a visual summary of this post, check out my Tucson web story!

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Pima Air & Space Museum is the largest privately funded air museum in the world with over 300 airplanes on 80 acres of land. Best of all, you can touch and feel and photograph to your heart’s content!

Maybe it’s because I don’t have kids, but it seems to me that most of the museums I have visited in the last decade just aren’t very “fun.” Generally, they all have rules for photography and you can never get up close to anything. It is frustrating!

But not Pima Air & Space Museum!

If you love airplanes (what traveler doesn’t?) and history you will love this museum. You can spend hours (and we did) in and around all the planes up close. There are tons of great docents, ex-pilots or folks that worked with the planes, and they love to talk, tell stories and share unique aspects about the individual planes.

I have to admit I had a lot of fun taking photos of the different instructions around the planes!

With over 300 planes, they practically have one of everything even a new 787 Dreamliner! (My “only” complaint, and it is tiny, is that I would have loved to be able to go inside some of these planes. I know, I just complained about not being able to touch them, which you can totally do at Pima, and now I want more!)

When's the last time you had this view?

I am fascinated by the early commercial flights, the legends being PanAm (I saw some of their history in Key West) and TWA.

It is so cool to walk and sit under the planes, look into the propellers and get so close. In this photo,

Like here, where I am sitting on a bench under a Boeing EC-135J. It was kind of them to provide benches, they must know the plight of photographer's wife….lots of waiting!

There are planes from all over the world, NASA, Air Force One planes…see so easy to geek out! We were able to photograph awesome details that we generally aren't able to get because of museum barriers.

Like propellers.

And noses.

While we were out walking the grounds getting lost in all the planes, the jet pilots at the Davis-Monthan Air Force Base (which butts up against the museum) were taking off. They were hitting the air at a rate of one per minute it was pretty awesome to see them as I watched while standing under the 787.

There is an extra tour ($7) you can purchase with your museum entry which takes you onto the base to see the boneyard there, however, we passed on that because it is done via a bus and you cannot get off the bus to get close. We were so satisfied with all the planes we did get access to at the museum, we didn’t think it made sense to do the extra tour.

The museum has a great little restaurant and multiple hangars of planes and air history, enough to spend many hours without getting bored. If you are in the Phoenix area it is worth the drive to Tucson (a little more than an hour by car) to visit Pima Air & Space Museum.

Check for special events when planning your trip. They host lecture series throughout the year as well. There is one coming up in March about women pilots and I am really interested in attending when we are back in Arizona for the month.

After your visit, when you are ready to head home, I highly recommend seeking out Tucson Tamales just down the road. They have some of the most amazing tamales I’ve had in my life. You can’t visit Tucson without stopping! Plus they are the nicest people!

After lunch we also bought some frozen ones to take with us, a quick steam makes for an easy and delicious dinner.

Note for RVers: We didn't bring our RV, but there is plenty of parking that would accommodate a rig and tow car, so it is definitely doable on your way in or out of the Phoenix area.

More on Tucson:

Visit Tucson Arizona
Weekend Explorations in Tucson
More Weekend Explorations in Tucson
Locals Guide to Tucson Bike Trails
Weekend Staycation in Tucson
Hacienda del Sol Guest Ranch Resort – A Romantic Tucson Weekend Getaway
The Downtown Clifton Hotel

How about you? Do you like air and space museums? Have you been to Pima? Got other Tucson recommendations including restaurants? Do tell!

If you want my FULL Phoenix and Tucson Phoenix and Tucson Activity + Day Trip List with day trips and things to do in Phoenix and Tucson, it is available for $4.99.

For a visual summary of this post, check out my Pima Air & Space Museum web story!

Like it? PIN it!

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