Hi

My 10 year old son & I are coming out to stay in Scottsdale, Phoenix for 1 week in November. We have our accomodation reserved. However, we would be most greatful for any tips on what to see and where to go. Also, will there be any rodeo events at that time (23rd November)?

Your assistance will be most appreciated and valuable. Thanks

Ken
Edinburgh, Scotland

Ken,

Although currently in Ohio, I live in your fair city and was also in Scottsdale last winter...

The Desert Botanical Gardens are beautiful, well worth a visit. Many nature trails too. If you have access to a car then your son may like a trip to Rawhide, a recreated Wild West frontier town, the kids I saw there were in seventh heaven.

The two of you would get a kick out of Fashion Square Mall - think of the Waverley Market mall at the station and multiply by a factor of 30.

For the geeks there is Carefree, about half an hour away from Scottsdale. It has the largest sundial in the western hemisphere.

Email me if you need any help

Tony

Make sure take your son to Rawhide. He will love it!!!! Pinnacle Peak Patio is a fun restaurant with an old West atmosphere. Old Scottsdale is fun for shopping as are the shops on Fifth Ave. Enjoy!!!

I will check into the rodeo situation for November and get back to you. In the meantime, there is so much to do here and you are planning your trip at a perfect time, weatherwise. Our downtown has several things of interest, Bank One Ballpark(BOB) houses our baseball team, the Diamondbacks. It is couple of years old, state of the art, open air roof that closes during the heat or rare rain. Within that ballpark is a restaurant called Friday's which overlooks the field and seats...you enter at the north entrance and take the elevator directly up to the restaurant...also, downtown is the American West Arena, home of the Phoenix Suns basketball team...besides their games, during the season, they hold iceskating, rodeos circuses and so forth. Both are terrific buildings and have great team shops. Also, downtown has the Arizona Center, full of restaurants, bars, and good quality touristy shops. All are well worth the trip downtown. World famous Frank Lloyd Wright's Taliesin West...school for architects... really a wonderful tour and highly interesting for all ages. You might plan a jeep trip out into the desert, just ask your hotel personnel to arrange it for you. A quick day trip, just two hours south, is Desert Sonora Museum, an outdoor museum of flora, fauna and animals of the Sonoran Desert. To reach this you drive through Saguaro National Park and on the south side of it is Old Tucson, much like Rawhide in Scottsdale, recreation of early Tucson. Of course, all the hotels/motels have pools that will be heated.

The Heard Museum has a wonderful collection of Native American art and Kachina dolls. It's also in a pretty old building and will give him a bit of information about the Indians. There's a nice gift shop with age appropriate books. Again, if you have a car, you can drive up to Sedona to see the red rocks and on the way stop to see Montezuma's Castle--very accessible from the highway. That would take about 2 hours each way. I am just not too impressed with Taliesin West--maybe I'm missing something, but Frank Lloyd Wright did a lot of other much prettier architecture (including the Biltmore Hotel in Phoenix). Don't think a 10 year old would really enjoy it much. Enjoy, Phoenix should be great in November.