MmePerdu

I’m thinking seriously of moving back to southeast AZ in a year or so & Tucson continues to lead the list. Reading about Bario Bread in the article has only reinforced the feeling. Along with jubilada’s restaurant reports.

yk

Bumping this up as we are leaving in < 1 week. I'm doing some last-minute re-arranging of the schedule and checking details. I have a few nitty-gritty questions:

1. I'm 99.9% sure we will go to the Tucson rodeo parade and the rodeo itself (as long as it's not raining that day). The parade is 8a-10a, and the rodeo starts at 12noon (gates open at 11am). I'm sure there will be plenty of food vendors there to get something to eat. The rodeo ends around 4pm (we probably won't stay the whole time). What can we do afterwards? Most sightseeing places will be closed/near closing by that time. Are there parks/scenic area we can go for a walk, either between the Rodeo grounds and our lodging (in the "campus farm" neighborhood), or some spot along the Rilito river?

2. Has anyone done the "Explore the Night" program at Saguaro East?
https://www.nps.gov/planyourvisit/ev...0085D2BE534372

3. The 2 grocery stores nearest to our lodging is Trader Joe's and Sprouts. Do you recommend one over the other? We have Trader Joe's here so I'm familiar with what they have. There's just me and my son so we aren't cooking for a village. What I need will be: fruits, breakfast foods (yogurt & granola), items to make sandwiches (maybe 3 lunches? cold cuts, bread, cheese), and possibly 1-2 dinners in. I'm looking mostly for items that are semi-prepped rather than cooking everything from scratch.

J62

Sprouts is a full service supermarket with a number of stores in the greater Tucson area. I'd say they try to position themselves more like a Whole Foods than a regular chain store, but they really are just another chain store..... TJs in AZ is similar to TJ's here in the northeast. The other big chains out there are Safeway, Fry's, and of course Walmart. Safeway and Fry's are pretty similar to a Wegmans or Hannaford or Market Basket. Full service, large format stores. Both have club / discount cards (sprouts may as well) - they can probably ring up a store card to get you any savings.

jubilada

While you might be able to find everything you mention at TJ’s , Sprouts is a great store and would be better imo. It’s where we do 90% of our shopping, it’s much smaller and manageable than the big stores and has semi prepped things. They also make good sandwiches for reasonable price. And great ice cream selection.
you’re also near Beyond bread for excellent breads, soups, sandwiches and salads. Hue portions; one sandwich more than enough for two.

HappyTrvlr

yk, the weather looks very good for the time you’ll be in Tucson! That is really not a surprise as you are coming during the season of some of the best weather of the year, Feb and March. It is warming up some too. It has been cold to cool since we arrived in late December. We come out here as my dh can’t fall( his doctors’ words) on ice or snow. His health is why we lived here and now still visit.
We shop at Trader Joe’s, Whole Foods and for some things, AJ’s, an upscale grocer that is owned by local grocer Basha’s. If we are near a Sprouts, we will stop there too. I have an aversion to the large national chain grocers, Safeway,etc.

J62

With close to 400 stores in 23 states, and over $6B annual sales Sprouts hardly classifies as local or small.

I do like their stores but let’s not pretend there not they’re not a large national chain grocer…

jubilada

the stores are small in size compared to places like Safeway, which for me is a plus.

yk, I keep meaning to remind myself to tell you that there are two farmers markets right near you. The one I recommend is the Rillito market, Sundays 9-1. I don’t know if you want to go to a market, but they are very different. They both will be crowded this time of year.

HappyTrvlr

You could fit several Sprouts inside a Safeway!!

Vttraveler

We enjoyed visiting the Rillito market when we visited Tucson. There are quite a few stalls with ready-to-eat food as well as places to buy produce and baked goods. Much more interesting than a supermarket

yk

This sounds great! Not sure if we will go to the farmers market on Sunday as we leave for Phoenix on Monday morning.

yk

the airbnb landlady wrote back to say that apart from Sprouts and TJs, there is also a Safeway and a Frys within a 5-min drive Now that I'm zooming in on the map, Safeway and Frys are even closer than springs and TJs. But i guess i'll stick with either sprouts or TJs

HappyTrvlr

yk, personally I avoid Safeway and Fry’s, both are so large and take extra time to navigate. Not bad, but not my preference.
Fry’s is part of the Kroger family of grocery stores.
And TJ’s is fun! I also shop at Whole Foods. And we go to Farmer’s Markets too.
Don’t buy too much food as the restaurants are good and plentiful. They are different from what you find in MA.
And when we moved here we were pleasantly shocked by how much less expensive everything was!