Phoenix Things to Do Tips by dshinkle

Nestled in the very center of the valley of the sun is Squaw Peak/Piestewa Peak. This mountain provides a great hike and a beautiful view of Phoenix from the top.

It's not easy climbing the 1.2 mile trail and if you aren't used to the heat yet, do not attempt it. However, if you are in decent shape and want a nice challenge give it a try.

Get there early to get a parking space.

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Directions: From Lincoln Drive in Phoenix, between 24 and 22nd Streets, take Squaw Peak Drive north and straight into the mountain preserve

At the tip of beautiful Mill Ave, the city of Tempe built beautiful Tempe Town Lake in 1999. Next to the lake is a great park

You can rent paddle boats, electric boats, or kayaks (my personal favorite) and cruise up and down the lake. From the lake you can watch planes land at next door Sky Harbor Airport, view the buttes at Papago Park, and get a great view of Sun Devil Stadium, home of the Arizona Cardinals and ASU Sun Devils.

Fishing is allowed on the lake if you have an Arizona Fishing License.

On the weekends there are boat tours of the lakes (sure, the lake isn't really big enough to warrent a cruise, but I'm a sucker for a guided tour).

For the (little) kids there is a great water area called Splash Playground, so even if it is a hot day the kids will have fun (the water is on only in the summer).

"It may be fake, but at least it's a lake!"

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Address: Mill Avenue and Washington Street
Directions: 620 N. Mill Avenue
Tempe, Arizona
Website: http://www.tempe.gov/rio/

Mill Ave is a beautiful street in Tempe full of restaurants, shops, and bars.

You can find antiques at shops like 'Those Were The Days'.

There is lots of shopping, to quote the official website, 'With nearly 60 different retailers, downtown Tempe offers visitors the variety of a mall while providing a unique, outdoor shopping experience. Shopper favorites such as Urban Outfitters, Bath and Body Works and Sunglass Hut maintain locations in the downtown. Meanwhile longtime local favorites like Yucatecan Imports, Urban Angels and Headquarters provide unique stores where shoppers can find a variety of interesting merchandise. '

There are great restaurants on Mill Ave, like PF Changs, RA Sushi and Ziggys.

And (my favorite), great bars like The Library, Margarita Rocks, Mill Cue Club, and lots more.

Mill Ave is also full of characters. On a weekend night you can see street performers and musicians. Crazy people hang out there, like the Mill Ave Food Critic, a homeless man who cons people out of money by giving restaurant reviews and cons businesses out of free food by threatening them with bad reviews (http://azpantry.com/millavenuefoodcritic/).

At the tip of the street is Tempe Town Lake and nearby are both Arizona State University and Arizona Mills Mall, so you may want to add them to your Tempe itinerary.

Although you can't compare it to the nightlife in a place like Rush Street in Chicago or the West End in Dallas, Mill Ave is safe and it is also warm all winter long.

When you are in Phoenix, make sure and visit.

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Address: 5th Ave and Mill Ave in Tempe
Directions: tempe, university area.
Website: http://www.downtowntempe.com/

Whenever I have out of town visitors who want to see the old west, I take them to Cave Creek. Cave Creek is a scenic, touristy town north of Phoenix full of western shops, art galleries, and great restaurants and bars.

The drive to Cave Creek is breathtaking. The drive takes you though a desert preserve full of cactus, coyotes and wilderness. You can see for miles and the mountains surrounding Cave Creek are very beautiful. I've never taken anyone there who didn't love it, and a few people have even talked about moving there!

So consider this a MUST see on your trip to Phoenix.

Cave Creek is about 1200 feet higher than Phoenix, so it is a bit cooler (they say it occasionally even gets a little snow).

My favorite places to eat in Cave Creek?
The Cracked Crab has the best seafood I've ever had.
The Horny Toad has great BBQ sandwiches and beer.
The Satisfied Frog has great chicken, chili beer, and an old-west style great piano player. The place looks like it is right out of an old western.
El Encanto is one of my favorite mexican restaurants.

Can you tell I love to eat when I am there??

It is easy to get to Cave Creek. Just take Scottsdale road (north of the 101 freeway) north from Scottsdale north, until it becomes Tom Darlington Drive (at the corner of Carefree highway and Cave Creek road). Continue north Until you run into Cave Creek road. Take a left (west) and drive through beautiful Cave Creek.

It will go in a circle around Black Mountain and will eventually run back into Carefree highway. Make a left (east) and proceed back to Scottsdale road and take it right (south) going back the way you came in.

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Address: Cave Creek Road, Cave Creek
Website: http://www.cavecreek.org/

The nearby city of Fountain Hills boasts, what they say is, the world's tallest fountain. But, that is hardly a reason to go there. The real reason to go there is that the city boasts some of the most spectacular scenery in Arizona. It lies in a valley surrounded by beautiful hills. All of this land was sacred indian land (and the town is surrounded by indian reservations).

On the way into town you will pass Fire Rock, a deep rich red mountain, which was worshiped by the indians (and is now a golf course!!!).

Next to the fountain is a shopping center with many great restaurants. I prefer the Italian one. You can sit outside, have some wine, and watch the fountain go off (every hour). It makes for a great lunch. I was recently told Fountain Hills had the most art gallerys in the valley, which I find hard to believe with all the gallerys in Scottsdale, but there are certainly a lot.

Many people I have taken there have proceeded to look into moving into the community.
DON'T MISS IT.

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Directions: Take the 101 to Scottsdale. Get off at Shea blvd and proceed east. Fountain Hills is about 10 miles.
Website: http://www.fountainhillsguide.com

Kids love the water park, and every family vacation should include one.

Of all the water parks in Phoenix, my favorite is Sunsplash in Mesa. It has a large variety of rides for all ages.

The scariest is the Sidewinder, which is basically a giant skateboard half-pipe. If you are crazy enough, you can go straight down the side of it on a flimsy mat. Everyone starts out with a look of fear on their faces as they come down it, but kids love it and go on it over and over.

My favorites are the five inner tube slides. Some of them are dark inside, which is creepy as you are riding down at top speed. The Master Blaster seems to be the most popular. It is like a water roller coaster.

They have rides for all ages, ever the little ones, and they have a wave pool and a lazy river.

Lockers are available (bring a safety pin to pin the key to your suit) and you can also leave and reenter the park all day long (say if you want to go get lunch). They have very good burgers though, so I would eat right there.

Warning: The pavement is very hot. Buy some water shoes at Wal-Mart, put on SPF 30, and bring water (you can bring water in the park). With the humidity at 5% and the temp at around 105, you will be thirsty all the time.

I guarantee if you have kids, they will pick this as one of the highlights of their Arizona vacation.

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Phone: 480-834-8319
Address: 155 W. Hampton Ave. Mesa, AZ 85210
Website: http://mesa.golfland.com/attractions.aspx

On the edge of downtown Phoenix lies the retractable roof stadium of the Arizona Diamondbacks. Built, in 1998, the stadium is loaded with bars, restaurants and other ammenities.

The centerpiece of the stadium is the pool out in right field with a basketball hoop at one end, so if the game gets boring they can play water-basketball.

Inside the stadium is Friday's Front Row restaurant, which overlooks the field. You can buy a table for a game (which includes 4 tickets and a food allowance) for close to the cost of 4 seats. You can also stand at the bar for free and watch the game (it is usually surprisingly empty).

Friday's is open 364 days a year, so you can come on non game days and have lunch or dinner overlooking the field, which is a lot of fun, especially when kids are with you.

You can also take stadium tours for $6. You get to see the visitors clubhouse, the dugout, the pool up close, etc. Make sure you make reservations.

Visit http://arizona.diamondbacks.mlb.com/ for tour information.

They sell $1 tickets one hour before each game, but you have to enter the ballpark immediately.

Although the ballpark isn't as great as the classic parks like Fenway, it is very well done and parts of it were designed to pay homage to Fenway and Wrigley Field.

Baseball is Phoenix's favorite sport so naturally the bars surrounding the stadium are packed before and after the game. So get there early!

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Address: 401 E. Jefferson St., Phoenix, AZ 85004
Website: http://arizona.diamondbacks.mlb.com/

Although there isn't a lot of nightlife in downtown Phoenix, in the 'center' of downtown Phoenix is a nice outdoor mall called 'Arizona Center'. On days when there is something going on downtown, say at Bank One Ballpark, America West Arena, or at the Herberger Theater, Arizona Center is full of people.

The center is full of restaurants such as Mi Amigo's mexican (which is awesome), Hooters, Copper Square Grill and lots more. There are great shops, many of which specialize in selling southwestern or native american items.

The center is a great place to park for games because it is much cheaper than at the ballpark and it is a nice walk up 3rd street several blocks south to the ballpark. On the way you will pass some nice Phoenix architecture and get a look at downtown. Don't worry, it's a very safe neighborhood (Copper Square).

If you want to get a look at downtown Phoenix, start your journey at Arizona Center.

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Address: Corner of Fifth Street and Fillmore streets
Directions: From Sky Harbor Airport:

Take the 202 Westbound to Interstate 10 (I-10). Take I-10 to the 7th Street exit. Turn south on 7th Street and go half a mile to Fillmore. Turn right (west) on Fillmore to 5th Street. You'll see our parking garage on your left.
Website: http://www.arizonacenter.com/

Phoenix is the Ballooning capital of the United States, mostly because the weather is perfect to do it year round.

All the Balloon companies launch in the empty desert to the north of the city between Phoenix and Cave Creek. I used to have an apartment near there and it would make my heart soar every morning to see anywhere from eight to twenty hot air balloons in the sky.

If you are in Phoenix and you can afford it, a hot air balloon ride is something you shouldn't miss. There usually isn't a cloud in the sky in Phoenix, so you can see the whole valley when you get up there. We could see coyotes and lots of beautiful desert scenery.

All the major balloon companies serve you a delicious gourmet Champagne Breakfast when you land and then drive you back to your car.

My last trip was with Hot Air Expeditions (http://www.hotairexpeditions.com) and was excellent. Our pilot had been doing it for a long time (he claimed he has never had an accident) and he was a great guy. He carefully explained everything to us and pointed out landmarks and told us lots of stories about ballooning (he has been a pilot in France and Canada and in addition to Phoenix). He landed the balloon softly and made it all look easy.

There are a lot of Balloon companies in Phoenix (just do a web search) so I think you can shop around on price. I think most people pay between $100 and $200.

A lot of people use also use Unicorn. Just check with your hotel. Usually they work with a particular company and have package deals.

http://unicornballoon.com
http://www.arizonaballooning.com

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Website: http://www.hotairexpeditions.com

What better way to see the wildlife of the Sonoran Desert then from the deck of a replica of an 1880s Mississippi riverboat.

The Desert Princess II cruises Lake Pleasant, a large lake which is just a little bit north west of Phoenix.

There are serveral times the boat leaves during the week, but my favorite is the sunset cruise because the sun setting over the lake with the desert and mountains in the background is spectacular.

The dinner is very good, but I do think the cruise is a little pricey (at around $45.00). However, I am always a sucker for a tour so I enjoyed it a lot.

Before or after your trip explore the marina and visit the nearby Anthem outlet mall.

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Phone: 623.815.2628
Directions: Lake Pleasant is located about 45 minutes from downtown Phoenix Arizona. To get to Lake Pleasant from Phoenix, take I-17 north to Carefree Highway (exit 223), turn west and continue for about 11 miles. Turn Right onto Pleasant Harbor Blvd.
Website: http://www.desertprincessii.com