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Kids Korner |
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| Welcome to the state where you can see the largest hole
in the world (the Grand Canyon), learn all about the first
Americans, view giant red rocks from a hot air balloon (Sedona),
get pro baseball players’ autographs (during spring
training), play golf, splash in some awesome swimming pools
(Phoenix and Scottsdale hotels), and pose next to a Cactus
that is taller than a lot of trees. Check out the kids’ zone
on the Arizona website at www.arizonaguide.com/kidzone/Interior.aspx?page=facts. |
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Did You Know?
- You can stand more than 4,000 feet above the Colorado River at
the edge of the Grand Canyon on the Glass Bridge (www.nps.gov/grca)? It’s
awesome! You can also take a float trip on the river or a vintage train
from Williams to Grand Canyon National Park (www.thetrain.com).
- Twelve baseball
teams play in seven cities throughout the state during spring training?
They’re called the Cactus League (www.cactusleague.com).
Don’t forget to bring a baseball and permanent marker for autographs!
- You’ll see altars and medicine wheels made of rocks in
Sedona? You’ll also see weird shaped sandstone mesas and canyons.
Check out the rocks – they really look red and seem to turn
different colors when the light changes (www.visitsedona.com).
- You
can slide downstream on natural water chute at Slide Rock
State Park, half way between Sedona and Flagstaff (www.azparks.gov)?
It’s
a natural water park!
- Arizona has more kinds of hummingbirds than anywhere
else in North America?
- Arizona has 21 Native American tribes? You
can learn a lot about Native American art and culture at the Heard Museum
in Phoenix
and Scottsdale (www.heard.org)
- You can get eye-to-eye with mountain
lions and Gila Monsters in Arizona—at the Arizona Sonora Desert Museum in
Tucson? It’s
a combination zoo, natural history museum, and botanical
garden with more than 300 animal species and 1,200 kinds
of plants (www.desertmuseum.org).
How many will you recognize?
- You can watch an old-fashioned gunfight at
Old Tucson Studios? It is Southern Arizona’s premier outdoor western
entertainment center. Okay, the gunfights aren’t
real – but they’re still
fun! You’ll also enjoy saloon musicals, stunts,
stagecoach adventures, and more. Old Tucson has served
as a film destination for a host of western
movies and TV shows (www.oldtucson.com).
- Two Tucson cavers discovered
Kartchner Caverns State Park in the 1970s? One of the
great natural wonders of the western
United States, it is believed that no human before then had ever seen the
massive cave.
The cave is remarkable because it is a “wet” or “living” cave,
meaning the calcite formations within are still growing.
Reservations are strongly recommended (www.kartchnercaverns.com).
- Your
family can rent a houseboat and cruise around Lake
Powell? During the holidays, people put Christmas
lights on
their boats. Lake Powell is named for Major John Wesley Powell, who led
the first river
expedition through the Grand Canyon. Lake Powell
is upriver from the Grand Canyon, behind the Glen Canyon Dam (www.lakepowell.com).
What Other Kids Say You Should Do While In Phoenix . . .
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Meet Justin (age 8) and Melissa (age 4) who live in Phoeniz, AZ. They are the children
of Southwest Airlines’ Phoenix Station Training
Supervisor, Robert.
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They said, “Phoenix is beautiful,
hot, and sunny!”
Don't miss going to the Phoenix Zoo.
They said, “Don't go home without going to a D-Backs
game and getting a souvenir hat!”
The best places to eat are Barros Pizza (Justin’s favorite)
and Applebees (Melissa‘s favorite).
If you’re going to travel outside of Phoenix, Justin
recommends Mogollon Rim for some camping. Melissa’s
favorite place to visit outside of Phoenix is Prescott.
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Kids, Tell Your Parents . . .
You can take your pick of fancy resorts with
huge water playgrounds or more modest accommodations. Travel during shoulder
or off season to save
big bucks on lodging. Visit www.arizonaguide.com.
For dinner with the kids,
locals suggest:
- Pinnacle Peak Patio (www.pppatio.com). Families ready for a taste
of the Old West with a hankering' for all things Western will find gunfighters
and singing cowboys on hand to liven up the menu. Kids can be deputized,
earn junior deputy badges, and then maybe turn dad in for wearing
a tie. Scissor-wielding waitresses will then promptly cut off the tie
and hang it high with about one million other condemned cravats.
- Sugar
Bowl Ice Cream Parlor & Restaurant (www.sugarbowlscottsdale.com).
Kids love the sundaes and long menu of other sweet concoctions. Since
1958, the Sugar Bowl has been dishing out scrumptious ice cream treats
featuring their traditional ice cream recipes. The authentic 1950's soda
fountain is a favorite among locals, too, helping the establishment earn
its place on Scottsdale's Historic Preservation Register.
- Café Poca
Cosa (www.cafepocacosainc.com). Chef and owner Suzana Davila creates unique,
imaginative Mexican cuisine in her casual,
upscale downtown bistro. The fare at Poca Cosa combines a wide array
of ingredients and flavors from Mexico to craft original, memorable meals.
The menu changes twice daily.
Don’t Miss:
- Mission San Xavier del Bac (www.sanxaviermission.org). “The
White Dove of the Desert” is located nine miles south of Tucson
in the Santa Cruz Valley on the Tohono O’odham Reservation.
The Mission is acclaimed as the finest example of mission architecture
in
the United States.
- The Scottsdale Museum of Contemporary Art (www.smoca.org),
where the Young at Art gallery provides an area for kids
to see
exhibitions by other young people. From January through April, families
can attend a free Native American dance performance called Native Trails
presented
by the Fort McDowell Yavapai Nation and produced by the
Scottsdale Center for the Arts in downtown Scottsdale.
- Fly over the Sonoran
Desert landscape in a hot air balloon. Here, you will get the bird's-eye
view of the desert wildlife from
the gondola as the balloon drifts quietly across the blue Arizona sky. Fodor’s
recommends Hot Air Expeditions (www.hotairexpeditions.com).
- Catch a home
game for one of the University of Arizona Wildcats’ sports
teams most any time of the year. Football, basketball, softball,
baseball, soccer, and many other games are open for public enjoyment
from autumn
through spring. Visit www.arizonaathletics.com.
- The Desert Botanical Garden
(www.dbg.org). The best place in the area to learn about the Sonoran
Desert ecosystem. Kids
especially love the Garden's free clue sheet, which turns learning into
a game as various cacti and plants are matched with their proper names
and places
of origin.
- The Arizona Science Center in downtown Phoenix (www.azscience.org)
has more than 300 hands-on science exhibits.
- Phoenix Zoo (www.phoenixzoo.com)
- Taliesin West, Frank Lloyd Wright’s
permanent winter home and now a National Historic Landmark in the foothills
of the
McDowell Mountains. www.franklloydwright.org
- Take the Art Walk on Thursday
evenings on Main Street in Downtown Scottsdale and tour the galleries.
www.scottsdalegalleries.com
- Play Golf Greens fees at Arizona golf courses
can range from under $50 at public courses to ten times that. Call well
ahead
for tee times wherever you want to play. Contact the Arizona Golf Association
at www.azgolf.com.
See Past Editions of Kids Korner.
By: Eileen Ogintz, Author of Taking the Kids™
