Summer visit to Arizona - staying in Scottsdale

[kelleigh1]

Let me start by saying that I know it's going to be HOT, so please don't focus on that.

We'll be staying at the Four Seasons Scottsdale for 4 nights at the end of July. I'm trying to find out if there are things we should do / places we should see while we are there.

Are there any special events that happen in the summer or is that mostly a quiet time because of the heat? Anything we need to know about visiting in the summer?

We'd love to catch a Diamondbacks game, but they are on the road when we will be there. I am thinking that we should head into Phoenix for a tour of the ballpark though.


Also, any recommendations for restaurants? Any regional foods that we absolutely must try before we leave the area?

Thank you for any info!!

 

[Scrappygrrl]

We had an excellent meal at Cowboy Ciao in Scottsdale. For quick meals there is a chain out there called Paradise Bakery that is similar to Panera, and their cookies are to die for!
I would plan to spend one full day in Sedona - it is about 1 hour north and unbelievably beautiful. It will be much cooler there as well. Be sure to hike up Bell Rock for stunning views. I recommend the Pink Jeep tour for seeing the sights in Sedona.
Sedona food - there is a shopping center called Tlaquepaque - in there is a Brewey (called Oak Creek maybe?? can't remeber exactly). Food was very good. Be sure to try the Wicked pickles.

 

[Bee]

My mother lives in Scotsdale...

Everytime I visit.. it is an absolute must to go to Sedona...

Very beautiful...

there are my two cents =0)

 

[minniebeth]

You will LOVE The Four Seasons Resort, it's really wonderful!
I would recommend you going on the California and the West boards here, you will get some good answers there. We've been several times but stick to the resort restaurants pretty much.
I definately second Paradise Bakery though! All their food is good, and is great for breakfast and lunch.

I would say, make sure you see the SPA at The Four Seasons above anything else! And the pool, you won't want to leave it! I know you said not to dwell on the heat, but just one thing we learned in the summer there, it's obvious, but even in the pool drink TONS of water, you may feel cool, but the heat still zaps you. We all got dehydrated even though we drank a lot, we felt cool in the pool and probably didn't drink enough.

Have fun! We LOVE Scottsdale and Phoenix!

 

[pigletgirl]

I'm from Scottsdale!

Anyways, yes, it'll be beastly hot, so most of the outdoor activities will be a no-go, unless you do it in the evening or early morning hours (and even then its too hot).

You may want to drive north to places like Prescott, Sedona, and Flagstaff. They will be at least 20 degrees cooler and they often have festivals and whatnot. You may want to even take a trip to the grand canyon too!

But yes, it is a quiet time of year and the majority of the fun things are outdoors.

I spend most of my days at the pool and/or at the mall, movies, ect.

Enjoy and stay cool!!

 

[kelleigh1]

Thanks for the info.

My reason for requesting that you don't "dwell on the heat" is mainly because a few times I've mentioned that we're going in July and the comments we were getting was "oh it's going to be so hot" or "it'll feel like you're in an oven" - just stuff like that. Nothing constructive as far as tips or advice. It got a little irritating.

How far a drive will it be to the Grand Canyon? Hubby really wants to see it and if it's not too ridiculous, maybe we'll make the effort. Should we be worried about the car overheating on a long drive or anything? Are there precautions to take when driving in the July heat?

We chose to go at this time for 2 reasons really. First because I'll be turning 40 that week and wanted to get away to celebrate and while AZ might not be the first choice of most people in July, I figured it's off-season so we could find a good deal within our budget. And the second reason is because we've always talked about moving to AZ someday and figure why not check it out at it's worst to see if we can handle the heat.

 

[ckay87]

I'm just back from AZ and I love it there. I've also been there in the summer and it's hot, but I don't mind the heat as much as some people seem to. People are different in what they are able to tolerate, so if you're like that too it may not be such a big deal. In fact, I felt that once the sun started to go down, it was quite pleasant (albiet still 100 degrees!)

My goal in AZ was to get out there....out of the city to see the real landscape of the place because it is just SO different from what we are used to. East of the Phoenix/Scottsdale area is the Tonto National Forest which has several lakes along the Salt River. I visited Saguaro lake and it was fantastic. You can rent kayaks and there are also tubing trips offered in the summer (which is soon). That might be a great way of seeing the desert landscape without absolutely sweltering.

We also went to Sedona and the Grand Canyon. The GC was 4 hours, I think. We hiked 1/2 way down and back, but I would not attempt that in July. I loved Sedona.....better than the GC, in fact.

Have a great time!

 

[golfgal]

We drove from Phoenix to the Grand Canyon and back in a day. We didn't go down into the canyon but drove to several of the various look out spots. It is WELL worth the drive. Pictures just don't do it justice. It will be BUSY in the summer there though. We went in January and there were about 12 people there besides us . Our friends that live in the Phoneix area said that when they have gone up in the summer people are 10 deep trying to get to the edge. I want to say it was about a 5 hour drive or so??? The drive was not bad at all, we went through Flagstaff which is SO different then the rest of Arizona--it looked like a town from Northern MN.

There is also the big crater you can stop and see-I can't remember the name off hand. The petrified forest is in Arizona but I don't know how close that is.

Sedona was interesting but we saw all we wanted to see in a few hours so unless you take a jeep tour you can combine that with another site too.

Phoenix isn't all that far from the ocean either so if that is appealing it might be worth a drive over but 4 days isn't all that much time to do everything.

 

[kelleigh1]

Thank you - thank you - thank you!!

I am loving all this information. I love planning trips and I'm always looking for the things the people just don't think of visiting when they go. I love getting info from locals and visitors alike. It just gives me so much to think about.

Please keep the info coming!!

 

[Disney-Kim]

We had an excellent meal at Cowboy Ciao in Scottsdale. For quick meals there is a chain out there called Paradise Bakery that is similar to Panera, and their cookies are to die for!
I would plan to spend one full day in Sedona - it is about 1 hour north and unbelievably beautiful. It will be much cooler there as well. Be sure to hike up Bell Rock for stunning views. I recommend the Pink Jeep tour for seeing the sights in Sedona.
Sedona food - there is a shopping center called Tlaquepaque - in there is a Brewey (called Oak Creek maybe?? can't remeber exactly). Food was very good. Be sure to try the Wicked pickles.

Sedona is about an hour and 45 mins to 2 hours depending on traffic...but well worth it

 

[pixiewings71]

oh yes, more info, we are talking about a trip to Scottsdale this summer too. Yes hot, but not hotter then it gets here, well OK hotter then it gets here but nothing we can't handle. LOL

 

[Sadie Chez]

A couple of hours south off interstate 10 is Tucson and Sonora Desert Museum, they have night tours all summer and it is soo cool and not too hot at night, Tucson is cooler than Scottsdale. When we were living in AZ we tried to do the summer nights at least once a year, and we really loved SDM.
Here's the link : http://desertmuseum.org/

I would leave early and drive thru Saguaro National Forest, a truly beautiful drive. You would want to get to SDM a little early to see the hummingbirds, and you can drive slowly thru the park and take in the sights from the comfort of your airconditioned car. Here's the link for the park drive there:
http://www.nps.gov/sagu/index.htm

As far as food goes we really like La Parrilla Suiza in Tucson the one on Ina Rd is nice and has Mariachis in the evening. Link here: http://www.laparrillasuiza.com/

For your car you should be fine if your belts and hoses are in good shape make sure you are good on antifreeze and have a tune up before you go. When your there always keep water in the car itself in case something happens and you get stuck on the side of the road. A gallon in the trunk or just several bottles thrown in as you leave for the day. An I always keep a blanket in the car in case of a blowout or something so were not having to kneel on hot pavement, it has saved my husbands knees more than once, it's nice too for inpromptu picnics.

It is hot yes but doable and you'll have fun it's a beautiful place, you just might get hooked and just think if you can have fun in the heat of summer the rest of the year will be great.

 

[maelstrom]

Frank Lloyd Wright's winter home, Taliesin West, is in Scottsdale. It's well worth a visit, in my opinion; I was just there in September.