Day 1
Phoenix—the $250 a day budget begins. Can we do it! Yes, because we’re staying at Best Western Hotels.
- Giants-As spring training game at Scottsdale Stadium. (We paid for the cheap lawn seats.)
- Dinner: Barrio Queen for tacos in Old Town Scottsdale
- Overnight at BEST WESTERN PLUS InnSuites Phoenix Hotel & Suites
Explore Phoenix and Scottsdale: We want to go for a hike under the Arizona sun!
Walk to the top of Camelback Mountain (I’m 5 months pregnant. Can I make it to the top?)
Lots of other places to visit but not enough time to see them all. Which one should we visit? o Piestewa Peak, Railway Museum, Science Center, Heard Museum, Museum of Natural History, Phoenix Children’s Museum, Firefighter Museum (Hall of Flame), Phoenix Zoo, Desert Botanical Garden ·
A few restaurant ideas for dinner: La Condesa, , Café Rio, America’s Taco Shop, Atoyac and Indian Village
Overnight at BEST WESTERN PLUS InnSuites Phoenix Hotel & Suites
Day 3
Drive to Benson: Doing a Fox 10 News segment and then headed for lunch in Casa Grande
- Budget family travel TV segment on Fox 10 News
- Tune in for tips on how to travel with kids on a budget of $250 a day
- Check in with mission control: Visit Best Western Headquarters
- Drive south to Benson
- Stop in Casa Grande along the way
- Lunch spots: BeDillon’s and Mi Amigo Ricardo
- Hike after lunch? Few ideas: Casa Grande National Monument, Table Top Mountain
- Stop and see THE THING off of Interstate 10 (I hear that we’ll see a million billboards for it)
- Overnight at BEST WESTERN Quail Hollow Inn Benson
Day 4
Benson to Douglas: With a stop in Tombstone!
- Explore Benson, Amerind Museum and stop at Kartchner Caves
- Maybe take a detour to Rex Allen Museum in Willcox (a very small museum about a cowboy actor who grew up here) or hike the Echo Canyon Trail in Chiricahua National Monumen
- Tombstone: OK Corral, shootout, World’s Largest Rose Bush, Courthouse
- Overnight at BEST WESTERN Douglas Inn & Suites Douglas
Day 5
Douglas to Nogales: With a stop in Bisbee and a break at Patagonia Lake State Park
- Break for Bisbee: Walk the streets downtown, pop into the unique shops, like Killer Bee Guy, Optimo Hat Works, and copper gifts; maybe do a Copper Queen Mine Tour; drop in the Smithsonian-affiliated Bisbee Mining & Historical Museum. Lunch at Banshee Pizza (for pies and seasonal cocktails) or Poco (for too-good-to-be-vegan burritos)
- Patagonia Lake State Park: bird watching, light hiking, and wouldn’t it be fun to rent a boat?
- Dinner at Velvet Elvis Pizza in Patagonia where we are planning to see the King
- Overnight at BEST WESTERN Sonora Inn & Suites Nogales
Nogales to Tucson:
- If we’re feeling adventurous, we’ll walk across the border and have an authentic Mexican breakfast in Nogales before we drive north.
- Possible activities along Interstate 19: Whipple Observatory, San Xavier del Bac, maybe a quick stop at Amado to take a pic under the big longhorn, Tubac (walk around the shops downtown), maybe Tumacacori if we have time (part of the De Anza Trail)
- Overnight at BEST WESTERN PLUS Inn Suites Tucson
Day 7
Tucson: Botanical gardens in bloom, museums to explore, mountains to climb
- So much to do! Here are a few ideas: Sabino Canyon, Botanical Gardens, Arizona Sonora Desert Museum, Old Tucson Studios, Kitt Peak, Mount Lemmon
- Tucson eats: A few tips from insiders
- Sonoran Hot Dog at El Guero Canelo (they’re terrible for you, but “When in Rome...”)
- El Charro Café (I hear the original location is best – downtown near Old Town Artisans, where you can buy lots of Southwestern art stuff). They dry their beef on the roof and shred it for some dishes. I’ve also heard the tres leches cake is delicious.
- Favorite lunch and breakfast spot: Little Poca Cosa
- Overnight at BEST WESTERN PLUS Inn Suites
Day 8
Tucson to Scottsdale: Return to home base. But the vacation isn’t over until we spend one fun day in Scottsdale.
- Stop at an ostrich farm on the way back to Phoenix, just off Interstate 10 near Picacho Peak.
- Check out McCormick Stillman Railroad Park
- Overnight at BEST WESTERN PLUS Sundial Scottsdale
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