Tucson Highlights

If you're in Tucson, you have to try the Mexican food. El Charro is the best Sonoran-style dining experience in town, in my humble opinion.

El Charro has three locations, but the one downtown on North Court Avenue has the best ambience. This is the original location, and they have a small bar, outdoor seating, and an intimate basement area that all provide different dining environments in addition to the main room.

This restaurant is always packed. On a busy weekend evening you might want to plan on waiting for a table.

However, service is fast and friendly. The complimentary chips come with a medium-to-spicy salsa. My favorite dish is the carne seca. You can smell the meat cooking from 2 blocks away. The menu carries all the usual dishes you find in a Mexican restaurant. You can check it out at http://www.elcharrocafe.com/menu.asp.

The Arizona-Sonora Desert Museum is a zoo, a natural history museum, and a botanical garden all in one. The majority of the museum is made up of outdoor exhibits. You can see all the native desert animals.

Just be careful what time of year you visit. It can be very hot in the summer, which makes it uncomfortable to trek outdoors. Also, the animals sleep during the hot part of the day.

The museum is open every day of the year. The hours of operation vary depending on the season.
June - August
7:30 am - 10:00 pm
March - September
7:30 am - 5:00 pm
October - February
8:30 am - 5:00 pm

Also, the road leading to the museum runs through the desert and mountains. It's a steep and narrow road with great views.

The cost to enter the museum is really reasonable.
Prices are also tied to the season.
May - October
$9 Adults
$2 Kids 6-12
November - April
$12 Adults
$4 Kids 6-12
Children 5 and under are always free.

A couple of suggestions, bring a hat, sunscreen and water. There is a gift shop and small cafe, but the water is overpriced. The desert trail has water fountains and ramadas to cool in. Also, the reptile house, the butterfly exhibit, the aviary and the small art museums are great places to stop and get out of the sun for a bit.

One last thing, keep an eye out for the docents. They're able to share loads of great info and sometimes they'll bring out animals to view up close and personal.

The drive up Mount Lemmon is amazing. You can see all of Tucson. And they've recently finished repaving and widening the road. So the drive is very smooth.

If you're going to stop and park before you reach the top, where the actual town of Summerhaven is located, you need to pay for a road fee of $5.

The pass is well worth it. There's so much to do once you get up the mountain: camping, hiking, and even skiing when the weather's right. The best part is, you can escape the heat up there.

While hiking, you can still see the damage from a fire on Mt Lemmon from a couple of years ago. All the shops and restaurants are up and running though. There's a cafe and a few gift/specialty shops. I'd recommend bringing your own picnic though.

PS. Make sure to fill up your tank before hitting the Catalina Highway up to Mt Lemmon, because there are no gas stations on the mountain.

Old Tucson Studios is an active film studio, although they are most known for all the old Westerns shot here.

Going to Old Tucson is like strolling onto a movie set. Everything you'd expect is there: the saloon, the old mission, the town square, etc. There are also professional stunt actors who put on shows throughout the day.

Old Tucson is open from 10am to 6pm. Admission is $15 for adults and $10 for children between 4 and 11 years old.

The best time to go is definitely Halloween. Old Tucson goes all out on this one with an event called Nightfall. For 2 to 3 weeks leading up to Halloween, Old Tucson has haunted houses, a scary musical, some funny Halloween-themed skits, and a pyrotechnic stunt show. The production value is as good as what you'd see at an amusement-park show.

Old Tucson is a fun daytime activity that only takes a couple hours at most. It's a little hokey, but if you like the idea of touring the Old West, it's worth a visit.

Tucson is a great town for watching baseball because the weather is perfect for sitting outside. The local minor league team is called the Sidewinders, and they play at Tucson Electric Park. Even if you don't particularly care about baseball, this is an inexpensive way to enjoy the weather and have a beer in the sun.

The season starts in April and ends in September. And most nights there is some kind of promotion going on, from Thirsty Thursdays ($1 beer) to fireworks on Friday. There are even a few nights when you can bring your dog with you to the park. Single game tickets are either $6 for general admission or $9 if you're splurging for the reserved box seat.

If you want to feel like part of the community, I suggest enjoying a night out at the baseball game with the locals.

El Parador is a Mexican restaurant. On Friday and Saturday nights it becomes much more than that. The place turns into a fun salsa club. And you don't have to suffer through a DJ. El Parador provides live entertainment and a good-size dance floor.

You can forget for a few hours that you're in the desert while you enjoy the tropical garden located in the center of the restaurant. If you can't dance, no need to fear: there is an instructor Friday nights to help you out. If you're hungry, the kitchen serves dinner until 10pm, and the food's not bad.