6 Things To Do In The Phoenix Area (That Don’t Have To Do With Hiking)
Here are a list of my favorite things we did during our stay in Arizona! :)
Hi there! :) I think this is my last post of my little Arizona series that I had going on! I can’t believe it has been almost two weeks since we got back from our trip.. And I can’t believe March is here! I think we brought some of the warm weather back with us because it has been SO nice here! We have been able to get back outside for walks and it just feels so good! :) But anyways, I wanted to share our favorite things we did during our trip in Phoenix. There is so much beauty to see, even if you aren’t into hiking!
1. Go To The Desert Botanical Gardens
This requires some walking, but not strenuous my any means. I learned about the Desert Botanical Gardens from a friend on Instagram and it sure did not disappoint! The cost of entry per person was $30, but it was something really wort seeing. If you want to see any type of cactus you can ever imagine, you definitely should come here (There are 50,000+ plants showcased here! There was so much beauty, and it was so well kept too! One thing we loved the most was the hummingbirds that flew around. They loved the flowers and they were so mesmerizing to watch! One thing I want to point out, due to COVID, they are only allowing people to buy tickets online, for a certain time. We appreciated this to keep the number of people supervised, however, it may cause some stress if you need to figure out how to purchase tickets on your phone.
2. Visit Local Breweries
We tried out a couple local breweries while we were in Phoenix as well. The temperatures were a little different than our last brewery experience in Minneapolis (Like 70 degrees different)! We definitely had to take advantage of the warm weather and outdoor patios during our time in Arizona. The first Brewery we went to was Fate Brewing Company. It was right by the Desert Botanical Gardens, so it was perfect! We loved trying out a couple of their flights and they had some really great tasting beers! The beer that really stood out to us was the Hatch Chili Gatos. The waitress mentioned this was a gold medal beer at the world beer cup! Also.. The pretzel was the BEST pretzel we both have ever had.. SO GOOD! The other brewery we tried out was Goldwater Brewing Co. This is right by the Civic center and scooters (That I talk about later!). We really enjoyed the outdoor patio here as well and the beer was also really good. I always like to try breweries sours, and it was really tasty!
3. Ride Scooters In Old Town
This was a spur of the moment type of thing, but sometimes those are the most fun, right?? We rented these scooters from Old Town Scooters and we had a blast! We didn’t know what to expect and I really wish that we would have known that they didn’t offer helmets for us. We definitely took it slower as we were worried about this. Also, to be safe we stayed off the busy streets and went on side roads. We also took advantage of the beautiful Green Belt Trail in Scottsdale. It spans for 11 miles, and you get to see so much of what Scottsdale has to offer, but from a safer viewpoint. I didn’t know how beautiful Scottsdale truly was!! Also, the customer service by Old Town Scooters was so great as well! I really recommend the whole experience to anyone!!
4. Find Unique Wall Art
This super colorful and fun art work was right across the street from our hotel and I had to take a picture with it! I mean c’mon how cute is that!? It represented Arizona well with all the details within the cactus and it was just really fun to We.. We also saw some really cool artwork by Roosevelt Row in downtown Phoenix. It was a long mural of art that seemed to be done by several artists. I always think it is so fun to see people being creative and I really think street wall art like this really adds a lot (And is also a great spot to get a photo!) Here is a link to some other great spots to see wall art in Phoenix!
5. Visit the Scottsdale Civic Center
The outdoor area at the Scottsdale Civic Center is absolutely gorgeous! Fun fact: This was the place Vince was originally going to propose to me at, but saw how beautiful Sedona was and changed his mind. We had to go check out the park anyways to see what it looked like since it was still sort of part of our story. And boy.. It didn’t not disappoint!! The park had the greenest grass you can find in Arizona (probably :P), had beautiful ponds, and really stunning art pieces as well. I really loved this LOVE sign that was up. It was a great spot for Vince and I to soak in that we were a day newly engaged! It is really a great place to go for free and that is outside.
6. Intentionally Do Absolutely Nothing
I had to put this in there because we did A LOT of it! We both had been so busy lately, that it felt so nice to just do a whole lot of nothing. Arizona was such a perfect spot to do this because we had great temps and had the hotel pool to relax by. In those moments we were able to not really have a worry in the world. Vince said it was the most relaxed he had ever felt in his life, and that is saying something in that busy little head of his! Sometimes trips should be like that, no plans or agenda, and just sit back and relax! They are definitely some of my most memorable days on trips!
In the end, Phoenix has so many great things to offer, even if you aren’t into hiking. From local sight-seeing, to great breweries, and just doing absolutely nothing, you will have so much to do and I hope that you love the area as much as we did!