I'm in the land where the holy Clutch City game where Maxwell rescued the Rockets back from 0-2 occurred. Staying in Scottsdale. Suggestions for tourism? Where does Barkley hang out?
I've never been a big fan of Phoenix, so can't help you much. Obviously the big tourist draw is golf. Scottsdale of course has a lot of retail, food & beverage, fancy commercialism, so you should be able to find plenty of nice shopping, bars and restaurants. Phoenix does of course also have a unique ecosystem, so if that's your thing, you can try a botanical garden or something. I thought the Heard museum was kind of interesting if looking for something to do relatively quickly - it focuses on native are and culture. sorry couldn't help more. random question, but what part of Austin do you live in? I met someone the other day that uses the handle tinman.
They must be lying cause that wasn't me and I've been out of town. On Clutchfans? the last time I met up with some clutchfans, it was along time ago
no, not on clutchfans. he lives in Austin and his email address features tinman... sorry to hijack this thread, could have done this offline. c'mon people, give this guy some Phoenix/Scottsdale tips!
ah. well it's not me, tinman is only my clutchfans handle. all the buildings are the same color here. there's a bunch of chain restaurants, i asked somebody what's good for dinner and they said "Roaring Fork and Eddie Vs"
those are exactly the types of places that are ubiquitous in Scottsdale. to be fair, it's a step up from Burger King and Taco Bell. I'm just not a big fan of Phoenix area generally. It's a freaking desert. Plus, on my last trip there we had an arborted landing that was aborted at literally the last second. Scary, plus had to spend another 30 minutes circling around Phoenix.
I just came back from Scottsdale, was there this weekend. If you have a chance, stay at the Boulder's Resort, it was really nice. Since we stayed at the resort we didn't do a lot of sightseeing in Scottsdale other than the trails and stuff around the resort. But, we did leave to go eat! A couple of places I'd suggest: Sweet Republic - it was rated one of the top ten ice cream places in the country and was on the Best Thing I Ever Ate and it exceeded expectations. Joe's Farm Grill - this is actually in Gilbert, AZ. It is absolutely fantastic. Try their buffalo chicken pizza or their ahi tuna sandwhich. Whatever you order, get the onion rings or garlic french fries. It is really really good. We hit this place up each time we go to the Phoenix area. There are a bunch of national monutments in the area - Casa Grande Ruins National Monument and Sonaran Desert National Monument are close to Phoenix. A drive down towards Tucson (which is less than 100 miles away) will take you to Seguaro National Park and if you're already down that way, head to the Titan Missle Museum which lets you go into an old nuclear missle silo and see the only Titan Missle still left (if you beat out the kids on your tour, you can sit and "press the button".) Of course Tombstone is also not SUPER far away from Phoenix, but that would be a little bit more of a drive.
I lived in the area for four years while in school. What are you looking to do? As far as food, a personal local favorite of mine is Oregano's which is one of the few bright spots of Arizona Cuisine in comparison to Houston. If you want a more upscale restaurant, Sanctuary was the best meal I ever had during my time there. A nice hidden restaurant in tempe is Cornish Pasty Co. which has great food for lunch. If you are looking for a college type crowd for bars look around Tempe particularly Mill Avenue. If you want clubs and the sort look in Old Town Scottsdale. If you like your night life more eclectic look around Downtown Phoenix. It is probably a bit hot to hike but Camelback is always fun and the beautiful women climbing are generally a good motivator to get up there. If you want to shop go to Scottsdale Fashion Square or Kierland. The zoo is decent nothing to write home about.
Go to Scottsdale Fashion square mall. I've never seen so much eye candy in one spot ever. Not really a celebrity but I saw Raja Bell at the Gucci store there. He was trying on some loafers.
there is a place in scottsdale called salty senoritas i think they are known for their crazy magarita selection they have something like 50-60 types..check that place out also scottsdale is prime cougar country go nab yourself one
Beat the heat and visit Sedona. But close by there is great mountain biking, including McDowell Mountain Park, the only place I have seen where signs tell the slower riders to watch out.
Heart Attack Grill is definitely funny to go to. If you love food that's bad for you it's great. Inner Tubing is fun, but it's only really great if you have a group of people and a whole lot of time to kill. The rest of PHX is pretty much like any major city. I would love visiting it from Tucson, but beyond that it's nothing special...
If your into golf, one of the major manufacturers is down there. I think Ping. You could visit their factory. Someone already mentioned shopping which is not that much different than the Galleria in Houston. Nightlife is a lot of fun. I wish I could tell you the name of the good clubs and all, but I was just taken to them by a local so I didn't know the names. There is one cool one that is like a pool club on the roof of one of the fancy hotels, but it may only be open during the summer. Most of the other fun Phoenix things are outdoorsy and somewhat outside of town, like hiking, mountain biking, seeing odd lakes and rock formations.
Great place if you're in high school. Lots of hot white chicks... atleast that's what I remember of Arizona when I was 16-17 when I lived there for a year ..
I tried the Toffee Banoffee (the thing Alton Brown said was the best ice cream he ever ate) - it was so good we had to go back. My wife loved it too, but tried the lavender ice and mint chocolate chip (which tastes nothing like any other mint chocolate chip because it is made with real mint leaves) the second time and just loved it.