Scottsdale, AZ Road Trips

It is east of Phoenix and part of the Phoenix Metro Area. High end shopping destinations are one of the primary attractions of the city. For example, the Fashion Square Mall is near downtown Scottsdale and is one of the biggest malls in the United States. The extensive galleries to the west of the downtown also offer upscale shopping and strolling. The galleries in this area display works from local artists and from around the world. The Old Town section of Scottsdale is to the east of the gallery district. It showcases the ironic attempt of Scottsdale to both embody swank upscale style as well as a caricature of the gruff American West. This part of town is undeniably kitschy. Well over half the shops are gift shops. However, it is fun enough for a browse in a Disneyland sort of way. The valley of the sun has over 130 mi (210 km) of canals. Most of them were built in the last 100 years to provide water for the irrigation of farmland. However, now that the valley is much less agrarian the canals are primarily used to carry away storm water. Some are also used to generate hydroelectric power. These often-overlooked gems are open to the public. One can take in the beautiful desert scenery and fresh air while strolling along them. They provide walkers, joggers, and bikers with a nice refuge from traffic. But don't try swimming in the canals, aside from being an obvious bad idea because the sides are so steep it is also illegal, along with motorized vehicles. Be sure to try one of the 200 golf courses in the Scottsdale area.

1 Frank Lloyd Wright's Taliesin West, 12621 N Frank Lloyd Wright Blvd. (Free onsite parking available.), ☏ +1 480-627-5340, toll-free: +1 888-516-0811, [email protected]. Oct-May: 10AM-5PM, closed on Thanksgiving, Christmas, & Easter. Nightfall Guided tour dates: closing 6-6:30PM. Store is open daily from 10AM-5PM. Frank Lloyd Wright's winter home and laboratory. One of eight buildings by Wright to be listed as a UNESCO World Heritage site. Reservations are required for touring the site. Audio tours: $39-44 for adults, $27-31 for students w/ ID, $19-22 for youth ages 6 - 12. Membership discount available. Guided tours: $49-54 for adults, $35-38 for students w/ ID, $24-27 for youth ages 6 - 12. Membership discount available. Nightfall guided tours: $49 for adults, $35 for students w/ ID, $24 for youth ages 6 - 12, $39.20 for members. (updated Oct 2023) 2 Scottsdale Museum of Contemporary Art (SMoCA), 7374 East 2nd Street (Free parking lots available at the Civic Center Library, and the Civic Center Lot and Garage.), ☏ +1 480-874-4666, [email protected]. W F-Su 11AM-5PM, Th 11AM-7PM. A museum of contemporary art, architecture, and design. Reservations required for everyone, even free participants. Non-members: $10 online, $12 at the door. Students, seniors, military, veterans, & teachers: $7 online, $9 at the door. Free admission for youth 18 years & younger, healthcare workers & first responders w/ ID, ONE members & guest pass holders, and active members in the NARM program. Pay what you wish on Thursdays and every second Saturday of the month.

1 McCormick-Stillman Railroad Park, 7301 E Indian Bend Rd (Car: Indian Bend Rd and Scottsdale Rd; Valley Metro Bus: 72), ☏ +1 480-312-2312, [email protected]. Hours depend on time of year (9 or 10AM to 5:30 or 7PM). A children's park with playgrounds and a small train that children and parents can ride around the park. Free (admission), $2 (train rides for adults). 2 Rock and Roll Car and Bike Show, 9140 E Indian Bend Rd (Car: by McDonalds at the Pavilions Shopping Center, W of Hwy 101. Valley Metro Bus: 81 at Pima Rd and Talking Stick Wy/Indian Bend Rd). Sa 4:30PM-9PM. A large classic car show. Free. (updated Feb 2017) 3 Cactus League Game (Baseball Spring Training), Salt River Fields at Talking Stick Stadium, 7555 N Pima Rd, ☏ +1 480-270-5000. 4 MacDonald's Ranch, 26540 N Scottsdale Rd, ☏ +1 480-585-0239, [email protected]. Horsback riding stable. 5 Spa at Camelback Inn, 5402 E Lincoln Dr, toll-free: +1-800-922-2635, fax: +1 480-951-8469. 6 Barrett Jackson Collector Car Auction, 16601 N. Pima Road, ☏ +1 480 421-6694. Barrett-Jackson Scottsdale 2024 - January 20-28th, 2024. Large collector car auction featuring celebrity-owned vehicles, historic vehicles, and one-of-a-kind cars, trucks, boats, and other special items, all up for auction and sold to the highest bidder. Advance Online - Adult: $271, Senior, Military, Student, First Responder: $181, At The Door - Adult: $341, Senior, Military, Student, First Responder: $226.

1 Ocean 44 (Dominick’s Steakhouse), 4748 N Goldwater Blvd (north of Camelback Rd), ☏ +1 480-867-0044. Su-Th 5-10PM; F Sa 5-11PM. Upscale restaurant originally modeled on a classic New York steakhouse, and then re-imagined into a seafood restaurant (with the steaks still available!). Open kitchen and lively bar. The dress code expects at least business casual. (updated Oct 2019) 2 Eddie V's Prime Seafood, 15323 N Scottsdale Rd, #E1-160, ☏ +1 480-730-4800. Su-Th 4PM-11PM, F Sa 4PM-midnight. The food is great, and Eddie's has something for everyone, in comparison to the meat-centrism of common steakhouses. Try the Parmesan encrusted sol. Call ahead for a reservation. Fleming's Prime Steakhouse & Wine Bar. Fleming's is known for its prime steak and elegant, cherry wood atmosphere. Its wine list features over 100 wines available by the glass. This steakhouse also offers bar menu specials until 7PM. 3 Fleming's Prime Steakhouse & Wine Bar, 20753 North Pima Rd, ☏ +1 480-538-8000, [email protected]. M-Th 5-10PM, F Sa 5-10:30PM, Su 4-9PM. 4 Fleming's Prime Steakhouse & Wine Bar, 6333 N Scottsdale Rd, ☏ +1 480-596-8265, [email protected]. M-Th 5-10PM, F Sa 5-10:30PM, Su 4-9PM. 5 Mastro's Steak House, 8852 E Pinnacle Peak Rd, ☏ +1 480-585-9500. Su-Th 5-10PM, F Sa 5-11PM; Su brunch 11AM-3PM. Mastro's also has a restaurant in Beverly Hills, with a plethora of well-known visitors that frequent it. Call ahead, as you'll most likely need a reservation.

1 Kazimierz, 7137 East Stetson Dr, ☏ +1 480-WINE-004 (9463-004), fax: (9463-055). Nightly 2:30PM - 2AM full menu served until 1:45AM. A great nook of a place to drink wine, eat flatbread, and decompress on kooshy couches in their dimly lit main room. The massive (over 2000) wine list is well experienced in their nicely-selected and presented three-wine flights. Add a flatbread (a fancy word for a fancy pizza) and a few friends and it's easy to lose the whole evening in a place like this. It's also easy to run up a big bill ($40-60 per person) if you don't restrain yourself with the wine menu. $20-30.

1 Holiday Inn Express Scottsdale North, 7350 E. Gold Dust Ave (Scottsdale Road & Shea Blvd.), ☏ +1 480-596-6559. Check-in: 3PM, check-out: noon. Offers guests a fitness center, an outdoor pool and a deluxe continental breakfast. $70-200. 2 Hilton Scottsdale Resort & Villas, 6333 N. Scottsdale Rd, ☏ +1 480 948-7750, fax: +1 480-948-2232. Check-in: 4PM, check-out: noon. A fairly typical Hilton hotel, though prettier than most. Quite comfortable, but housekeeping services are erratic. Good business services with $10/day wireless. $99-120. 3 Orange Tree Golf Resort, 10601 N 56th St, ☏ +1 480-948-6100. Check-in: 4PM, check-out: 11AM. Suites with patio or terrace. Facilities include an 18-hole golf course, fitness center, restaurant and bar, outdoor pool, and sauna. Doubles $139+ (minimum 2-night stay). (updated Feb 2017) 4 Scottsdale Plaza Resort, 7200 N Scottsdale Rd. Paradise Valley. Large resort with swimming pools, tennis courts, fitness center, racquetball. 5 Scottsdale Resort, 7700 E. McCormick Parkway. The resort is surrounded by a 36-hole golf course, a spa and fitness center, salon services, tennis, and two pools. Resort features 326 spacious guest rooms, casitas and suites. 6 Smoke Tree Resorts & Bungalows, 7101 East Lincoln Drive, Paradise Valley (Near the intersection of Scottsdale Rd. and Lincoln Dr.), ☏ +1 480-948-7660, fax: +1 480-948-7661, [email protected]. "Restaurant REM" is at the resort, a two-minute drive away from the Railroad Park (a park with a small train children can ride). 7 Westin Kierland Resort and Spa, 6902 E.

The Phoenix metro area has several airports. 1 Phoenix Sky Harbor International Airport (PHX IATA), 3400 Sky Harbor Blvd, Phoenix, ☏ +1 602-275-4958. Phoenix Sky Harbor is about a 15-minute drive from downtown Scottsdale which serves as the main airport for the Greater Phoenix area and in Arizona overall for commercial flights. (updated Nov 2023) 2 Scottsdale Airport (SCF IATA), 15000 N Airport Drive (9 mi (14 km) north of downtown, about 20 minutes from downtown Scottsdale), ☏ +1 480 312-2321. Corporate jet facility for chartered VIP services and general aviation. Scheduled commercial air service with JSX.(14700 N Airport Dr) is also at Scottsdale Airport. Click here for a list of companies serving Scottsdale Airport. (updated Nov 2023) 3 Phoenix-Mesa Gateway Airport (AZA IATA), 6033 S Sossaman Rd, Mesa (in Southeast Mesa), ☏ +1 480 988 7600. A growing regional airport that serves 35 nonstop destinations. Allegiant Airlines provides most of the flights in and out, with Sun Country flying to Minneapolis. (updated Nov 2023)

Scottsdale is undoubtedly a car-centric place. Most of the city is too spread out to reasonably walk, far more people use their own cars than ride the bus, and the light rail does not come to Scottsdale. Scottsdale is laid out for cars. The roads are large and the parking, even downtown, is usually more than ample. To keep the speed limits and traffic signals well enforced, the city of Scottsdale extensively uses photo radar. Residents often learn where the cameras are and slow down near them. However, sometimes they slow down a bit abruptly. Drivers are often well served by expecting this from time to time. There are 3 types of cameras. Intersection Cameras These cameras monitor for both speeding and the running of red lights. There will be a line painted in the intersection just past the crosswalk. This is the line that, if crossed, will trigger the cameras. There will be lights that flash in front and behind the car to get a clear picture of both the front and back of the car. Some GPS systems will indicate that there is a red light running camera coming up, so that the driver will be aware of the camera at the intersection ahead. Temporary Standing Cameras These monitor one side of the road and are intended to keep the speed reasonable. They generally are triggered 11 mph (18 km/h) over the speed limit. They look like a box sitting on the sidewalk, metal, with a lens pointing out one direction near the top. They will always have a sign posted within 100 feet (30 m) in front of the box indicating that traffic laws are 'photo enforced'.

It doesn't rain very frequently in Scottsdale. However, when the rain does come many lakes swell, bike paths are submerged, and roads become impassable. If there is a notable amount of water on the road, don't drive through it. Drivers frequently become stranded in the middle of flooded washes. Cars can be swept away in a deceptively small amount of water. As you might guess, attempting to drive across such flooded roads is dangerous. Arizona also has what they like to call a "Stupid Motorist Law." It says that if someone drives around a barricade to enter a flooded road they will be charged for their rescue. In the summer it can get quite hot. Dehydration, heat stroke, and sun stroke become notable risks. Drink plenty of water and stay indoors in the afternoon, during the hottest parts of the day. Outdoor activities are usually far more pleasant in the early morning when it is still cool. Because the temperatures in the desert swing so much between night and day, morning temperatures can be quite pleasant even during the height of the summer. The sun in Arizona is usually very strong which is why it's common for the UV index to reach close-to or extreme levels. Avoid the sun during 11 AM to 3 PM which is when the sun is at its worst. Remember to wear things like sunscreen, sunglasses, and hats. Also remember to seek shade when needed if you are outside for a decent amount of time and reapply sunscreen after the amount of time that is stated on the back of the can or bottle.