A Little More of Tucson: Tucson Nights

One of my few complaints about Tucson is that it seems to go to bed early, complicating the wanderings of a business traveler busy doing, well, business by day.  A young person I met explained this phenomenon as associated with the service-oriented nature of the town -- many people are working multiple jobs and perhaps the employees of tourist-focused attractions are headed off to jobs in restaurants.  And Tucson does have the restaurants to boast about.  These two activities, however, made my evenings because of their availability.

First, I discovered that Tucson Botanical Gardens was open late til 8 PM on Thursdays and Fridays. Smaller than some botanical gardens, Tucson's is full of surprises and fun to wander nonetheless.  My favorite was the locally-themed Barrio Garden, truly making one feel at home. 

As always, it's spectacularly relaxing to visit gardens when the day ends and the gentle lights come on.  The staff?  Sincerely friendly.  The gift shop?  Fun to browse.

Then, I ventured out to Tumamoc Hill for a popular hike (actually as suggested by that friendly staff at the gardens).  Yes, it is steep, and yes, parking, while free, is limited.  In fact, parking was a bit anxiety-provoking near sunset, but I found a great place near some bike racks across from the hospital. As many a TripAdvisor reviewer has warned, do not park at the hospital.  Get past that, and you have a hike that is a paved, gorgeous, challenging ( = uphill) walk that is well-populated by locals, fitness enthusiasts, and tourists.  Did I go all the way to the top?  No, but just because I ran out of time.  It was still joyous exercise.  Gorgeous cacti, gorgeous city view.

While learning more about the Sonoran Desert, I heard some people there have historically found cacti a beautiful way to remember the dead, noting that the saguaro actually resemble people.  Hiking this hill as the day ends, I get it.

Things to Know

• For other area botanical gardens that are much larger, try Desert Botanical Garden in Phoenix, AZ -- it's not that far between Phoenix and Tucson if you have access to a car.
• I was travelling without workout clothes and shoes -- and staying at the Westin La Paloma, I took advantage of the Westin workout gear lending program. And by the way, this hotel is gorgeous -- and quite inexpensive in the off season.  If you stay, check out the sunrise from the end of the I (like iguana) building.  

See, I told you so.

For Further Exploration

• Tumamoc Hill is actually a laboratory for the University of Arizona, just like Biosphere 2.  A little reading about both sites, and you'll be prompted to think about how science and culture intersect.

Unexpected and Incredible: Mission San Xavier del Bac

It's always a delight to find something beautiful.  Mission San Xavier del Bac is beyond words.  Tucson is home to this gorgeous mission -- the longest continuously operating Spanish mission in the United States.

The plasterwork, the paintings, the statues -- they are all simply something to behold.  There is active art conservation, and I'm pretty sure the same conservators featured in the mission's video orientation are also featured in the 2019 Visit Tucson travel guide.

Take time to simply walk around -- I found small statues and almost missed a wonderful array of bas relief Stations of the Cross.

You will also want to visit the museum, a labor of love from the volunteers. It orients the visitor to some elements of Catholicism as needed.  And, just to make me very happy, it honors purple as the liturgical color of Advent.

We live in a time of lost geography -- GPS sometimes actually keeps us from knowing what we are near, what is on the way.  Google may be able to tell us exactly where we are on the planet, but we often have trouble contextualizing that.  San Xavier is absolutely a place I would have missed if not for asking a local for advice on other places that might be "interesting."  With that vague inquiry, something incredible emerged.

Things to Know

• This is a working church.  That's part of what makes it special.  Plan ahead if you are trying to attend/avoid service times.  
• There is plenty of onsite parking in a rutted lot.  Drive carefully.
• Two good places to start your visit: 1) Admiring the sanctuary and 2) Watching the overview video inside the museum.
• There's a gift shop with reasonable prices and a good selection of local and religious items.  There's also a small marketplace nearby (across the parking lot) with a few local artisans.

For Further Exploration

• The intersection of peoples and their religions is always fascinating.  Here's a starting point for the intersection of this native people group and the Catholic faith.
• I found out about this site while visiting Casa Grande.  One of the mission's first priests helped give Casa Grande its modern name.

Pumpkin Patch: Jeter Farm

It's tradition to go to a "pumpkin patch" at least once a year for us.  While this might only hold while the kids are relatively young, perhaps it shouldn't.  It's good to be outside; it's good to be local; it's good to support local businesses; it's good to hang out.  The proliferation of fall farm site agritourism in Virginia is evidence. 

As soon as the weather became a bit crisp (late this year), we visited Jeter Farm, approximately at the intersection of 460 and 220 in Bonsack, Virginia.  Their fall festival is economical ($10 entry/person includes almost all activities) and is close to home.  There's a hayride, a corn maze that is just big enough to get lost in without being overwhelming, a corn crib to play in, and fun slides.  Don't forget the free pie pumpkins (one a person), too. 

I wish more of the sites endured into November; I wish there were season passes for locals; I wish a lot of things.  But nonetheless, a trip to the pumpkin patch is worth it.

Things to Know

• Jeter Farm is one of the most economical options in the Roanoke area and is wonderful for small kids because it is not overwhelming in size.  Your other options include Layman's Family Farm in Montvale, Virginia, where you should check their social media and special events page for deals.  You can see a now-older trip to Layman's from us -- including a pretty tiny E -- and a more contemporary one on this blog as well.  Your options expand with Sinkland Farms (they have live music) and White Fall Farm (we are intrigued by their hay castle concept).
• There are some concessions available and a sheltered picnic area.
• We've made two trips in one day before, visiting with a church group in the morning, leaving our wrist bands on, and returning same day for a little more.  This year, we tagged a Michael's Make Break on for G, where she was delighted to paint a craft pumpkin.  The Make Breaks are great deals -- for about $4, G painted a pumpkin with their supplies and cleanup.  

For Further Exploration

• Virginia is really exploring the agritourism space.  There's plenty to explore.  
• So, this year's trip hit a Hokie Bug Fest trip for E.  Therefore, he missed this one, but he commends Bug Fest to you.

Casa Grande: Big House, Little Blog

I saw the brown National Park Service sign driving from Phoenix Sky Harbor International Airport to Tucson.  So, I found a few extra moments.  Wandering off the beaten path by 12 car minutes, I found Casa Grande Ruins National Monument.  It's a hidden gem.

Casa Grande is a smallish park with a fascinating force to it.  It's a set of built ruins built by a people who lacked domesticated animals to help them.  It represents the possible peak of an era in a civilization -- and holds mystery of its use and its demise.  Be sure to watch the overview film and talk to a docent -- the helpful volunteer I met explained the preservation of the site well.

It's attracted visitors for years, some of whom literally left their mark on it with carvings -- helping you to reflect on how history is remembered, honestly.  The preservation structure over the ruins dates back to the early 1900s.  Bonus: If you also visit Mission San Xavier del Bac, you will discover a connection with the modern-day naming of Casa Grande.  This wonderful mission site was recommended to me by the same helpful volunteer I mentioned above.

I'd been reading The Secret Token by Andrew Lawler on the plane out, thinking about our cultural fascination with the history of the lost colony of Roanoke.  Stay with me here: Lawler in part argues that our connection with Roanoke relates to the complexity of the idea of assimilation.  We are both fearful and hopeful that the lost colonists simply joined nearby indigenous groups.  It turns out the Ancestral Sonoran Desert People honored at this site have in part rejected their previous name, Hohokam, because it means those who have vanished.  Their argument?  Movement, assimilation, and the like do not "end" a group -- and they are still here, both among the ruins and living in the region today.

If you are like me, you didn't know this site was here.  Now, you know better.

Things to Know

• This is a fee-free National Parks Site.  You are off the beaten path but not far from the rest of the world -- I could hear children playing at the nearby school.  Why would you not stop, right?
• There is a small gift shop and museum.
• The ruins are outside with a short loop trail around them -- I'd estimate I walked about .25 mi to take a first look at the ruins.
• Reminder:  This site is not all that far from Phoenix Sky Harbor if you are landing there.
• This trip is poppy approved!  So, for the self-described intellectually curious, this is a great place to ponder human history and its remembrance.  Come, history and social science folks.

For Further Exploration

• Mapquest tells me Montezuma Castle is just 2 hours, 16 minutes away.  These two National Parks would pair particularly nicely.
• I was pleased to see Finders Keepers by Craig Childs available in the gift shop.  I discovered this book on a previous trip and think it gives depth to the conversation around preservation in the US Southwest.

Childhood Dreams: Visiting Biosphere 2

I remember getting PBS-inspired 3-2-1 Contact magazine in the mail.  Actually "young" for the show's recommended age, I watched with both fascination and pride.  I read an article about the initial Biosphere 2 project -- 8 scientists about to be locked in to an enclosed, self-sustaining habitat in the Southwest.  Those scientists inspired me -- I wanted to be a Biospherian the same way I wanted to be an astronaut.  The attraction is magnetic.

Fast forward a few decades, and I find myself in Arizona, awaiting a tour of Biosphere 2 from an animated educational psychology graduate student.  He's working to understand how we learn scientific content from informal education.  It strikes me I should recommend Colleen Dilenschneider's blog to him.

There's an opening film that's updated to include current projects, including a massive collection of data about rainforests in drought conditions and the famed Landscape Evolution Observatory (LEO).  There's an original Biospherian "apartment" on display.  But more importantly, there's a truly immersive tour that walks the space, including content on how the project was engineered, what species can be observed on site, and a dash of history of the original Biospherians.  This. Is. A. Massive. And. Stunning. Lab. I wanted my school's biotechnology students to be there with me.

The resilience so common in the desert -- and certainly part of the way the desert becomes restorative -- is apparent in Biosphere 2.  Now fascinated with technical education, the "technosphere" of the project, or the mechanics of its "breathing," power, and other systems, tells just as amazing of a story.

On the tour in a small group, you can even see Biosphere "lungs" (more like a diaphragm) work, essentially keeping all that glass from collapsing when the air pressure changes.  There's really nothing like it.  You'll look and wonder and ask questions.

I've been introduced as a person who asks why -- a LOT.  While that reflects a Millennial desire for purpose, it also reflects the glories of 3-2-1 Contact.  I'm not alone.

Things to Know

• This trip is poppy approved!  If you self-identify as a science nerd (in the positive way) and/or like to make connections between disparate areas of study, this place is for you, the intellectually curious!  You do not need to know a lot about anything specific to engage in the tour, but you should think things like seeing one of two lunar greenhouses in existence (the other is in Antarctica) is cool.

• The drive to Biosphere 2 is an easy 45 minutes from Tucson, about an hour more from Phoenix, and through "populated desert" (you'll pass a Walmart and similar).  You will venture off the main road on a dedicated road to reach the site itself.  The road is paved and all, but it beckons a little adventure.
• You enter through the gift shop.  I was glad I bought my souvenir patch upon arrival -- the shop was closed when I returned.
• Be prepared to walk and to spend time in varied temperatures/levels of humidity.  You will walk "down" to the Biosphere 2 site and get great views of it -- and the desert -- along the way.
• I visited in September late in their operational day.  Crowds were scant, and we had extra time with our tour guide accordingly.  If you can visit when it is not likely to be crowded, do.  You'll have more time to linger.  Our guide advised winter holidays could be quite crowded.
• TripAdvisor may tell you this is a "science museum," but it is really an active science site.  There are some exhibits, but not the kind that involve children punching buttons.  There are some specialized tours and some additional educational programming options, including overnights.  Similarly, you can contact the staff and plan a retreat or similar here.
• There's a cafe, and this would be a nice picnic spot if you are up for adventure picnic -- or asking the staff if you can sit at one of the picnic tables outside.  They are a little out-of-the-way, and I'm not sure they are intended for tourists.
• Look for possible deals on Groupon.  There are some discounts for students and the like -- but nothing like AAA.  Allot about $20 a person in admission.  I spent about 3 hours hanging around looking at exhibits and taking the typical tour.
• Yes, mobile service is a bit spotty -- plan for it.

For Further Exploration

• Wondering why the history of Biosphere 2 is important and what it says about our humanity?  Start at Lessons from Biosphere 2.  Think about the ambition of the early 90s in particular.
• Planning an Arizona road trip?  That's a great idea!  You can land a Phoenix Sky Harbor International Airport from many destinations and drive around pretty easily.  For suggestions, see also Dave and Deb's Ultimate 10-Day Arizona Road Trip.  And of course, check out The Halterman Weekend's adventures in Arizona, including Phoenix, Sedona, and Montezuma Well and Castle.

Returning to the Virginia Museum of Fine Arts: Napoleon and More

As our blog regulars are aware, Kim and kids E and G made a trip to see a special exhibit at the Virginia Museum of Fine Arts this spring, taking in Terracotta Warriors.  While this exhibit has moved on, the VFMA is still a great day trip for anyone visiting Richmond or within driving distance to it. 

As part of our anniversary celebration, Kim and Justin took on the museum as adults with a highlight being the summer special exhibit Napoleon: Power and Splendor.  It closes September 3--so if you are still looking for something to do this weekend, here's a great idea!  It's headed to Kansas City, MO, next.  In Richmond, the exhibit is in an immersive space and will occupy serious museum goers as long as you'd like in multiple galleries.  There is plenty to ponder by way of the ways both wealth and visuals affect the way we perceive power, and you'll enjoy portraiture, sculpture, and decorative arts.  We were delighted to find teachers were admitted free to this special exhibit, a tradition continuing from Terracotta.

As always, the VFMA main galleries have free admission. Host to a large collection, the museum is definitely a place you can spend a day.  On this visit, we particularly appreciated opportunity to spend time in the area devoted to Russian art, including the Faberge Eggs.  The collection of older pieces, including items truly from the ancient world, is simply pretty amazing.  Their website features an interactive map that will help you focus on art from particular areas of the world if you wish.  You can also eat on site with two quality options.  We chose Best Cafe--a little stop with clear references to the former Best department stores.

If you go, allow time to be outside on the grounds if at all possible. There are interesting sculptures, and we found a Civil War commemorative chapel to explore unexpectedly.  Lots of Richmonders seem to walk, work, and generally relax here, which is lovely. Also consider taking in the Virginia Museum of History and Culture.  We were disappointed that their admission structure had changed, but we still had a great time and particularly enjoyed the work of folk artist Queena Stovall of Lynchburg, on display now til October 14.

A Stop to Appreciate: National Shrine of Saint Elizabeth Ann Seton

Slightly off the beaten path in Emmitsburg, MD, lies the National Shrine of Saint Elizabeth Ann Seton, situated near one of the places where she founded an educational mission.  We always enjoy religious sites, but this one proved both exceptional and highly accessible.  Free to visit, visitors to the shrine are treated to a mini-museum, a basilica, and well-tended grounds.

When you arrive, request the opportunity to see the short video (about 12 minutes in length), which will provide you with an overview of Saint Seton's life -- and a compelling sense of how close in time we are to her canonization in the grand sweep of history.  Clips of a biographical movie of her life are also included and provide nice context.  Plan to spend thirty to ninety minutes ambling around in the small museum; it's professionally presented and worth your time to learn more about both the life of Seton and part of the history and tradition of the Catholic Church.  There's even a pictorial scavenger hunt for kids. Next, you will be treated to the grand basilica, a wonderful spot for reflection, Mass, or confession.  There are beautiful places to walk, including a lovely cemetery.

On the day of our visit, the local community was celebrating Mother Seton's birthday with a small festival "party" on the lawn.  There were numerous old-fashioned children's games, entertainments like face painting, and free treats like cupcakes and Italian ices for all.  G was so excited to have her face made up as a princess; E enjoyed the "passport" concept of having a booklet stamped at various stations and receiving a vintage postcard as a prize.  One of the highlights: having silhouettes cut by hand in a fascinating artistic tradition by Silhouettes by Hand.  Overall, the shrine maintains a calendar of activities that all appear enriching.

If you go, consider piggybacking on a trip to Harper's Ferry, WV; Gettysburg, PA; or Frederick, MD.  Take a little extra time and visit the nearby Grotto -- we spent a lot of time at the shrine and will need to return.  The Mount St. Mary's University campus is literally "right there" and certainly could make for a nice walk and visit.  There's also a gift shop at the shrine with very friendly staff--don't forget to visit! While certainly those of the Christian tradition are welcomed, the site has something to offer for those interested in history, art, culture, and nature as well.