My Favorite Tucson Spots

Since Allen has been working out west, I thought I would share some of my favorite things I enjoyed in Tucson.

Saguaro National Park was one of the first places I visited in Tucson. The saguaros along with the other cacti were always a pretty sight.

While visiting the Pima Air and Space Museum, we had one of the cooler things happen while on our visit. As a volunteer was telling us about the last Air Force One prop plane that LBJ used to get to his ranch that was on display at the museum, Air Force One came in for a landing behind us over at Davis Monthan Air Force Base, as if it was timed. Very cool experience.

Reid Park Zoo.

Even though I had never visited Reid Park Zoo while living in Tucson, I enjoyed taking my son there on several visits to town.

My first year of working at Pearson Educational Measurement, I met a lady that was one of the orignal people to live in Biosphere 2, Linda Leigh. She gave us a personal tour of Biosphere 2 and we were able to visit parts of it that is not open to the public.

Of course, my favorite time of year in Tucson, besides winter, was March because spring training had arrived in town. The Cactus League has the Diamondbacks and the Rockies playing in Tucson.

My favorite places to dine at are Michas Restaurant for Mexican, Frog and Firkin for outdoor dining and Oregano's for pizza.

Confessions of a Non-Soccer Mom

Back in the spring, I came up with this great idea, sign AW up for fall Soccer. Since AW is an only child, I want to make sure that he gets a lot of chances to be around other children. Soccer is suppose to be one of the better activities that you can sign kids up for because they are going to get a lot of exercise. AW is not going to challenge for an athletic scholarship, based on his parents athletic abilities, but the main goal is for him to have fun.

After attending a unified soccer practice with all the kids in the under 5 group, everyone is assigned a letter score, then placed evenly onto teams. At first, I was concerned about AW's team practicing only once a week when some of the other teams practiced twice, until my background in Physical Education kicked in to remind me that's the last thing you need to be doing with four year old's. After watching the coaches herding the kids, which is about like herding cats, you realize his coaches must have the patience of Job to work with eight, four year old's.

What I was not use to were the in-game meltdowns by any given player and the soccer mom's. Yes, I realize I'm a soccer mom by default, but I feel more like a non-soccer mom. Being gripped at because you brought snacks when you were suppose to, but another mom won't let you hand them out sours your attitude quick. I was about at the point of wondering if it was really worth it, but AW was having fun.

Last Saturday, things started to change. I had considered not have AW to play so we could go to the GA/Razorback football game, since it was a few hours from the house. As much as I wanted to go, I knew it wasn't fair to keep AW from his game. While at the game, I noticed the in-game meltdowns from the kids were not irritating me as they did in the past and the soccer mom that wouldn't let anybody bring snacks, finally let someone else hand theirs out. The main reason I was glad that we passed up on the game was that AW scored his first goal (that wasn't for the other team). Moments like that will keep this non-soccer mom coming back until AW wants to move to some other sport.

Myrtle Beach

View from the hotel.

With all of the travels that we do, we had not taken a family vacation this summer. I figured that we would wait until sometime in September to go, but Allen mentioned going to Myrtle Beach for Labor Day weekend. Myrtle Beach is a place that I had been interested in going because there is a Marriott on the beach. Of course, I wanted to use points for the stay and figured there would be no shot on Labor Day weekend. We were able to get a room at the Marriott Grand Dunes, so we were on our way.

We arrived in the Myrtle Beach area on Friday morning. Since it was not time to check in, we stopped by one of the public beach accesses to see what the Atlantic was like after Hurricane Earl passed offshore. Allen and I couldn't tell any difference in the ocean from when we were up at Kill Devil Hills in June. It seemed like the water was more rough on Monday than any other day.

Next stop was Broadway at the Beach for lunch and a round of putt putt. Broadway at the Beach is one of the main entertainment areas in Myrtle Beach. It has a Rippley's Aquarium, a movie theater, an IMAX, kiddie rides and a long list of activities. For lunch, we decided to eat at Senor Frog's, which had live music. The food was between average and good, but overpriced, which you expected. Next time, I think I would go to Margaritaville and try out the nachos I saw when we ate at the one in Glendale, AZ.

Two of the swimming pools at the Marriott Grand Dunes.

Friday afternoon, we checked into the Marriott Grand Dunes. I loved the location, pools and the dining, while AW loved the water slide. The rooms could use updating and had a musty smell, but nothing that would keep me from going back again.

For the rest of the trip, except for outlet shopping on Sunday, we hung around the hotel. AW did get us away Saturday afternoon for another round of putt putt, but with everything at the hotel, we didn't need to go anywhere else. The next time we go back, I would like to go to theMyrtle Beach Boardwalk. There are so many activities we missed, but then again, how can you go wrong with a beach and a pool?