Phoenix & Arizona

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Palum

what Suineg set it to
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So, sort of delayed since I've been here for about two years now.

I feel like there's atonof 'stuff' but I really haven't started to have downtime until recently.

In the last 15 years I've been to:
Grand Canyon
Pima A&S/AF boneyard

Recently I've been to:
Flagstaff/Snowbowl (winter)
Sedona
Vegas
BJ auto auction
State Fair
4-5 home/boat/rv shows just for the spectacle

Best friend is moving to San Diego in the next year so I'm purposefully putting off visiting CA until that happens because I'm sure I'll be going back and forth more often since he'll actually be a drivable distance away for the first time in 7 years or so.

Any suggestions? I see so many power sports, boat, rv dealers and all that nonsense it's insane but I kind of want to get back into camping. Most of the sites I can find seem to be super improved or RV pads instead of the state parks I'm used to in New England where it was more like "here's a lake and a ton of land, good luck buddy".
 

Big Phoenix

Pronouns: zie/zhem/zer
<Gold Donor>
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Chevelon Lake. Nice little lake right on the edge of mogollon rim. Haven't been to it myself but from what I've read and seen its not rv friendly.

Also fossil Creek, but that is super popular.
 

lurker

Vyemm Raider
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Most of the National Forest land in AZ is available for camping. They tightened the rules some in the last couple of years, but you can basically drive off onto a Forest Service Road (make sure you close the gate behind you) and go camping, unless fire restrictions are in place. That said, I lived in Sedona for 13 years and mostly went to the GC. That place is awesome both North and South rim and was different every time I went.
 

eVasiege_sl

shitlord
359
1
Been here for a little over a year and still looking for interesting things to do as well. Doesn't help that I don't know a lot of people...and the fact it's 110 degrees out everyday now. I love the desert.
 

Palum

what Suineg set it to
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Oh yea, forgot I wanted to visit Jerome. Is there a season for Sedona to not be obnoxiously crowded? I like the town but damn was it terrible in March when we went. Just coated in people and cars, no tables in restaurants, shops were all full of dumb kids, bleh.
 

lurker

Vyemm Raider
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Oh yea, forgot I wanted to visit Jerome. Is there a season for Sedona to not be obnoxiously crowded? I like the town but damn was it terrible in March when we went. Just coated in people and cars, no tables in restaurants, shops were all full of dumb kids, bleh.
No there isn't. It's wall to wall cars every fucking day and wall to wall non moving cars on the holidays. I lived there for 13 years up until this last Feb. The rule was get everything done in the morning and be home by 10AM.
 

BrutulTM

Good, bad, I'm the guy with the gun.
<Silver Donator>
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Just eat a chimichanga with a blow dryer on high right in your face and you pretty much have the Phoenix experience.

Seriously though, I lived in Phoenix for 3 years and never really found anything worth doing except driving through Sedona and visiting the Grand Canyon.
 

Croetec

Lord Nagafen Raider
1,783
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Just eat a chimichanga with a blow dryer on high right in your face and you pretty much have the Phoenix experience.

Seriously though, I lived in Phoenix for 3 years and never really found anything worth doing except driving through Sedona and visiting the Grand Canyon.
Seriously this, spent 2 years in Phoenix at Culinary School and its pretty much this. Phoenix itself is pretty overrated but nice in the winter, during the summer 114? is exactly that; "dry" heat or not. Also the only time I've actually burnt the soles of my feet taking garbage out to the dumpster.
 

Antilles

Idiot Savaunt
113
16
The central metro area and Phoenix/Scottsdale/Tempe in particular have a fairly respected culinary scene that continues to grow. One of the best write-ups I've seen comes from Keith Law, who covers baseball for ESPN. He does an annual guide for people in town during spring training (also fun and many of the newer facilities are very nice) that covers a lot of ground, even out towards the suburbs.

http://meadowparty.com/blog/2015/03/...-2015-edition/

Just running through his list I can say I would also recommend: Virtu, Citizen Public House, Pomo, True Food, Cornish Pasty, Four Peaks, Siam Thai, La Piazza Al Forno, Pizzeria Bianco, Chelsea's Kitchen, crudo, cibo, Otro Cafe, Matt's Big Breakfast, and The Gladly. I haven't been to Little Miss BBQ although he raves about it as well and I've heard great things from others. We'll be going sooner than later and I'm really curious to compare it to la Barbecue from Austin, which I've had twice now over the last few months and have heard from locals there compares very well to Franklin.

Seven chefs from many of the restaurants he details are actually headed to the James Beard house in NYC later this year to host a dinner.http://www.azcentral.com/story/enter...hefs/71091660/They are:

Cullen Campbell: Crudo, Phoenix
Kelly Fletcher: Formerly of House of Tricks, Tempe
Joshua Hebert: Posh Improvisational Cuisine, Scottsdale
Scott Holmes: Little Miss BBQ, Phoenix
Stephen Jones: Yard Bird + The Larder, Phoenix; DCM Burger Bar, Phoenix; Walrus & the Pearl, Phoenix; and Tea + Toast Co., Phoenix
Bernie Kantak: Citizen Public House, Scottsdale; and the Gladly, Phoenix
Gio Osso: Virtu Honest Craft, Scottsdale

Other places not listed that are some of my favorites:
Dick's Hideaway (Phoenix. Go up the street to Richardson's/The Rokerij if Dick's is packed which happens fast as it is small, hence hideaway)
St. Francis (Phoenix)
Ingo's (Phoenix/Arcadia)
Nook (Phoenix/Arcadia)
The Stand (Phoenix/Arcadia)
Mrs White's Golden Rule Cafe (Downtown Phoenix)
Angel's Trumpet House (Downtown Phoenix)
Phoenix Public Market (Downtown Phoenix)
Casella's (Scottsdale. Mom and pop of 38 years out of Philly, cash only)
Chizona's (Scottsdale)
Phoenicia Cafe (Tempe)
Chopstick Express (Tempe. Their Orange Tofu kills Orange Chicken)
Tandoori Times (Multiple locations but I prefer the Scottsdale one. Great lunch specials)
Cherryblossom Noodle Cafe (Phoenix. The TanTan-Men is killer)
Bosa Donuts (Multiple locations)

Summer is a great time to get out and take advantage of a lot of the resorts around town too. There are some great boutique hotels that have good pools with good food and beverage options. The Clarendon (North Downtown Phoenix), Hotel Palomar (Downtown Phoenix), Hotel Valley Ho (Scottsdale), and Saguaro (Scottsdale) are all solid.

Along with the restaurants there are plenty of good bars around. Make sure you go to The Vig (four locations in Arcadia, Central Phoenix, Downtown Phoenix, Scottsdale although I would recommend downtown or Central). Yelp is your friend.
 

Vinen

God is dead
2,782
486
lol @ Phoenix and good food.

I guess 100 billion people living in the Del Webb communities there should be a large amount of crappy geriatric steak houses.
 

Antilles

Idiot Savaunt
113
16
If you're going to equate Phoenix to Del Webb (re: Sun City proper) then all you're really saying is "I have nothing to contribute to this conversation."
 

Heriotze

<Gold Donor>
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Tortilla Flats, Jerome, and Sedona.
You can hike the Superstitions although this is definitely not the time of year for being outdoors in Phoenix

Jerome is really fun and somehow also has really great food for such a tiny place. There's Montezuma's Castle and Montezuma's well within an hour's drive from there or you can head up into the mountains behind Jerome for some decent hiking and to cool off. Chino valley is on the other side and it's a quick trip to Prescott from there which some people really enjoy (I never really got the allure) and you can goto whiskey row.

I always like going to the Mogollon Rim for hiking. Tons of trails and it's a lot cooler than Phoenix plus there's all sorts of crazy stuff to see. Slide Rock and Tonto Natural Bridge or you can hike down to Fossil Creek plus all of the weird railroad leftovers in that area. There's an unfinished tunnel that the railroad tried to build that was going to go through the entire plateau but they only got a few hundred feet in before they gave up that's an interesting day hike.

You could check out Bisbee. It's a little bit similar to Jerome but it's more of a functioning city and has a lot more hippy types living there but it's a fun town to wander around in for a day.

Tucson has crazy good Mexican food and you can find a ton of trails on Mount Lemmon and Mount Wrigtson but it's also hot here so you're limited to the hours of the day that will work when taking into account driving times. There's also the Titan Missile Museum in Tucson.

Tons of stuff in AZ but Phoenix metro is so damn hot that most of it will require some travel. I guess depending on age you could tube the salt river, get drunk in the sun and see tits all day.

A few times I've just driven around and tried to find the weirdest towns that I could over a weekend and there are a lot of contenders in this state. So far Miami, AZ is the winner.
 

BrutulTM

Good, bad, I'm the guy with the gun.
<Silver Donator>
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One thing I did to in AZ that was fun was floating the salt river. You have to forget that you are floating in a river that literally hundreds or thousands of people are peeing in and focus on the many, many girls in bikinis. Also, stay covered up as much as possible and slather on the sunscreen. I got the worst sunburn of my life doing that.

Salt River Tubing | Salt River Tubing/Arizonas Floating Picnic! -Tonto National Forest
 

kegkilla

The Big Mod
<Banned>
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i'm coming to Phoenix for a few weeks in late September. let me know if you're down to get outrageous on some college freshmen.
 

Borzak

Bronze Baron of the Realm
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We have an office in Phoenix of like 6 people. I read a title on yahoo "Big heat wave in the southwest". So I looked at the weather deal. I think at 9pm local there it was 109F. Fuck that. The forecast for the next day was 115F. Fuck that. I don't care if it's a dry heat or not. I assume 115 isn't just an every day thing in the summer?