It is nice to see that not much has changed. We take our children there quite frequently. There are always plenty of other parents there with their young children, along with school age children ranging from pre-school to high school there on field trips, along with older retired couples spending the day together. It truly is a place all ages will enjoy.

We bought the annual family pass, which for us is a great deal. For $48 a year you can go to the zoo as many times as you want. When you consider that admission is $6 for fifteen to sixty-one year olds, $4 for seniors sixty-two and older, $2 for children two to fourteen, and children under two are free, the membership pays for itself in just a few quick trips.

There have been a few changes the zoo has undergone in the past few years that have made it more family friendly and conducive to younger children. The first is the Kenya Get Wet water play area. There are pumps and sprayers that soak the designated area. While it is a lot of fun, I am a little surprised at how slippery and uneven the area is. It seems it would have been wiser to apply some type of anti-slip material to the surface. The second is the Lee H. Brown Family Conservation Learning Center. Inside there are a few different exhibits that have lizards and turtles. There is also an area for children to draw.  It is air-conditioned and a great escape from the heat.

Obviously, the main draw is the animals and they usually don’t disappoint. The day we went, all the animals were out and active. It seems like the earlier you attend the better chance you stand of seeing all the animals. During the weekdays, at 10:00 a.m., you can feed the giraffes for $2.  It is a pretty cool experience. They will eat right out of your hand.  We spent about a two hours making our way through the zoo and the kids enjoyed every minute of it.  The exhibits are pretty close together so you do not have to walk great distances from animal to animal.

There is an on-site café where you can get hamburgers, hotdogs, chicken fingers, french fries, and the like. However, it is expensive and the food is not that good. Think standard concession-stand food. There are plenty of other places to eat outside the zoo, like McDonalds across the street and Subway on Alvernon, north of 22nd.

After we had conquered all areas of the zoo, we decided to head across the street to the pond. There are dozens of ducks that wander around waiting eagerly for someone to feed them. There is also a little stream leading into the lake with two bridges and large stones for the children to climb on. I much prefer this area for small children as opposed to the area directly by the lake as there is less likelihood of someone falling in.  There are plenty of picnic tables and grassy areas to spread out a blanket and enjoy some relaxing time out of doors.

If there is one criticism it is with the kid’s play area. You had to purchase tickets and everything cost 2 tickets (the equivalent of $1) and for that you could bounce in a jumping castle for 5 minutes, go down the slide twice, or through an obstacle course twice. Each of these took a total of maybe 30 seconds to 1 minute and the ticket takers were truly like the Gestapo making sure the rules and time limits were enforced. I felt it was a little severe when they ordered my poor 1-year-old out of the jumping castle at exactly 4 minutes and 59 seconds. The kids didn’t seem to notice and my husband and I just bit our tongues for the sake of family fun. Our children really enjoyed all the games, slides, and obstacle courses so that made it worth it.

After getting our fill of the food, music, and dancing and after the kids exhausted every activity and ate their obligatory snow cone, we decided to call it a night. It was a fun evening and a great experience for our entire family, from our youngest member, our one-year-old son, to the oldest member, my father, a fifty-eight year old grandfather.

When a friend brought up going to a corn maze, I was startled to realize it was one of those things that I’ve heard talked about a lot, but had never actually been to myself. It just seemed like something I could swear I’ve been to before, you know, that time we went out to…and, I really had nothing. Luckily, Buckelew Farm has exactly that. So I was definitely all for it, and off we were for that quintessential activity I’d missed out on!

Taking into consideration that the group of people we had going were coming from different parts of town, it was easiest to meet at El Con Mall, moreover because we all met for a quick dinner, to boot, a the Chick-Fil-A on the south side of the shopping complex. From there we cut quickly down North Alvernon Way to Ajo Way, though as the farm’s directions suggest, I-10 and I-19 can be handy as well. It was a little bit of a drive from that point, about twenty-some miles, but we worked it out with music and conversation just fine, and it didn’t seem too long.

The entrance was well lit, and the dirt parking lot was busy, but still easy to find a space in. That was a pleasant surprise, and another surprise waiting for us was not exactly unpleasant, but certainly chilly. In the space of us driving out just that small distance from the city, it felt like it had dropped to winter temperatures! And yes, we realized that “chilly” for us is probably downright warm to someone from the east coast, but as Tucsonans we were lucky we remembered sweaters and jackets. If you’d like to enjoy the mazes in a warmer temperature, they’ll be open through Saturdays and Sundays in October from 11:00 a.m. to 5:00 p.m. But if you’d like to try out the spookier side of things, they’re also open from 5:00 p.m. to midnight on Friday and Saturday nights.

And speaking of spooky, from the parking lot with its monstrous attendants on, I finally felt like we were really getting into autumn and Halloween season. We could hear delighted (and just plain scared) screams wailing out from the corn fields, which was an interesting contrast to the smiling faces in the crowd hanging around the entrance. There was quite a line when we arrived around 9:00 p.m., but there were refreshments available, both of the warm coffee variety and the cooler alcoholic bent (and, oddly, snowcones). Eventually, after realizing the wait to get into the haunted portion of the maze was an hour, and wanting to get our shivering selves moving, we skipped the $18 dollar maze (and the tempting $25 fee to skip the line entirely) to go with the $10 regular maze.

And we had plenty of fun with just the “regular” maze! The maze was perfect for sneaking around and jumping out at each other, and got us pretty disoriented right off the bat. Occasional checkpoints with hole-punchers to mark our progress were scattered about, which was its own collecting-kind of fun, especially for the kids. Wear comfortable, supportive shoes if you do go, though. The moon was bright enough that night that it wasn’t too much of a bother, but some of the earth amidst the corn was uneven enough to turn an ankle in the dark. Our own personal touch was to get little glow-bracelets beforehand, so we could easily identify each other in the dark, though it did hinder a few attempted scares with a glow peaking out from a shadow…

All in all, we spent about an hour wandering what amounted to a playground for us. For those afraid of getting lost in a maze (I’ll admit, the thought really had crossed my mind) the well-lit gates were an easy way to orient oneself and find the way out. And so, with my desire for a quintessential experience well satisfied, we took our leave of the farm.

We took them to Apple Annie’s in Wilcox so they could pick their own fruit and vegetables. It is approximately an hour and a half drive from Tucson, which fortunately goes pretty fast.  We have two small children so we try not to spend longer in the car than it would take to complete a Disney movie. The natives get restless. The kids had a wonderful time and were great troopers, despite the heat. It would have probably been wiser to wait until the end of October when the temperature starts to cool off, but we were careful to keep everyone hydrated and took frequent breaks to keep from overheating. Our kids are whiter than white (Is that a color?) and do not handle extreme heat well. I would definitely recommend that you take plenty of sunscreen, water, and a hat.

At the orchard we picked a variety of apples and Asian pears. These are our kids’ absolute favorite; they are a cross between an apple and a pear and are simply delicious. They also had peaches. At the orchard they grill hamburgers under a tent and they also make delicious pies that you can either buy whole or by the slice. There are benches to sit and relax, a gift shop, and a country store with homemade salsas, relishes, and jams. We hung out a bit and let the kids enjoy apple crust ice cream and cherry snowcones before heading down the road to the produce farm.

The farm was easier for them since everything was from the vine and low to the ground. Of the two locations, this one is probably more “child-friendly” as they are able to participate in the actual picking more so than at the orchard. We got sweet corn, bell peppers, jalepenos, a variety of chili and sweet peppers, green beans, tomatoes, garlic, zucchini, cucumbers, honeydew, cantaloupe, and eggplant. We also bought some freshly made salsas and jams.

After getting home we spent the rest of the evening making salsas, chili pastes, marinades, and sautéed toppings for chicken, fish, and steak. We had bags of peppers (among other produce) left over so I have a feeling we will be eating a lot of pepper-laced dishes in the coming weeks.

Overall, it was a great day. It was nice for the four of us to be together. Our kids are game for any type of adventure, but especially enjoy those that are outdoors, even when it is hot. Our daughter has already started asking when we can go back and get more fruit and vegetables. I’m thinking it will probably be pretty soon.

Oftentimes we fail to see beauty in the most obscure or unexpected of locations. We are in such a hurry that we fail to take the time to look around us. However, taking time to simply walk through the “mall,” while never once stepping foot inside a store, made me appreciate all the natural beauty Tucson has to offer. We did not have to go to a special museum or park. We weren’t in search of some greater destination. We merely took advantage of what we have right in front of us. You simply have to walk outside.

Since the inaugural event in February, the Sculpture Resource Center’s First Thursday Art Event has become a regular on my schedule of things to do in Tucson. As the name implies, the First Thursday Art Event truly has something for everyone, from a craft table where the little artists can have a crack at drawing and painting while the senior artists can simply kick back and enjoy great entertainment.

One of the factors that make this monthly event so different is the constantly changing theme for each event. This month’s theme was Night of the Insects. Studio members and guests were encouraged to don their best insect apparel and be part of the buzz.

For a little background, the Sculpture Resource Center (SRC) can be found at 640 N. Stone Ave. It occupies over 5,000 square feet in what was probably an old automobile repair shop.

But today the SRC is a center of artistic energy and creativity in a wide variety of media. The Center’s members include potters, painters, woodworkers, glass artists, blacksmiths and many folks who work in multiple media. On any given day you will find beginners in art as well as master artists busy plying their trade.

The First Thursday Art Event was started as an outreach project to connect with the community and generate operating funds for the Center, which is non-profit.

The agenda for the events includes a traditional gallery setting for the first hour, where artists from the studio and the community can display and offer their work. This past week included some outstanding paintings by Theresa Catalano and Gavin Troy.

Around 7:30 p.m., the live entertainment gets started. Each event features different performing artists and covers the spectrum from a Flea Circus Clown to Native Peruvian Flute music.

I think the most interesting part of the evening is simply peeking around the various art studios at the center. Last Thursday, Ernie Espinoza had the foundry cranked up and was demonstrating the time-honored skills of blacksmithing. One of Ernie’s projects that you can check out is an old railroad handcar that he is rebuilding at the studio.

In keeping with the insects theme, Bill Hagey, one of the Center’s metal artists, built an eight-foot tall green Praying Mantis which stood guard at the front entrance Thursday night.

To really get a feel for the Sculpture Resource Center, make plans for the next First Thursday Art Event. As David Campbell, the Center’s event coordinator says, the goal is about “being together as a community and creating art!”

If you can’t make it, check back here at One Thousand Things to do in Tucson and we will try to have the story for you!

The performance was part of Live Theatre Workshop’s Late Night Series and didn’t start until 10:30 p.m., but we arrived at least a half-hour early so that we could have our pick of parking and seating. Parking in the plaza where the venue is located is limited, since it is also home to the bar Colors, the eatery Something Sweet, and some other businesses. We were able to wait outside while the previous performance wrapped up. Once inside, we purchased our tickets ($8 adults, $6 for children) amid the cramped lobby with the other patrons. They sold some simple refreshments, such as bottled water and candy in the lobby. While we waited to take our seats, the theatre staff handed out surveys for us to complete after the performance. As they explained, Live Theatre Workshop is grant-funded and the survey results enable them to continue the funding of their productions.

We took our seats in the small theatre and music played over the speakers. The venue has seating for approximately 90 (and reservations for larger parties are recommended), however, it was evident that our seats dead-center, second row were some of the best. We certainly had an up-close view of the cast as they acted out their interpretations of the Peanuts gang characters as they might have been in their high school years. The performance was witty, comical, and even charged with adult themes. It was easy to appreciate their expressions and to hear their dialogue, since the first few rows of seats on each side of the stage were literally within arm’s reach of the performers. The performance included a few brief intermissions and ended around midnight.

When we exited the theatre, we were sure to turn in our surveys and went outside to mingle a bit. The cast members then joined everyone outside and visited with their friends and family who had been in the audience that night.

To my surprise, I noticed that the eatery next to the theatre was still open and some folks were heading there for some late night treats. I thought it sounded like a good idea but the week had finally caught up with me, so we called it a night. Next time I attend a performance there, though, I intend to visit Something Sweet afterwards for exactly that!

The Live Theater Workshop features various series and performances. For more information, visit them at: www.livetheatreworkshop.org.

As it got closer to sunset and the posted time to arrive at the bridge just south of Campbell Avenue and River Road, not even ten minutes from central Tucson, I met my friend at his condo on the north side of the river. As we walked back to the bridge (and I got some great advice from him for photographing in low-light conditions, which is a must for trying to catch a photo of the bats) I noted that there was plenty of other parking. On the north side of the river, there is the parking lot of St Philip’s Plaza, and there are side streets and the Trader Joe’s parking lot just south of the bridge.

We arrived to the riverbed (there are ramps conveniently on either side of the river that are easy to take down to the sand) at about 6:00 p.m. I was expecting perhaps a small gathering of people, quietly watching for bats to leave the bridge as the sun set, but there was much, much more than that. The organizing Rillito River Project had been kind enough to set out amenities such as copious rugs to lounge upon and free water in elegant cups, and moreover even had entertainment by a guitarist and drummer as more and more people filled the river.

Eventually, when the steady stream of people seemed to trickle down, after a short introduction by the Rillito River Project, we were treated to a talk by Yar Petryszyn, Ph.D., an expert on all sorts of bats. I was astonished to learn that the tiny Mexican free-tailed bats that we were to be seeing weigh about the same as a penny. They’re not the smallest bat in the world, but they’re close to it! We would also be seeing somewhat larger bats that live by feeding from saguaro cactus flowers rather than eating insects; it turns out that both varieties live in the tiny expansion joints beneath the bridge, though I was still reserving a bit of belief that the inch or so of space would be enough for them.

As the sun slipped below the horizon, it was time for the bats to set out. We’d seen a few during the talk, the crowd murmuring and exclaiming at each little darting creature (except for a couple that we laughingly realized were passing pigeons a moment after everyone was distracted by them). But after the crowd was quieted, it wasn’t long before waves of bats were billowing out from under the bridge. The distinction between the smaller, insect-eating bats and larger, pollinating bats was easy to see now that I had it pointed out to me, and after the first rush we got an even better view by walking under the bridge to see the little flying mammals leave their perches. They really did fill the tiny cracks of the bridge’s expansion joints, though we realized the couple drops we felt while under the bridge were definitely not rain, so that’s something you might want to watch out for.

While this was quite a social event, with entire families and young and old attending, a great thing about the fluttering, usually-elusive bats is that they can be found each and every night, so if you’re looking for a relaxing evening of catching a Tucson sunset with a little extra entertainment, just set up a blanket under the Campbell Avenue bridge!

After grabbing a bite to eat, we migrated south on the Avenue in time to catch the tail end of a fashion show featuring the fashion of local 4th Avenue merchants. The show was held in the performance space, the Winset Stage, just north of Value Village Thrift Store. One aspect of the fashion show I thought was cool was that the show included the opportunity for everyday-folks to pick out $20 worth of items from Value Village and present their outfits along with the other models wearing items from trendy botiques.

Once the fashion show wrapped up, we walked across the street to Tucson Thrift, where we perused their collection of costume supplies. Their selection of costumes and accessories is impressive year-round, but it seemed to be especially extensive this evening, in preparation for Halloween. I managed to find something to wear for the All Souls Procession and Carol found a unique silk scarf she couldn’t live without.

With a little shopping under our belt, we continued our trek back north on the Avenue and stopped in at Antigone Books just in time to make a purchase before they politely shooed us out at closing time, 9:00 p.m. We still felt like we had plenty of energy left in us and wanted to sit and chat a bit longer, so we walked all the way to Epic Café at 4th and University. 

Here we ordered our coffees and ran into a guy carrying his pet snake around this neck! We decided to sit at a table on the sidewalk in front of the café, not because of the snake but because the weather was so nice outside. We chatted over the noise of Saturday night traffic and University of Arizona football-goers and, before long, realized it was 11:00 p.m. We decided to call it a night and make our way back to our cars, happy to have spent another casual evening just enjoying a one niche of the Tucson community.

On the first and third Saturdays of each month, three venues on 4th Avenue feature free entertainment. For more information visit: http://www.fourthavenue.org/home/

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