Catherine Hollis

Some Arizona road trips end at a canyon rim, and some end at a counter serving sandwiches straight out of Chicago. In Tempe, one busy corner draws Cubs fans, homesick Midwesterners and curious first-timers who all line up for the same three things: Chicago dogs, Italian beef and cake shakes so thick the straw has […]

Every Arizona town seems to have that one Chinese restaurant where birthdays, report card dinners, and lazy Friday takeout nights all happened at the same booth. These spots skip the trendy menus and stick with the classics, like sizzling rice soup, Mongolian beef, crab puffs, and big family-style platters that easily feed a table. From

Somewhere in Midtown Phoenix, people willingly stand in a cafeteria line on an ordinary weekday for a sandwich so tall it usually turns into two meals. The draw is corned beef stacked high on real rye, served by a deli that longtime locals have followed from one address to another over the decades. Some regulars

Some West Valley mornings start with a simple question: how many conchas is too many? At one family-favorite bakery on a busy Glendale street, the honest answer seems to be more than planned. People line up before lunch, after work and on lazy Sunday mornings, and plenty of them leave carrying a full box instead

A round-trip ticket to Japan can cost well over a thousand dollars, and that is before a single piece of nigiri reaches the table. Out in Chandler, one East Valley restaurant has quietly won over diners who have eaten sushi in Tokyo and Osaka and came home refusing to settle for less. Its chefs work

Arizona has plenty of ways to get into a canyon, but few of them come with a couch, a covered observation deck and a storyteller who knows every bend in the river. Just north of Cottonwood, an old-fashioned train spends about four hours rolling deep into a red-rock canyon that is tough to cross on

Somewhere in the West Valley, a shopping center storefront holds more Polish groceries per square foot than seems reasonable. Shelves climb high with imported jars and sweets, a deli counter runs deep with kielbasa, and trays of pierogi and fresh bread keep coming out from the kitchen. Arizona has no shortage of supermarkets, but very

Some of the best things a retired couple can do in Arizona cost nothing more than a tank of gas and a free afternoon. Up in the central highlands, about a mile above sea level, one small city packs pioneer history, a town square with serious character, museums, live music, and a lake ringed by

Some of the best shopping in Tucson happens in places most locals have never heard of. West of downtown, in a compact shop built into a container park, a small team has spent years gathering books, art, furniture, and handmade goods from the people and cultures that shape the Sonoran Desert. The shelves hold Navajo

A round-trip ticket to Bangkok can easily run into the thousands, and the flight eats up most of a day before the fun even starts. Mesa has a shortcut that fits into a lunch break: a polished spot off US 60 where Thai, Vietnamese, Chinese, and other Asian businesses share one roof. It stays open

Flagstaff has a hill where a young astronomer once changed the map of the solar system, and the instrument that made it happen is still standing there today. Plenty of Arizonans have driven past the turnoff west of downtown without a second thought, yet this hilltop has been pointed at the sky since 1894. Its

Every Arizonan has that one Mexican restaurant they will defend at family dinners, and most of us would happily burn a tank of gas to prove our point. This list gathers ten of those places, from a Tucson cafe that has been serving since 1922 to a Yuma drive-in that opened in 1962 and a

For roughly a hundred miles of Interstate 10 in southern Arizona, a string of billboards asks the same nagging question and never gives an answer. Plenty of Arizonans grew up in the back seat begging to stop, only to hear a parent say it was a gimmick and keep driving. The truth is that the

Most Arizona drivers blast along Interstate 8 between Casa Grande and Gila Bend without a second glance at the saguaro-covered land rolling past the windows. That is a shame, because a massive protected slice of our own backyard sits just beyond the cattle gates and gravel turnoffs. It holds mountain ranges, pioneer trail routes, an

You do not need a passport or a ten-hour flight to stand under a baroque ceiling, gaze up at twin bell towers, or wander a Byzantine courtyard, because Arizona has all of that tucked into its desert towns, mining camps, and mountain streets. Some of these churches are more than two centuries old, while others

Some dogs arrive in Tucson homes as shelter rescues with zero manners and a lot of big feelings about other dogs. A few months later, some of those same pups are holding a perfect stay on restaurant patios and settling quietly in hotel rooms. The place behind many of those turnarounds is not a cafe

Most Arizonans know the Valley for citrus groves, cotton fields, and cactus, so an olive grove in the southeast desert can come as a real surprise. Out in Queen Creek, rows of olive trees stand beside a working mill, and the oil made there ends up on tasting counters a short walk from the press.

Down near the Mexican border, a giant white cross rises off a hillside, and people spot it from the valley floor long before they reach it. It stands 75 feet tall. Next to it is a huge statue of Mary, and between the parking lot and the top there are roughly 600 steps. Some people

Arizona has some serious bargain territory hiding in plain sight, from giant bin warehouses in Phoenix and Tucson to charity shops in Mesa, Flagstaff, and Prescott. This list covers six big, browsable thrift stores where the prices stay low enough that a loaded cart does not have to mean a painful total at the register.

Summer in the Valley sends everyone hunting for water, and there is one wide, blue reservoir north of the city that regulars have loved since they were kids. It has jet skis buzzing across open water, paddle boarders gliding near quiet coves, and wild burros that stroll right up to picnic tables like they own

Most people drive across Arizona chasing red rocks and sunsets, but did you know you can bring home a piece of the desert that you dug up yourself? Scattered across our state are public sites where fire agates, petrified wood, clear quartz, and even flakes of gold are waiting just under the surface. These are

Here is a wild bit of trivia that trips up even the folks who grew up here. The famous bridge that once carried traffic over the River Thames in England does not sit in England anymore. It was taken apart stone by stone, shipped across an ocean, and rebuilt in a warm desert town in

Somewhere in the Arizona desert, thousands of golden blooms turn their faces toward the morning sky, and getting in costs nothing at all. That is not a typo. A working farm out past the Phoenix suburbs quietly opens its sunflower field to anyone willing to make the drive, no admission booth, no ticket line, no

Somewhere in north Phoenix sits a place that quietly holds instruments from roughly 200 countries under a single roof, which is a claim almost no other spot on Earth can make. Longtime Arizona residents sometimes forget it is even here, tucked into the desert as if the whole world decided to store its music in

Somewhere off a busy Phoenix highway sits a warehouse stacked wall to wall with lumber most people never knew existed. Purple heart, rosewood, black limba, and live edge slabs share space with humble scrap bins where a whole cutting board project can start for pocket change. Weekend hobbyists and seasoned cabinet makers alike keep circling

Some places change so much over the years that folks who once knew them well come back and feel like strangers. That is the story unfolding in one famous red-rock town near Flagstaff, where the quiet trails and small shops of years past have given way to packed streets and busy galleries. Longtime guests still

Some of the finest cooking in the Phoenix area does not come from a building with fancy signage or valet parking. It comes from a truck parked on a gravel lot behind a church, open only two days a week, where the line forms early because the food tends to sell out. Longtime residents whisper

Somewhere in the East Valley sits a play mountain so big that kids climb it like tiny mountaineers, then rush right back down a concrete slide that practically launches them at the bottom. Add a giant splash pad, a fishing lake full of catfish, zip lines, and enough sports courts to keep the whole family

Somewhere off Interstate 40, hidden behind a stretch of flat high desert, sits a hole so big it could swallow a small city. About 50,000 years ago, a chunk of space rock slammed into northern Arizona and left behind one of the best-preserved impact sites on the entire planet. Longtime Arizona locals have driven past

Ordering chicken and waffles when you have celiac disease usually means a nervous conversation with the server and a lot of hoping for the best. Good news for Arizona folks: a handful of spots across the state have gone all in on gluten-free cooking, some with entire kitchens dedicated to it. That means you can

Deep inside a red-rock canyon, water the color of turquoise pours over travertine ledges into pools that seem almost painted. Getting there takes a serious hike and a permit that vanishes within minutes each February, yet people from all over the state keep chasing it. The reward is a desert oasis so vivid it barely

There is a stretch of desert north of Tucson where a capybara might climb right into your lap and settle in like it owns the place. Down a dirt road in the middle of nowhere sits a ranch where porcupines, warthogs, emus, and the world’s largest rodents greet guests one small group at a time.

Some roads in Arizona ask you to hold your breath, grip the wheel, and slow way down for reasons that have nothing to do with traffic. Tucked into the eastern edge of the state sits a mountain route so twisting that motorcyclists rank it among the finest anywhere, and hikers keep coming back to finish

Arizona locals looking for something faster than a Saturday spent scrolling their phones have a serious contender hiding in plain sight. Electric karts that scoot along at real racing speeds, an indoor track built for both first-timers and grownups who still chase lap times, and a setup that treats an 11-year-old like an actual competitor

Some places earn a following that spreads by word of mouth, one satisfied guest telling the next until people start planning a whole afternoon around the trip. Up in a small desert town north of Scottsdale sits an Old West saloon-style spot with nearly three thousand rave notes and a dessert case worth the drive.

Tucked into a rocky hillside in a tiny Arizona town sits a place most locals drive right past without knowing it exists. Hand-carved sculptures line a winding path up a boulder-strewn slope, telling a story step by step while the high-country views open up around you. No passport, no plane ticket, and no steep entry