Anything I Can Miss
Recently, I was thinking about what I miss about Arizona. You know how people like to do the truth-is's on fb? Those always make me think about it. So here's a fairly basic list I just put together:
The People. That's a no-brainer. So many great people that I've known are from Az, even if they've also moved away too. I won't go too in-depth other than that, but I could probably talk about people forever. Everybody out there! I know we have busy lives, but it's sooo nice to hear from people every once in a while. Just say hi! I promise I'll try to respond!
Arizona School for the Arts. Great school. If you live in/near Phoenix, I highly recommend it. Intensive academics, great teachers, the best students, and if you like performing arts (dance, music, choir, drama) than it is a really great option. Plus, it's right next to the biggest library in phx (who doesn't love glass elevators???) which is pretty awesome. Which.... brings me to another one of my list....
Libraries! Lol, the list isn't really in a particular order, but hey, why not. Despite how well I know the people at my library in g-ville now (I volunteer at the Millhopper Branch), the convenience of how close the Ocotillo was (for picking up holds) was nice. And then the Burton Barr library? 5 story, fountain, elevators, neat place. And barely across the street from ASA, too.
Movie Theaters!!!! Oh, how I could rant about the monopoly of movie theaters in g-ville and the high prices. Seriously? In phx, there are so many you can choose from! Plus, for Harkins (right? or is it AMC?) if you had the shirt you could get a free median popcorn, and if you had the cup, you could get a drink for a dollar. And then there was that one theater where you could see a slightly older movie for like $2. And of course, nothing can beat a drive-in theater. I wish I had been able to go more than once....
Tonto Natural Bridge. Seems extremely random, but I'd honestly rather go there again, instead of the Grand Canyon. I've done both of them multiple times, but the hike for Tonto is just so much more fun than seeing the GC in my opinion. I love the little river that runs through it and the risk of going down the steep incline at that one place in the middle beneath the bridge. It's not like it's very expensive at all, either. Idk, like $5 per person perhaps? And even though I've probably gone there a few more times than the GC (maybe 6 times compared to 3 or so), I would go again, just for the fun of it. I find the top boring, though, unless you go off the path a follow the water instead to where it heads to it's little waterfall-but-not-really. The place to go, I think anybody worthy of it should go. [Just don't complain about the hike, hiking is always great when there's some sort of body of water. I feel like it should be impossible to not like that.]
Winters in Flagstaff. I hate cold. If I could go in jeans and a t-shirt without needing a jacket all year, I would. But much to some's surprise, Az DOES have snow! It's called the high desert! And Fl really doesn't ever seem to have snow. So, I miss not the cold nor the wet, but the fun in sledding during the winter. No need to bother with skiing, snowboarding, or ice skating, the simplicity of sledding is totally fine for me. Just find a good hill.
That's pretty much it. I could include things like, oh, First Friday is a lot of fun, or the Science Center has some cool things to look at, or even the London Bridge (did you know that it's now in Az? Look it up, its really there) but I feel fairly solid with that list. The Gammage Auditorium is also impressive, I had a lot of fun performing there- it's gigantic. Idk. There may be things that I've just totally forgotten about. But those are the things that stood out.
The People. That's a no-brainer. So many great people that I've known are from Az, even if they've also moved away too. I won't go too in-depth other than that, but I could probably talk about people forever. Everybody out there! I know we have busy lives, but it's sooo nice to hear from people every once in a while. Just say hi! I promise I'll try to respond!
Arizona School for the Arts. Great school. If you live in/near Phoenix, I highly recommend it. Intensive academics, great teachers, the best students, and if you like performing arts (dance, music, choir, drama) than it is a really great option. Plus, it's right next to the biggest library in phx (who doesn't love glass elevators???) which is pretty awesome. Which.... brings me to another one of my list....
Libraries! Lol, the list isn't really in a particular order, but hey, why not. Despite how well I know the people at my library in g-ville now (I volunteer at the Millhopper Branch), the convenience of how close the Ocotillo was (for picking up holds) was nice. And then the Burton Barr library? 5 story, fountain, elevators, neat place. And barely across the street from ASA, too.
Movie Theaters!!!! Oh, how I could rant about the monopoly of movie theaters in g-ville and the high prices. Seriously? In phx, there are so many you can choose from! Plus, for Harkins (right? or is it AMC?) if you had the shirt you could get a free median popcorn, and if you had the cup, you could get a drink for a dollar. And then there was that one theater where you could see a slightly older movie for like $2. And of course, nothing can beat a drive-in theater. I wish I had been able to go more than once....
Tonto Natural Bridge. Seems extremely random, but I'd honestly rather go there again, instead of the Grand Canyon. I've done both of them multiple times, but the hike for Tonto is just so much more fun than seeing the GC in my opinion. I love the little river that runs through it and the risk of going down the steep incline at that one place in the middle beneath the bridge. It's not like it's very expensive at all, either. Idk, like $5 per person perhaps? And even though I've probably gone there a few more times than the GC (maybe 6 times compared to 3 or so), I would go again, just for the fun of it. I find the top boring, though, unless you go off the path a follow the water instead to where it heads to it's little waterfall-but-not-really. The place to go, I think anybody worthy of it should go. [Just don't complain about the hike, hiking is always great when there's some sort of body of water. I feel like it should be impossible to not like that.]
Winters in Flagstaff. I hate cold. If I could go in jeans and a t-shirt without needing a jacket all year, I would. But much to some's surprise, Az DOES have snow! It's called the high desert! And Fl really doesn't ever seem to have snow. So, I miss not the cold nor the wet, but the fun in sledding during the winter. No need to bother with skiing, snowboarding, or ice skating, the simplicity of sledding is totally fine for me. Just find a good hill.
That's pretty much it. I could include things like, oh, First Friday is a lot of fun, or the Science Center has some cool things to look at, or even the London Bridge (did you know that it's now in Az? Look it up, its really there) but I feel fairly solid with that list. The Gammage Auditorium is also impressive, I had a lot of fun performing there- it's gigantic. Idk. There may be things that I've just totally forgotten about. But those are the things that stood out.
Good list! It is Harkins that has the great deals (though the drinks are a buck with the cup, not free...still a great deal by cinema standards.) Remember the goofy pictures of the guy who owned the dollar theater? I think his name was Pollack. He had his theater all decked out with life-size characters, as well as a gigantic portrait of him posing with George Bush. lol When we go back to visit Phoenix, we'll definitely hit the drive-in theater...and Tonto Natural Bridge! Remember when we took Steve and Laura to Burton Barr and all posed with books in our hands? Good times.
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