Re: Glendale AZ USA 2019 travel and show info
Date: December 1, 2018 07:10
Some more bits re the Arizona show.
The Musical Instrument Museum is in north Phoenix on Tatum Boulevard. It is south of the 101, the main beltway around the Phoenix metro area. It's an excellent museum and spoiled me for going to concerts. It's concert hall only seats about 300 or so people and is acoustically perfect. It's like you're in a one-on-one performance with the artist. If you plan to spend some time in the valley while attending the Stones show check the MIM out and maybe a show there. Their website is www.mim.org
If you have time, there are a few things worth driving to if you want a different look at AZ. If you go north on I17, you will be able to tour wine country, a series of vineyards with tasting rooms, etc. These are in the area of Cottonwood, Clarkdale, Camp Verde. There are some very good restaurants in Cottonwood.
Near wine country is Jerome, an experience in itself. It's an old former mining town perched on the top side of a mountain. It was a hippie refuge some years ago, now an arts colony with off beat stores, restaurants, old hippies, etc., and a ukulele band in one of the saloons, I forget which, comprised of town residents and visitors sitting in. The town is on an angle, sort of like streets in San Francisco. The view from the town across the Verde Valley is great. The curving road up the mountain is a ride.
Further north is red rock country and Sedona. Sedona is beautiful, pricey and packed with visitors on weekends. Riding through the area you will see some beautiful landscapes. It's worth it if your chance of visiting the American southwest is only your visit to see the Stones.
Far to the east of Phoenix, out Route 60, is the Apache Trail. It was a trail through the mountains used by the Apaches during their time. It was made into a two lane road for the construction of Roosevelt Dam. It is north of Apache Junction, a development in the far east metro area. The trail starts, on its south side, in Tortilla Flat, a tourist trap if there ever was one, but a rather okay tourist trap. From Tortilla Flat, you drive north up AZ 88. You can use a sedan to do this ride, but a high rise vehicle is better. The trail rises higher as you go north and twists and turns through and around the mountains. You will see canyons unfolding before you, rivers, lakes, views that will take your breath away. A beautiful ride with some of the most scenic parts of AZ. But, there are things to keep in mind. As noted, it's a two lane road unpaved for a good part of its length. It has hairpin turns that will leave you hoping another car isn't about to make the same turn from the other direction. It has rock overhangs that will make you wonder about whether they fall. It has shear rock/mountain dropoffs that plunge a few hundred feet to the river below. It has the ability to make you realize you do have a thing about heights. It will make your passengers scream at you "Keep your eyes on the damn road, would you" when you comment on how beautiful the views are and they're having panic attacks because they never realized how much they feared heights (I've discovered a bottle of Cuervo and some Xanax for the passengers helps keep them under control). But, its well worth the ride and when the trail winds down from the mountain on the north end, you're at Roosevelt Dam and lake. A turn left where 88 meets 188 just past the dam will take you out to the Beeline Highway (Route 87). A left turn onto 87 and you can take it back into the greater Phoenix area. All in all, a nice way to spend a day.
So, when y'all get here, getcha motor runnin', head out on the highway, lookin' for adventure, whatever comes your way.