Scottsdale and Phoenix, Arizona
Scottsdale, Arizona has the cutest nickname: “The West’s Most Western Town.”
When you walk down its charming streets, peering into shops selling Native American artwork, prickly pear candy, and Pendleton blankets, you can’t help but feel like you’re halfway to being a cowgirl yourself.
During our Labor Day weekend trip to Arizona, Matt and I spent an afternoon wandering through Old Town Scottsdale, popping our heads into art galleries and admiring turquoise necklaces for sale at each boutique.
As the afternoon faded, we turned our sights a bit further south, to Phoenix, where we purchased two tickets to the Desert Botanical Gardens just as the sun started to dip below the horizon.
Normally, I wouldn’t include a botanic garden if I only had half a day to explore a city. The Desert Botanical Gardens of Phoenix, however, are a completely unique, can’t-miss experience, especially if you’re new to the southwest and keen on familiarizing yourself with its wildlife. These gardens boast over 50,000 species of desert plants distinctive to the Sonoran Desert: towering saguaro cacti, flowering succulents, and aromatic wildflowers.
Because we entered the gardens just before sunset, we had the complex almost completely to ourselves.
As we weaved in and out of the walkways, it was so peaceful to be alone with the desert. We really took our time exploring each area of the gardens, which became wilder and less curated as we ventured further into the park.
Just as the sun started to dip beneath the red rocks of Papago Buttes, we reached the highest hill inside the park and sat on a bench to watch the sun streak the sky with oranges and pinks.
As we descended back onto the path, the saguaro cacti, now shady specters against the sunset, loomed over us, creating the illusion that we were being watched. It was truthfully a bit spooky (and we may or may not have power-walked our way back to the visitor’s center).
After perusing the gift store for cactus memorabilia, we headed back north to our resort in Carefree, stopping first for dinner at El Encanto, an Old-World Mission-style restaurant my dad highly recommended.
And he was totally right! Not only is Mexican food especially satisfying after a long day of adventuring, but this place had the atmosphere to beat. Nestled in Cave Creek, El Encanto is the perfect cantina to grab a margarita under the stars on their lively outdoor patio. We settled into our meal next to the duck pond at the center of the restaurant and enjoyed the chatter of the other patrons against a backdrop of a lone guitarist before calling it a night.
