One-of-a-kind sites just off the beaten path in Arizona

Think about Arizona and you probably think of the Grand Canyon, deserts, really hot weather, and maybe of the Hoover Dam and the gunfight at the OK Corral.

But this fascinating state has much more to offer the visitor – things hidden in tiny towns, almost lost in the huge deserts, or buried deep within the frenetic activities in sprawling cities.

After spending a month in the state recently, I suggest that the way to really see and enjoy the myriad points of interest in Arizona is to connect with a local friend or family member, ask about what to do and see, and take off.

I did just that in March to celebrate my wife’s retirement with a visit to our daughter, Barb, and her family in Phoenix. We bought a new set of wheels, left Chicago’s snows and cold behind quickly, and soon were basking in 85-degree temps in what the nation has called “The Grand Canyon State.”

With all due respect to the big gorge, however, we never got close to the place. Nor did we hit the big dam and the OK Corral – all worthy stops.
Arizona is full of Esau friends and family members. So we took full advantage of their enormous knowledge and collective hospitality, plus helpful tour guides and scenic attraction hosts, to see and experience an Arizona that a lot of folks never see.

Our first stop, and the highlight of our trip for me, was a really creative place called the Organ Stop in Mesa, a major Phoenix suburb. It’s just a few minutes from HoHoKam Park, the former Cubs Baseball spring training site.

This truly unique establishment has to be the largest pizza parlor you’ve ever seen. It is hundreds of people eating very good pizza and listening to the Hallelujah Chorus played on the world’s largest Wurlitzer organ while viewing all the instrument’s pipes and parts gyrating and clattering.

How much fun is it to listen to the Handel classic or other favorite music in a pizza parlor. Patrons are encouraged to submit requests to the artist, so I asked him to play “‘Ol Man River,” and a few minutes later he did so.

He played patriotic songs, marches, classical numbers, rag time, jazz, Broadway favorites, and he made the organ sound like a passing train and a brass band. The instrument, purchased from a Denver theater in the 1970s, has been renovated many times and now boasts 6,000 pipes and can make any sound you can imagine. It is the largest Wurlitzer in the world. If you go to Phoenix, go to this place.

Next, check out Arizona’s mountains. Friends in the Tucson area drove us up near the top of Mt. Lemmon in the nearby Catalina Mountains. This took us up higher than 9,000 feet and chilled us with deep snowbanks and a temperature of 40 degrees. Luckily, we brought our jackets.

On a sobering note, our hosts took us to many areas of the mountain range that are now gray wastelands of stumps due to wildfires. The former resort town of Summerhaven on the mountain is slowly replacing burned-out foundations with new homes.

Fast forward to the Arizona Broadway Theatre in Phoenix. After a delicious three-course dinner, we welcomed a 21st century version of Dean Martin and Jerry Lewis. We laughed, reminisced, and immersed ourselves back in the 1950s, when crooner/straight man Martin and crazy comic Lewis entertained America with their popular shticks. The modern Lewis had the same rubber legs and soprano voice, and this time he added something the original Lewis never did: spectacular piano talent.

Speaking of music, we went to the Musical Instrument Museum in Scottsdale, which Tony Bennett calls, “my favorite museum.” This one-of-a kind facility is home to nearly 15,000 instruments and artifacts, showcasing music and culture from every country in the world.

View and listen to presentations by icons such as John Lennon, Elvis Presley, Taylor Swift, Eric Clapton, Roy Orbison, Carlos Santana, and many other artists and celebrities. Attend a traditional Beijing opera, celebrate a contemporary Ukrainian wedding, pulse to the rhythm of Nigerian drums, and soak in the sounds of music from ancient campfires to modern symphony halls.

You think olives are associated only with Europe and the Mediterranean? They also thrive in central Arizona, where long sunny days and cool desert nights provide ideal growing conditions. Not surprisingly, one of the area’s biggest attractions is the Queen Creek Olive Mill, home of extra virgin oils. It is a few miles southeast of Mesa. Take a 30-minute tour to view olive oil processing, taste the variety of flavored oils, and discover the 100-acre olive grove that produces some of the most sought-after oils for discriminating restaurants and palates.

Chicago Cubs fans, if you haven’t heard yet, HoHoKam park in Mesa is now part of Cub history. After 33 years there, the Cubs will move next spring to a new park a short distance away. This new facility will have a stadium reminiscent of historic Wrigley Field, a state-of-the-art team clubhouse, a cluster of top-notch baseball practice fields, pristine youth soccer fields, and a sparkling public lake. It has been under construction for several months already. We saw the last Cub game played at the field, and it sparked an interesting question – how far is the pitcher’s mound raised above the field in Major League Baseball? Answer below.

For you wild west history buffs, there was historic Florence, not far from Queen Creek, southeast of Mesa. Here, you’ll view preserved 1870s old west buildings, read about the infamous shootout between the town’s top two lawmen, and discover that the tiny settlement was home to one of the 600 prisoner-of-war camps built throughout the nation by the federal government to house German and Italian POWs in World War II.

Like to imagine ancient history with the world’s geologic experts? Stop at the Meteorite Crater just off I-40 a few miles east of Flagstaff. This 700-foot deep, 4,000-foot wide hole in the ground is where historians say a giant meteorite collided with earth about 50,000 years ago. (Historians at the visitor center assured me they have carefully measured the evidence and have the time right.) The site is now the scene of scientific research and was a training ground for Apollo astronauts. An animated video depicts what the collision was probably like.

Arizona – home of the Grand Canyon, and a lot more.

On the way home – in our car instead of an airplane – we had a chance for one more memorable stop. It was in Oklahoma City, at the National Memorial and Museum on the site of the bombing of the Alfred P. Murrah federal office building on April 19, 1995. A total of 168 persons, many of them children, died that day, and more than 700 were injured by terrorist bombers.

The outdoor and indoor facilities are beautiful and somber reminders of the tragedy and redemption that took place that day.

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