By this time next week, 2019, and the twenty-first century’s wild teen years, will be nothing but a memory.
With a new year, comes new adventures and experiences.
And if you live in Southern Arizona, your options in 2020 are plentiful.
We resolve to try to check the boxes on the following 20 activities in the next year. Call this our 20 for ’20 bucket list, in no particular order.
Float like a butterfly
Ever been told to take a flying leap? We’re taking that invitation literally, but we gotta be honest: The idea of jumping out of a plane? Not so much. But the idea of simulating the skydiving experience? Sounds more our speed.
The folks at SkyVenture Arizona in Eloy give you a quick primer, strap you into the safety gear and let you loose in its vertical wind tunnel that lifts you into the air for a couple precious seconds that will feel like a mini-lifetime. SkyVenture lets you experience what it’s like to skydive complete with the wind velocity and sense of floating on air.
The cost: $50 for adults, $40 for kids ages 3 to 12 for a two-minute package; $80 adults, $70 kids for four minutes. SkyVenture Arizona is at 4900 N. Taylor St. in Eloy. To learn more and make reservations, call 1-520-466-4640 or visit skyventureaz.com
Sentinel Peak Brewing Company is one of the many local brewers featured a the 2020 Tucson Craft Beer Crawl. Tucson has at least two dozen craft breweries, with more on the horizon.
Deep dive into Tucson brewing
We know what you’re thinking: Yeah, right, twist this arm. But Tucson has at least two dozen craft breweries, with more on the horizon — including Wicked Monkey slated to open and begin production by late summer/early fall in Marana. Many are concentrated downtown, but to do the lot justice would take quite the commitment — and some pretty loyal friends willing to be designated drivers.
Which is why we love that some of our favorite Tucson brewers and a few breweries from Phoenix and out of state, are getting together for the 2020 Tucson Craft Beer Crawl on Feb. 15. Ten downtown-area venues, including Borderlands and Corbett brewing companies, and Hotel Congress and the AC Hotel by Marriott will host the “crawlers,” who make their way along a hops-rich journey of some of Tucson’s finest craft beers. The cost is $40 for general admission, $70 for VIP and $8 for designated drivers through tucsoncraftbeercrawl.com/tickets.
Before you head to the Tucson Gem, Mineral and Fossil Showcase this year, get a crash course on minerals from Arizona and Mexico at the University of Arizona Gem & Mineral Museum.
A crash course on gems, minerals
Every February, we feel kind of lost when the annual Tucson Gem, Mineral and Fossil Showcase takes over downtown and parts of south Tucson. There’s so much to see and experience and we never know where to start or what not to miss. So we’re heading to the University of Arizona Gem & Mineral Museum at 1600 E. University Blvd. If anyone can give us a crash course on gems and minerals it’s gotta be the UA museum. And our timing couldn’t be more perfect: We’re going to explore the tens of thousands of rare and precious gems and minerals in the museum’s collection before they pack it up and make the move downtown next fall to new digs at the Pima County Courthouse.
The museum is open from 9 a.m. to 5 p.m. Mondays through Thursdays, until 10 p.m. Fridays , from 10 a.m. to 10 p.m. Saturdays and from 1 to 5 p.m. Sundays. Admission, which includes access to the Science Center exhibits, mineral museum and one planetarium show, is $16, $12 for children 4 to 17 and free for children 3 and younger. Seniors and college students are $12 with ID. Details and reservations: uamineralmuseum.com
There are a many places that host open mic nights in Tucson. Among them is Laffs Comedy Caffe, 2900 E. Broadway, Tucson’s oldest comedy club.
Make ‘em laugh
2020 will be the year we do something truly daring: Standup. There are a number of venues that host open mic nights — tucsoncomedy.com has a pretty comprehensive list of clubs, breweries and restaurants with regular events. We’re thinking we’ll probably check out a smaller venue that can hold 50 or less folks. That way if we bomb there will be less witnesses. Maybe if it goes well, we’ll graduate ourselves to a bigger venue. Who knows, maybe we’ll discover that we actually have some tickle-bone talent and we’ll throw our hats into the big arena of local comedy, Laffs Comedy Caffe at 2900 E. Broadway. The club, the city’s oldest and only comedy club which has been around since 1988, turns its stage over to amateurs on Thursday nights. Admission is free. For more information on how to get on the stage, visit laffstucson.com
Country music star Luke Combs is still headlining the rescheduled Country Thunder festival in 2021.
See a country music mega-star
The biggest name in country music, Luke Combs, is heading to Country Thunder in Florence on Friday, April 17 — the second day of the four-day festival that runs April 16-19. Combs is arguably the biggest rising star to grace the Country Thunder stage in more than a decade. The last buzz-worthy, big-name newcomer to stand on that stage in the prison town that’s home to the state’s death row was Carrie Underwood, who headlined the festival in 2006 — a year after she won “American Idol” and set out on a platinum, arena-sellout career that has never slowed down.
Combs didn’t have an “American Idol” win to launch his career; he quietly put out three EPs before getting the attention of Columbia Nashville in 2017. The first single, “Hurricane,” topped the charts in May, two months before Sony released his debut album “This One’s For You.” Like Underwood before him, Combs hasn’t looked back. He’s released two albums and seven singles; all seven topped the charts.
Combs is the icing on the 2020 Country Thunder cake, which is dominated by buzz-worthy newcomers including headliner Kane Brown, Dallas Smith, Ashley McBryde, Russell Dickerson and Filmore. Then there’s perennial crowd favorite bad boy Eric Church, whose closing night concert will undoubtedly sell out. We’re not waiting until the last minute to get tickets ($160 for four-day pass, $75 for single day) through countrythunder.com
The University of Arizona women’s basketball team are 11-0 and nationally ranked going into PAC-12 play against rival Arizona State University.
Cheer on the UA women’s basketball team
The University of Arizona women’s basketball team came of age last season, sweeping the Women’s National Invitation Tournament and selling out McKale Center for the first time in the team’s history. They are 11-0 and nationally ranked — No. 18 — going into PAC-12 play against rival Arizona State University in Tempe on Sunday, Dec. 29. ASU is 9-2 with losses against Purdue and Minnesota. We’re tempted to make the drive to Tempe, but we might just wait until the Sun Devils come to our house on Jan. 24. And we will definitely be there when UA takes on Oregon State Jan. 10 and Oregon Jan. 12. If the team continues on its current trajectory, we might have to spring for a road trip to Vegas for the women’s PAC-12 tournament March 5-8. For homegame tickets, visit arizonawildcats.com
The Society for Creative Anachronism has more than 30,000 members worldwide and 20 separate “kingdoms.” The SCA’s Tucson chapter is known as the Barony of Tir Ysgithr.
Get medieval
You can hone your armored combat skills, create medieval garb or spend the afternoon slinging arrows as a member of the Society for Creative Anachronism, a nonprofit organization that recreates different aspects of medieval Europe.
The SCA has more than 30,000 members worldwide and 20 separate “kingdoms,” including the Kingdom of Atenveldt, which encompasses Arizona.
The SCA’s Tucson chapter, known as the Barony of Tir Ysgithr, is always looking for new members. Watch the group hold battle practice on the southwest corner of Reid Park on Tuesday nights (7 p.m.), then visit btysca.org to learn more on how to join in the fun.
The Chiricahua National Monument offers visitors 8 miles of paved driving and 17 miles of day-use hiking trails, within 11,985 acres.
Walk among giant stone columns
The Tucson area has no shortage of hikes offering majestic views of the city and the nature surrounding it. One a little farther out that we highly recommend is Chiricahua National Monument, located about two hours east of Tucson.
The park offers 8 miles of paved driving and 17 miles of day-use hiking trails, within 11,985 acres. Trails range from easy to strenuous according to the National Park Service, but all offer breathtaking views of the large number of rhyolite rock pinnacles, some that rise hundreds of feet into the air.
The park is open year-round and the visitor center for the park is open from 8:30 a.m. to 4:30 p.m. Admission is free. Directions to the park can be found at nps.gov/chir
Eat lunch inside a larger-than-life steer skull
The famed Longhorn Grill in Amado, south of Tucson, recently reopened for breakfast, lunch and dinner service after years of sitting vacant. The fully redone eatery, which resides in a giant steer skull frame, offers burgers, steaks, sandwiches and salads in a full-on, country and western setting.
The Longhorn has housed many businesses over the years, and has also served as a backdrop for feature films such as, “Alice Doesn’t Live Here Anymore” (1974) and “Boys on the Side,” a 1995 movie starring Drew Barrymore and Whoopi Goldberg. Visit longhorngrillandsaloon.com for more information.
Cover your walls in Tucson art
You can’t throw a paintbrush in this town without hitting a working artist.
Each year, thousands of pieces, from sculptures to fine paintings to low-brow works, are created in the shadows of the Santa Catalinas, then put up for sale, ready to go home with the Tucsonans they most inspire.
The Arts Foundation for Tucson and Southern Arizona has taken the lead on the best way to learn about local artists, with more than 150 artists participating in its open studio tours, held in the fall. You can get a feel for the sheer amount of talent on the tour at ost.artsfoundtucson.org
If you can’t wait for next November, go gallery hopping at the 1st Saturday Art Walk, which runs once a month at art galleries throughout the downtown area. Several art groups are involved, including the Central Tucson Gallery Association (ctgatucson.org).
Blues legend Buddy Guy in 2016
Catch some blues royalty
It’s getting harder to use the term “living legend” when describing the pioneers and trailblazers of the blues music genre.
Many of those who helped shape blues music are no longer with us.
Which is what makes Buddy Guy’s visit to the Rialto Theatre, 318 E. Congress St., on March 14 so special.
At 83 years old, Guy continues to tour, entertaining audiences with his Chicago-style guitar licks and playful delivery.
Tickets for his Tucson show are $58-$100 through the Rialto box office, 740-1000. rialtotheatre.com
The “Crystal Forest” formations at Colossal Cave Mountain Park, 16721 E. Old Spanish Trail.
Go underground
The Tucson area is home to not one, but two, intricate cave systems that are open and accessible to the public: Colossal Cave, located in Colossal Cave Mountain Park on the east end of Vail, and Kartchner Caverns State Park, located further afield, off Highway 90 on the way to Sierra Vista.
Both caves have their advantages.
Colossal Cave is closer and has daily tours that take you on a half-mile journey through chambers filled with stalactites, stalagmites and other distinct formations. Adventurous types can take the cave’s more advanced tours, such as its ladder tours, and wild cave tours, that take participants through unlit, unmarked and rarely seen passageways extending a quarter mile into the earth, according to the Colossal Cave website. The basic tour is $18 general admission and $9 for kids, with discounts available. Advanced tour tickets vary based on skill level. Visit colossalcave.com for more information.
Kartchner Caverns is located within Kartchner Caverns State Park, and features 2.4 miles of passages that are home to, among other attractions, the tallest and most massive column in Arizona, dubbed Kubla Khan, the world’s most extensive formation of brushite moonmilk and one of the world’s largest soda straw stalactites, according to https://azstateparks.com/kartchner
Kartchner offers several different tours on its website. Both Colossal and Kartchner strongly encourage reserving your tours ahead of your visit.
See ‘Hamilton’...finally
Tucson is a little late to the party when it comes to ‘Hamilton,’ but better late than never, we say. If you missed it in New York City or at the Gammage Auditorium at ASU in 2018, Lin-Manuel Miranda’s wildly popular hip-hop tribute to founding father Alexander Hamilton will be coming to Tucson sometime in late 2020 as part of Broadway in Tucson’s 2020-21 season.
Dates and details are still under wraps. Visit broadwayintucson.com for updates.
Renée Fleming will join the TSO on Feb. 6 as part of the Tucson Desert Song Festival.
See some true divas
Tucson Symphony Orchestra is hosting a pair of Met divas during the Tucson Desert Song Festival this year. First up on Jan. 24 is rising Italian soprano Federica Lombardi, who made her Metropolitan Opera debut last January. She joins the TSO, where her fiancé, José Luis Gomez, is music director, to perform Respighi’s “Church Windows.”
Superstar soprano Renée Fleming joins the orchestra Feb. 6 to close out the song festival with an evening of songs by Strauss, Puccini, Björk, Rogers & Hammerstein and others.
For tickets to either, visit tucsonsymphony.org
Expand your culinary horizons
Not many Tucson restaurants serve wild game, but Jonathan’s Cork, that stalwart of fine dining in the Old Pueblo, has a few options among his array of high-grade steaks and lamb chops. We’ve had venison before — deer meat that makes a fine taco filling when mixed with green chiles — but we have yet to try ostrich or buffalo. All three are on the menu, prepared with Chef/owner Jonathan Landeen’s regional twists.
He charbroils, sautées or blackens a leg of venison from Denver ($32) or ostrich, when it’s available, ($42); bison gets a spicy kick from jalepeño bacon wrapped around an 8-ounce filet that he suggests it’s best eaten rare ($42). Call ahead (296-1631) for availability and a reservation, especially on weekends. Jonathan’s Cork is at 6320 E. Tanque Verde Road.
Circus Academy of Tucson students practice aerial skills.
Explore Circus Arts
You don’t have to run away and join the circus to learn how to walk on stilts, juggle or perform aerial acrobatics.
The Circus Academy of Tucson, located at 400 W. Speedway, offers classes on all of those activities, as well as tightrope walking, unicycle riding, and plate and poi spinning, according to the Circus Academy website, circusacademytucson.com
Prices vary per class. Many of the teachers at the academy come from circus programs, and teach with an eye toward safety, according to the website.
Celebrate the grapes
Spring is the time of renewal and fresh starts, and nothing expresses that better than a trip to Willcox for the annual spring wine festival. Over four days May 14-17, Willcox wineries pop the corks on their latest vintages, showcasing an industry that gets stronger with every harvest. More than a dozen wineries are expected to participate when they transform Historic Railroad Park into a giant wine tasting room.
Tickets are $20-$45 in advance at willcoxwinecountry.org, and $25-$55 at the gate.
The long-range weather forecast has it that Mount Lemmon is going to get above average snowfall this winter.
Feel snow on your face
The long-range weather forecast has it that Mount Lemmon is going to get above average snowfall this winter, and it could begin as early as mid-January.
We see a day trip in our future. Take a quick jaunt up Catalina Highway, maybe pitstop for fresh baked goods at the Mount Lemmon Cookie Cabin, play in the snow, have a snowball fight or just take some selfies for Instagram.
It’s about a 90-minute drive, but you’ll want to check the road conditions before you head out. If the snow is bad, they often close the road or require vehicles have chains. Pima County posts road closure information on its website at webcms.pima.gov
Throw axes for sport
We were skeptical at first that this whole ax-throwing thing was just a fad that would fade, but here we are more than a year since Tucson got a trio of ax-throwing “ranges” and no sign yet of it going away. In fact, Splitting Timber, one of three Tucson-area, ax-throwing venues, held the World Axe Throwing Championship, with contestants from all over the world participating, earlier this month.
We resolve that at some point in 2020, we’re going to find out what all the excitement is about. The three Tucson venues — Splitting Timber (splittingtimber.com), 6401 Marana Center Blvd. in the Tucson Premium Outlets; St. Hubert’s Hatchet House (sthubertshatchethouse.com) at 908 W. Prince Road; and AxeHouse (axehousetucson.com), located in the Slaughterhouse at 1102 W. Grant Road —give you safety tips on how to handle an ax, aim and throw. Who knows? We might just like it enough to become regulars.
Reach new heights in a hot air balloon
The thought of floating high above the suburbs as the sun rises, a brisk breeze taking your breath away as you look down on life below is one of the big draws of hopping into a hot air balloon. We mostly see those bright colored balloons in the early morning hours, as the sun rises, and more than a few times we’ve found ourselves wondering aloud what it would be like to be in the basket as the pilot pulled the cord to release more hot air into the balloon.
There are too many hot air balloons in Tucson to mention here, but all of them require reservations.
