Loews Ventana with Teenage Boys

We are at a meeting here and our boys, 16 and 17 are on Spring break and will be joining us although they will be on their own quite a bit. We have a car but they can%26#39;t drive because of age.

Can you give suggestions for places they can go without a car in the area to eat, hang out. There is a free hotel shuttle service.

We have two days to hand together and we thought the desert Museum and Sabino canyon would be fun.

Also, rate these Mexican restaurants if you please, we love good Mexican food and Seattle has very few good ones.

Guadalajara Grill, La Poco Casa, Mi Nidito and Las Cazuelitas.

Loews Ventana with Teenage Boys

I lived very close to Loews Ventana Canyon for a year (took a year break from the Phoenix area). Anyway, I had an awesome view of their golf course from my apt patio, so I hope you and your husband get the chance to golf.

If the hotel provides a shuttle, Sabino Canyon is about 5-10 min by car, and well worth seeing. There is a tram that does a loop around (there is a cost, but you%26#39;ll want to get the latest info). You can hop on/off during the loop, and there are several trails around the park.

There%26#39;s a very good Mexican Restaurant down at Kolb/Sunrise (just 3/4 mile from the resort), in the parking lot of the Basha%26#39;s Supermarket (I was just there last year, and it was still there). There are a ton of good Mexican restaurants in the Tucson area, and I%26#39;m sure our Tucson experts will chime in, but some others are Casa Molina (I like the Speedway/Wilmot location), and there%26#39;s a few Macayo%26#39;s. I can be skittish about eating Mexican food in general, as I%26#39;ve had some bad experiences.

The kids may want to explore the U of A campus, if the shuttle will go that far. They do a big carnival thing every year in March (I can%26#39;t remember what it is called), and there%26#39;s many interesting shops on Fourth Ave (but I don%26#39;t know if you%26#39;d want them there...). There is a Fourth Ave street fair where people come to sell various crafts, not exactly sure when it is this year.

I%26#39;d definitely plan a trip to Mt Lemmon, where you climb to elevations that support pine trees. Kartchner Caverns is about 90 min away, as is Bisbee, an old mining town turned artist haven. One of the Tucson experts has a page with links to the activity websites, hope he posts soon.

Loews is kind of off by itself, but I liked that area, very peaceful, lots of wildlife (I regularly saw javalina from my balcony).

Loews Ventana with Teenage Boys

How far will the shuttle take them? If they can get to the nearest bus line (Udall Park - Tanque Verde at Sabino Canyon) then they can get around fairly well. The bus has a bad rep in Tucson, but I rely on it for a commute every day and find it pretty good. You can also check the Sun Tran web site for route info and times: http://suntran.com/

The Fourth Avenue street fair may be going on at that time, although there%26#39;s not much for two teenage boys to do there. Spring Fling (the UA event) was mentioned in the last post, and that%26#39;s not a bad suggestion, although it only goes on one weekend and is at Rillito Downs (1st Ave and River). You could drop them off for hiking, or Loews itself is at the trailhead for the Ventana Canyon trail, one of the better ones in the system, IMHO.

I%26#39;ve heard about how bad the Seattle Mexican food is. My personal opinion: Mi Nidito, Guadalajara, Las Cazuelitas, La Poca Cosa. Keep their respective locations in mind, too: Mi Nidito is on the south side of town and always has a 1+ hour wait for a table (no reservations accepted), La Poca Cosa is Downtown, Guadalajara is closer but will also necessitate reservations, Las Cazuelitas has three locations, two of which are on the near north side of town.

hth

What do your teens like to do?

Because eat/hang-out sounds like a Mall to me. There are two (close and indoor): Park mall and Tucson Mall, that the shuttle may go to. If they like to hike and sightsee, they will love Sabino Canyon which is only 1-2 miles from Lowes and the shuttle will go there. But there%26#39;s nothing within walking distance and the ';Basha%26#39;s (supermarket) stripmall, down the st, where I shop daily, will keep them busy as long as they devote to eating at the Subway.

Perhaps a 1/2 day Jeep Tour?

is this a good investment