Agave has been cultivated in the Tucson area for hundreds of years.
While tequila might be the most widely known product made from agave (a.k.a. the century plant or maguey), it’s certainly not the only one! Different species of the plant are distilled into different spirits, collectively called mezcal.
Native peoples would also use agave to make food, medicine, and even rope. They developed farming techniques to maximize the plant’s adaptability and drought-resistant qualities, so they could grow it where other crops wouldn’t thrive.
Mural of Mayahuel, the agave goddess, by Rock ‘‘CYFI’’ Martinez.
The annual Agave Heritage Festival in Tucson celebrates the plant’s natural and cultural significance. It includes special agave-centered menus at local restaurants, gardening demonstrations, concerts, lectures, mezcal tasting events, hikes to ancient agave roasting pit sites, and a re-creation of the traditional way agave hearts were cooked underground.
After the spring 2020 festival was canceled and last year’s was replaced by a monthly series of virtual talks and DIY tastings, the Agave Heritage Festival made a joyful return this past May!
It has come back as a more compact, focused four days of events – in contrast to the week (or more) it stretched out pre-pandemic.
Following right on its heels was the first annual Pueblos del Maíz Fiesta. The kickoff event for both festivals was a concert by multiple Grammy Award winning Mexican-American singer and activist Lila Downs.
One of this year’s events was the Agave Expo, which included panels, vendors, tables for organizations doing conservation work in Southern Arizona, and a plant sale. It was held on a beautiful morningin Mission Garden, a collection of demonstration gardens where a 17th-century Spanish mission once stood.
Feed the Bats
I arrived right before the first talk of the day, parking next to a woman who was alreadyloadingassorted agave purchases into her car.
“Pollination Nations” was a discussion about agave, bats, and ecology on both sides of the border.
Nectar-eating bats cross-pollinate agaves’ nighttime blooms, creating the genetic diversity essential for the plants’ long-term survival. However, agave planted for human consumption is prevented from blooming. Recent large-scale agricultural methods have lead to hungry bats and a monoculture crop that’s susceptible to disease.
The Bat Friendly project promotes more sustainable practices, encouraging growers to let 5% of the agaves they plant to live out their natural bloom cycle and allow bat pollination. Following their guidelines earns mezcal producers a special Bat Friendly™ label, as well as helping to ensure the continuation of their industry.
The panel discussing these topics was made up of experts from Bat Conservation International, Borderlands Restoration Network, and Sonora Silvestre, as well as mezcal-makers from Bacanora Batuq and Mezcal Zincantan. It was moderated by Jesús García, Research Associate at the Arizona-Sonora Desert Museum and Co-Chair of the non-profit Friends of Tucson’s Birthplace (FOTB).
(Incidentally, Moderator Jesús had returned from a trip to Mexico just in time for the Lila Downs kickoff concert and gave it rave reviews!)
On the Table
Afterwards, I wandered over to the ramada where raspados (snow cones) were being served in hollowed out half lemon peels, in exchange for donations to the garden.
They had three different flavors made from garden produce, and I was not prepared for that kind of decision making. I was especially torn between the refreshing sounding lime-mint flavor and the artisanal agave syrup, which seemed like the most fitting choice for the occasion. Then the volunteer scooping the crushed ice suggested I have both. Sold.
Sprinkled throughout the garden were informational tables and artist booths, including Found Design Sculptures by Leonard Ramirez and Cold Goose Pottery by Judy Ganz.
Found Design Sculptures by Leonard Ramirez
Tucson Audubon Society was there with resources. They were especially highlighting their Habitat at Home program, which shares ways to support birds and other pollinators from your house. One thing they suggest here in Southern Arizona is to leave your hummingbird feeder out on summer nights, because bats might stop by for a drink!
Chocolate Ritual
Before I left, I made a final stop at the Chocolate Ritual booth to pick up some of their mezcal-infused chocolate truffles. They create their chocolates to have a taste that pairs well with either mezcal or coffee. The “ritual” is as simple as sipping your preferred beverage in between bites of chocolate and savoring the combination. It’s a practice I can definitely get behind.
Another agave goddess mural by Rock ‘‘CYFI’’ Martinez!
When the Tucson Rodeo Parade Committee realized they’d have to cancel the 2021 parade, they came up with a creative alternative to the usual crowded streets and packed grandstands – they’d turn the parade inside out!
Wagons and buggies would be pulled out of the Rodeo Parade Musuem and set up along a winding route through the rodeo grounds in South Tucson. For one day, you could drive through it, passing by the floats and entertainment that would normally be passing you by.
In lieu of charging admission, they’d accept donations for Casa de los Niños, a local organization that promotes children’s wellbeing by supporting families. You could drop off school supplies for them in a rodeo bucking chute set up in the Museum parking lot.
We tied a bandanna on Quijote and headed to the rodeo grounds to check it out.
When we arrived, cars were backed up from the entrance, up one side of the street, curled around the dead end, and down the other side. We inched forward, idling in front of a tortilla factory.
Once we were through the front gate, we caught a glimpse of 5 beautiful black draft horses taking a snack break. Apparently, these are Shire horses, a breed that’s supposed to be from Britain, but I suspect may have actually originated in Middle Earth.
Some of the horse-drawn wagons along our route were decorated by local businesses who were sponsoring the event.
Others had been used by early Tucson firefighters and police, and still others were used for ranching, mining, or making deliveries. We even passed a replica of a steam calliope and an old circus wagon with rodeo scenes painted on the side.
We continued on to see the Modelos y Charros de Arizona, a non-profit group dedicated to preserving their Mexican heritage.
The Modelos (models) were wearing super-sized versions of their trademark Mexican folklorico dresses. Since this would probably be the one year they wouldn’t need to be able to actually walk in their embellished hoop skirts, they could really go next level.
They were interspersed with Charros (distinctively-dressed riders of Mexican rodeo – or charrería) demonstrating trick roping.
Also showing off their roping skills were members of the Tucson Arizona Boys Chorus, who swung lassos while recordings played from past choir performances.
High school folklorico dancers performed in front of closed ticket windows.
We drove through a section of wagons from movies and television.
A lot of classic westerns were filmed at Old Tucson Studios and on location in Southern Arizona. The Rodeo Parade Museum often provided antique vehicles for their shoots, like fringe-topped surreys (carriages) for the movie Oklahoma. Or the simple buckboard wagon that retired from working on a farm and went on to appear in the TV series High Chaparral and the film McLintock!
Farther down, the band Gertie and the T.O.Boyz played their signature Waila (old time dance music) tunes.
The final section was devoted to wagons made by F. Ronstadt Wagon Works, founded by Linda Ronstadt’s grandfather.
After that, we exited the west gate and went to get lunch. The band kept playing, the draft horses’ tails flicked away flies. But, like those antique wagons, we were history.
For more on charreada, “Mexico’s original rodeo,” check out this Q+A with painter Edgar Sotelo. (He also explains the difference between a charro and a vaquero.)
Wild Ride: The History and Lore of Rodeo by Joel H. Bernstein: Book they gave away copies of at the drive-through event and a great resource about rodeo history!
Visit the Rodeo Parade Musuem at 4823 S. 6th Avenue, Tucson. It’s open Thursdays through Saturdays. Admission is $10/adults, $2/children.
Alejandro’s Tortilla Factory storefront is located at 5330 S. 12th Avenue, Tucson. You can buy freshly made tortillas and chips and/or order breakfast or lunch from La Cocina Lorena (menu).
You’ll be in the heart of the Best 23 Miles of Mexican Food (north of the border, of course). Nearby 12th Avenue is full of places to get Sonoran hot dogs, tacos, birria, and all kinds of deliciousness!
We picked up food at BK Carne Asada + Hot Dogs after the Rodeo Parade Drive-through. Both the carne asada and the Sonoran dog were excellent!
South Tucson is also known for its abundant murals and mosaics, so keep your eyes open!
The San Xavier Co-op Farm is a cooperative of Tohono O’odham landowners growing traditional crops. They sell honey, dried beans, mesquite flour, and other products in their farm store at 8100 Oidak Wog, Tucson. It’s closed Sundays and Mondays.
The phrase made me pause the first time I heard it, as I tried to make sense of those words together as a unit. I wasn’t aware that rodeos had parades or that parades had museums – until I moved to Tucson.
Rodeo
Officially known as “La Fiesta de los Vaqueros,” Tucson’s Rodeo takes place for nine days in late February. It’s a big enough deal that schools take off the Thursday and Friday of Rodeo Week. There are roping and riding competitions, a large parade, kids’ events, barn dances, a rodeo clinic that’s also a fundraiser for local breast cancer patients, and something called “cowboy church.”
La Fiesta de los Vaqueros was first held in 1925, as a way to preserve Tucson’s cowboy-era culture, while also bringing in tourist dollars.
The idea came from winter visitor and Arizona Polo Associaton president Frederick Leighton Kramer. He met with local business owners, cattlemen, and probably some of his polo buddies to organize the inaugural Tucson Rodeo, which they held at a polo field near his house.
Parade
Before the competitions began, however, there was a 300-person parade down Congress Street. Among the participants were ranchers, U.S. Army bands from the Buffalo Soldier 10th Cavalry and 25th Infantry Regiments, Leighton Kramer’s polo players, and artist/cowboy/part-time Tucson resident Lone Wolf in the impressive regalia of his Blackfeet tribe.
Now considered the longest non-motorized parade in the U.S. (possibly the world), the 2.5-mile long procession of horses, carriages, bands, folk dancers, and decorated wagons continues to be a part of La Fiesta de los Vaqueros tradition. In past years, it has attracted around 200,000 spectators.
Museum
When the historic vehicles are not on parade, they reside in the Tucson Rodeo Parade Musuem on the west side of the current rodeo grounds in South Tucson. Specifically, they’re exhibited in a couple barns and a hangar that’s a holdover from the property’s previous days as an early municipal airport.
After the first Tucson Rodeo Parade, the museum started collecting horse-drawn vehicles and restoring them. In some cases, families donated carriages that they no longer used after switching to automobiles.
In 2021, many of these wagons and buggies were put on display outside of the museum for a special event (which is where most of these photos were taken), but that is a story for another day…
As far as I can tell, “Rodeo Week” in Tucson refers to the 5-day workweek in the middle of the festival. The Rodeo also includes the weekend before and after that, making the whole thing 9 days.
La Fiesta de los Vaqueros is one of the top 25 professional rodeos in the U.S.
Professional rodeos are the ones where the competitors do rodeo full-time (like professional ball players). There are also regional amateur rodeo circuits for people who just want to compete on weekends.
I learned about Tucson schools observing “Rodeo Break” or “Rodeo Vacation” from a friend who grew up here. He always had those days off – and he never went to the rodeo.
Smithsonian magazine has an annual tradition of celebrating Museum Day, and many museums across the U.S. join in by offering free admission that day.
Visitor center for Smithsonian museums in D.C.
I had planned to tell you – before Museum Day – about a few participating museums I’ve visited in the past. But life is weird right now and I’ve pretty much lost all sense of time, so September 18 came and went before I realized I hadn’t posted this yet. I’m still going to tell you about those museums, though. There’s one in Indiana, one in Washington, and five in Arizona. While I posted a similar list ahead of Museum Day a couple years ago, a lot of those museums weren’t participating this year. So, on to the new list!
2 Museums I’ve Visited While Traveling
Mike Pace, interpreter and specialist on Lenape life and culture. Photo via Conner Prairie.
This is a living history museum that I loved visiting as a kid! I remember candle-dipping demonstrations and sitting in on a lesson in an old-timey one-room schoolhouse. They’ve added a lot of things since the last time I was there (many years ago), like make-and-take craft activities, a balloon ride, and the Lenape Indian Camp, which explores what life was like for members of the Lenape (a.k.a. Delaware) tribe in 1816 Indiana.
Regular admission $20/adults, $15/youth (ages 2-12). $2 off when you purchase tickets online.
Closed Mondays.
Storytelling series: Thursday – Sunday evenings, September 16 – October 2. Hear about Indiana’s early history from expert storytellers, including former assistant chief of the Lenape tribe Mike Pace, who helped create the Lenape Indian Camp experience. Separate admission required for the event series: $10/adult, $6/youth.
Prairie Pursuits: various dates. Workshops on traditional skills for teens and adults. Upcoming class topics include blacksmithing, woodworking, cooking, and pottery.
Detail of “If VI Was IX: Roots and Branches” guitar sculpture, Museum of Pop Culture, Seattle.
The museum formerly known as the Experience Music Project (EMP) has an atrium devoted to constantly-playing music videos (“Sky Church”), a towering guitar sculpture (“If VI Was IX: Roots and Branches”), and galleries for Seattle legends like Jimi Hendrix and Nirvana, as well as exhibitions on sci-fi, video games, and fantasy genre archetypes. Housed within a striking building designed by Frank O. Gehry, MoPOP is located at Seattle Center, near the Space Needle.
Admission prices vary, depending on factors like when you’re going and how far in advance you purchase tickets.
An eclectic history of life in Arizona. On display are objects as varied as vintage vehicles, rock and mineral samples, maps, and re-creations of notable Arizonans’ homes and offices. There’s a new temporary exhibition (“Still Marching: From Suffrage to #MeToo”) on how Arizona women have worked to drive social change over the past century.
The permanent collection is grouped into themed rooms, like…
The People: Not only will you learn about the diverse groups that populated the Old West, but you can also read testimonies of people who saw the Phoenix Lights in 1997 and either did or didn’t believe they were UFOs.
WWII: Takes you inside a military barracks, Japanese internment camp, and a POW camp. Dark corners that should not be forgotten.
Desert Cities: Probably the most nostalgia-inducing area for those of us who grew up in Arizona, It focuses on the cultural changes in the Phoenix metro area during its post-WWII boom and includes an exhibit on local children’s t.v. show Wallace and Lladmo and an iconic statue from Bob’s Big Boy restaurant chain.
30,000 square feet of exhibition space devoted to the history of combat aircraft, plus a working maintenance hangar and active aircraft ramp. Located at Falcon Field Airport in Mesa, this is my pick for enthusiasts of old military planes and memorabilia. In other words, if you’re my grandpa, this is the museum for you!
The Mesa Historical Museum is housed in what was originally a school, built in 1913 in the very oldest part of the City of Mesa as we now know it. There is a replica of the one-room adobe schoolhouse that came before it, antique farm equipment and other artifacts from the area, and a couple rotating exhibits.
SMoCA is an art and event space with a permanent collection and exhibitions in the areas of contemporary art, architecture, and design. It’s part of Scottsdale Civic Center, along with Scottsdale Center for the Performing Arts, City Hall, Civic Center Library, and a bunch of restaurants and bars centered around a 21-acre park.
Closed Mondays, Tuesdays, and major holidays.
Regular admission is $10/adults, free for anyone 18 and younger.
Pay-What-You-Wish admission on Thursdays and the second Saturday of each month.
Timed-entry reservations are now required for all admissions – even free tickets.
This summer travel season promises to be a bit wild, as restrictions are lifted and people rush to the places they’ve been longing to go. Although the availability of vaccines has made us collectively safer, the pandemic isn’t over.
With hotels preparing to meet this pent-up demand, what COVID precautions are they continuing to take? Which 2020 policies will become permanent? And what changes should you expect when you return to travel?
Hotel responses to the onset of the pandemic were all over the place. However, as I researched these properties’ current policies, they actually had a lot in common.
Of course, specifics can vary from brand to brand or location to location, but this is an overview of what I’m seeing within the North American hospitality industry now.
The lenient booking policies of last year are as passé as hoarding toilet paper. Before reserving a room, check the fine print for fees and cancellation deadlines.
Hotel brands with loyalty points programs are allowing members to stay at their pre-pandemic membership level / status longer and have extended expiration dates for previously-earned points. If you’re still not going to be able to use your points, consider donating them to a charity – perhaps one that helps those affected by COVID-19.
Depending on the individual location, food service (including restaurants, room service, catered meetings, and free breakfast) may be modified or off the table altogether.
Some hotels have canned their breakfast buffets, opting to instead offer pre-plated or pre-packaged breakfast items.
A surprising number of unrelated brands call their pre-packaged breakfast offering “Grab & Go.” I don’t know why there doesn’t seem to be another name for it. I’m thinking Continental Carry Out. Or Buffet Take Away. Eat on Your Feet. Dish & Dash. Serve & Scram. Or just a straightforward Get It & Get Outta Here.
7. The housekeeping team is doing more – but you may see them less.
Training on new protocols.
More thorough room cleaning in between guests.
Little to no room cleaning during your stay. Housekeeping services may be by-request only. They may leave replacement linens and amenities outside your door.
The most frequented areas of the hotel are basically bathed in virus-killing chemicals. In some cases, this means hospital-grade disinfectant or technologies like overnight electrostatic fogging.
So, even if they’re not coming to make your bed every day, they’re working harder than ever. Tip generously!
8. Hotels are down with PPE.
Employees are provided – and required to wear – gloves, masks, and other personal protective equipment.
Face covering policies for guests defer to the “guidance of local authorities.” Since the CDC updated their mask recommendations, some U.S. properties have eased up on requirements for fully vaccinated guests.
Only two of them responded – neither of which provided details. Perhaps, it all still feels too uncertain and nebulous to say “THIS is what we’re doing.” Or maybe they’re just swamped since things are reopening.
Regardless, I did my own research. Below are any noteworthy updates or ways these brands differ from the pack’s policies.
Some of their brands: BW Premier Collection, Glō, Vīb.
A very nice Best Western PR person responded right away to my inquiry about the company’s COVID policies in 2021, saying she’d try to find answers for me. And then I never heard from her again.
Is it because it of the article where I questioned their policy of not entering guest rooms for 24 to 72 hours after check-out? And referred to the “potential guest grossness”* left for days before being cleaned? I was really just looking for a clarification.
[*By “guest grossness,” I’m thinking of messes people make that do not age well. What if someone leaves behind half-eaten takeout? Or dirty diapers? Or clogs the toilet? Or spills red wine? Or vomits on something? What if someone dies in their room? Does no one know until 1-3 days after the deceased was supposed to have left? I mean, in a way, they did depart. Would that be the ultimate late checkout?]
Vintage sign at Casa de Coronado, Yuma, AZ
Checking In: Accessing the Mobile Concierge platform via Best Western’s site allows you to communicate with the hotel before you arrive, at check-in, and during your stay. There’s no app download required.
COVID-19 Outreach: You can donate points to Project C.U.R.E., which supports frontline workers fighting COVID-19.
Some of their brands: Ascend, Comfort, EconoLodge, Quality Inn, Rodeway Inn, Sleep Inn.
Guest Rooms: If you’re staying awhile, you can expect housekeeping after every third night. Otherwise, you’ll need to specifically request it.
COVID-19 Outreach: Choice Hotels is currently matching rewards points donations to “Stay Home, Send Beds,” a program that provides beds to hospitals facing shortages.
Reservations + Cancellations: Although cancellation penalties are no longer waived, they do recommend you call Guest Reservations (800-899-9841) if you need to make a change in your reservation.
COVID-19 Outreach: They participated in the American Hospitality and Lodging Association’s (AHLA) Hospitality for Hope program. This helps the hotel industry connect with health workers struggling to find housing during COVID-19.
Some of their brands: DoubleTree, Embassy Suites, Hampton, Homewood Suites, Waldorf Astoria.
Checking In/Out: Loyalty program members can use the Hilton Honors app for contactless check-in and -out with Digital Key at an increasing number of properties.
Guest Rooms:
After a room is thoroughly cleaned, the housekeeping inspector verifies the room meets the standards of Hilton’s new CleanStay program.
A CleanStay Room Seal is then stuck from the front of the door to the door jamb to show that a room has not been accessed since it was cleaned.
Some of their brands: Candlewood Suites, Crowne Plaza, Holiday Inn, Hotel Indigo, InterContinental, Kimpton, Staybridge Suites.
IHG was the only other brand to reply to my inquiry.
Their statement: “We continue to evaluate updated guidance from health authorities and governments around the world and adjust our policies as appropriate and necessary.”
So. No new information there. But at least they wrote back.
Checking In/Out: Reduced contact via their app.
COVID-19 Outreach:
Partner to #FirstRespondersFirst, providing free accommodation across the U.S. for frontline COVID-19 workers and access to a dedicated VIP reservation service to match local needs with nearby hotels.
Supporting food banks through funding, donating excess food, and assisting with deliveries.
Some of their brands: AC Hotels, Aloft Hotels, Courtyard, Fairfield, Four Points, Renaissance Hotels, The Ritz-Carlton, Sheraton Hotels and Resort, W Hotels, Westin Hotels.
Checking In:
Web check-in available for less contact. You’ll get a notification when your room is ready but still need to stop by front desk to pick up keys and swipe your credit card.
Marriott Bonvoy members can use the Marriott Mobile App to check in, order room service and other amenities, and chat with associates. In many hotels, members can use the app to access their rooms (instead of a physical key)!
Common Areas: Using air purifying systems that are effective against viruses in the air and on surfaces.
Some of their brands: Days Inn, Howard Johnson’s, La Quinta Inns & Suites, Ramada, Super 8, Travelodge.
Checking In: Mobile check-in/out available at select hotels through the Wyndham Hotels & Resorts app.
Guest Rooms: More thorough cleaning and disinfecting in guest rooms between stays — with a recommended 24–72 hour rest period between guests checking out and new guests checking in.
COVID-19 Outreach:Everyday Heroes Complimentary GOLD membership upgrade for Wyndham Rewards Members who are essential workers has been extended through June 30, 2021. If you’re not a member, you can sign up for free.
Meetings!
Are you ready for summer travel? What are your plans?
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The permanent collection is grouped into themed rooms, like…
