The Agave Heritage Festival’s Sweet Return

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.

Agave Heritage Festival

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.

Agave Expo

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 morning in 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 already loading assorted 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 art — 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!

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!

February 16, 2022February 16, 2022

Drive-Through Rodeo Parade Museum

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.

– More Tucson, Rodeo, and Parade Info –

La Fiesta de los Vaqueros 2022 will be held February 19-27 (with the parade on February 24).
2020 Parade: Pre-pandemic photos that include many of the same wagons and carriages we saw, except with people in/on them!
2021 Drive-through Parade
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!
Why Tucson has a Rodeo Parade Museum: Basically Part 1 of this post.

While you’re in the South Tucson area…

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!
Mission San Xavier del Bac is about 10 minutes away. Visiting is currently limited. However, it’s a really beautiful 18th-century Spanish Mission style building, and it’s worth checking out the architecture, even if it’s only from the outside.
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.

February 7, 2022March 1, 2022

Why Tucson Has a Rodeo Parade Museum

Rodeo Parade Museum.

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…

– More Tucson Rodeo Info –

Tucson Rodeo history
The Town of Marana and rodeo
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.

October 1, 2021May 23, 2023

Museum Day Picks 2021

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.

Smithsonian visitor center — 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

Lenape specialist Mike Pace demonstrates traditional crafts to young museum-goers. — Mike Pace, interpreter and specialist on Lenape life and culture. Photo via Conner Prairie.

Conner Prairie in Fishers, Indiana

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.

Guitars at Museum of Pop Culture (EMP) in Seattle — Detail of “If VI Was IX: Roots and Branches” guitar sculpture, Museum of Pop Culture, Seattle.

Museum of Pop Culture (MoPOP) in Seattle, Washington

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.
Closed Wednesdays.

Duck pond in Papago Park — Papago Park, Phoenix

5 Arizona Museums

Arizona historical museum - desert cities exhibit — Arizona Heritage Center’s Desert Cities exhibit

Arizona Heritage Center at Papago Park in Tempe

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.

Regular admission $15/adults, $7/youth (ages 7-13).
Closed Sundays and Mondays.

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.

Vintage military plane — Via CAF Airbase Arizona Museum.

CAF Airbase Arizona Flying Museum in East Mesa

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!

Regular admission $15/adults, $5/kids (ages 5-12).
Closed Sundays, Mondays, and Tuesdays.

Lehi AZ canal — Canal near the Mesa Historical Museum.

Mesa Historical Museum in Lehi (North Mesa)

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.

Regular admission $7/adults, $5/youth (ages 6-17).
Closed Sundays, Mondays, and major holidays.

Scottsdale Museum of Contemporary Art (SMoCA) in Old Town Scottsdale

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.

Tempe History Museum Concert — Spooky Kool Band concert at Tempe History Museum.

Tempe History Museum at Rural and Southern in Tempe

Always free (not just on Museum Day)!
Worth checking out if you’re in the neighborhood or going to a concert or lecture there.
They are gradually re-starting performances, including some outside in the Museum courtyard.
Closed Sundays and Mondays.
See their collections online.

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February 24, 2021May 23, 2023

Tohono Chul

Tohono Chul is a nature preserve just north of Tucson. On its 49 acres, you can find art, shops, gardens, a bistro, and lots of paths winding through the desert.

A Desert Corner

The name comes from the words for “desert corner” in the language of the Tohono O’odham (“desert people”), who were the ancestral inhabitants of this region.

I’d heard about this beautiful place from my Master Gardener uncle long before we moved to Tucson. For awhile I thought it was called “Tohono Jewel.” It is a gem of a place, so that fits too.

Phillip and I finally made it in there when my parents and their friends who were visiting from the Midwest decided to spend a day in Tucson.

They drove down from Phoenix and met us at the entrance on a sunny morning in February 2020 – when we were all blissfully unaware what the next 12 months would bring.

Routes to Drive from Phoenix to Tucson

Tohono Chul is actually in a pretty convenient location for people making the trip south from Phoenix.

There are two main ways to get from the Phoenix area to Tucson:

1. I-10 Freeway (“the 10”)

1.5-hour approximate drive time.
Quickest, most direct route.
Tohono Chul is about 15 minutes east of the 10 (exit at Ina Rd.)

2. Highways / Scenic Route (“the back way”)

2.5-hour approximate drive time.
Slower, more interesting route through Florence to State Route 79 then to Copper Corridor Scenic Road (SR 77).
Tohono Chul is just west of SR 77, so this route practically drops you at its front door.

Large sculpture of a horned lizard. — “Regal Horned Lizard” by Dave Stone.

Art in Nature

Even though the sun was out, it was pleasantly chilly when we arrived. Many of the less cold-tolerant plants in the gardens were covered up because of a freeze warning, draped in sheets like furniture in an unused room of a Victorian mansion.

Cactus wren sculpture — Part of “Two Cactus Wrens” sculpture by Mark Rossi.

Of course, plenty of the cactus varieties there are unfazed by frost. For example, no one needs to cover 30-foot-tall saguaros. Which is good. They take care of themselves and tend to outlive us humans.

Which brings me to my favorite plant we saw that day: a friendly-looking crested saguaro! Crested saguaros have a rare mutation that causes them to fan out at top.

vulture sculpture by Kioko Mwitiki — “Standing Life-size Vulture” sculpture by Kioko Mwitiki.

While we didn’t go into any of the galleries, we did see several outdoor animal sculptures woven throughout the gardens, like a life-sized rusted metal vulture (by Kioko Mwitiki) and a much-larger-than-life horned lizard (by Dave Stone).

During the summer, it would be great to spend the morning exploring outdoor trails and then retreat into the galleries during the heat of the day.

There’s an outdoor geology wall that uses rocks from the nearby Santa Catalinas to illustrate the layers of stone under the mountains.

The Desert Living Courtyard showcases several types of gardens you could DIY with plants that grow well here, including a moorish garden and a “barrio garden” that replicates a backyard garden space with art from upcycled materials. For each garden vignette, there’s a list of plants and materials you could use to recreate it.

More Tucson Gems

After Tohono Chul, we ate lunch at the nearly 100-year-old restaurant El Charro. While there is a much closer location in Oro Valley, we opted to go to the original old building in Downtown.

It was the time of year where the Tucson Gem & Mineral Show® happens at the Tucson Convention Center. If you don’t have time for the massive, main show, you can get kind of a sampling at dozens of smaller gem shows that spring up around it.

I knew that we’d be in walking distance of Hotel Tucson City Center, which had its own free, open-to-the public show with 300 vendors selling minerals and fossils on their property.

Before our guests returned to Phoenix, we took a drive around Downtown, stopping for ice cream at HUB.

Everything Changes

I’m extra grateful we happened to go on that day a year ago, just before a certain coronavirus would shut everything down, when 2020’s dumpster fire was only a spark.

After being closed for months, Tohono Chul has reopened 7 days a week with pandemic precautions in place (details below).

Many Downtown Tucson restaurants are open for takeout. El Charro is celebrating its 99th anniversary with a special menu. HUB Ice Cream Parlor has remodeled and now has a walk-up window.

While the main Tucson Gem & Mineral Show® has been canceled for 2021, Hotel Tucson is hosting their own gem show, currently scheduled for April 8-25.

On a more personal note, my parents’ Midwestern friends were getting ready to launch their annual winter visit, when my dad received a cancer diagnosis and found out he would need major surgery right away.

It has all given him – and us – a new perspective.

After coming through his surgery successfully, he made himself a rule to focus on the moment we have now. It’s a good thing to practice.

Treasure your corner of the desert.

– More Tohono Chul info –

Not to be confused with Tucson Botanical Gardens (which is a collection of urban gardens in the middle of town).
Park map.
Current exhibitions (both on the grounds and virtual).
Plant lists to re-create their themed gardens in your own backyard.
Shop online.
There’s a BOGO admission deal in the Tucson Attractions Passport.

Re-opening protocols (as of February 2021):

Instead of buying admission tickets at the Park, you purchase tickets for a specific time online in advance.
Shops and Garden Bistro have reopened with limited capacity.
Masks are required. If you forget yours, you can call from the parking lot and they’ll bring one out to your car.
B.Y.O.B.: bring your own (water) bottle! Drinking fountains are currently off-limits, but there are hands-free water bottle refill stations available.

If you’re not ready to go in person, there are lots of videos and resources to enjoy Tohono Chul @ Home.