> WHEN YOU GO:

Get there: I flew direct on Air Canada to Phoenix. Stay: In Phoenix, I stayed at downtown at Found:Re (foundrehotels.com), near the Roosevelt Row arts centre. In Mesa, I stayed at Marriott’s Residence Inn Phoenix Mesa. Get around: A rental car is your best option.

See: The Desert Botanical Garden in Phoenix (dbg.org) lets you explore a staggering variety of cacti and desert plants on an easy-to-walk loop trail. It’s also a birder’s paradise. I even saw several roadrunners. There are workshops and classes for adults and kids. Dine outside at Gertrude’s restaurant (gertrudesrestaurant.net) and enjoy produce sourced from nearby gardens.

Take a hike: The Wind Cave Trail in Mesa’s east valley offers great views of the Sonoran Desert and a nottoo-challenging climb in Usery Mountain Regional Park (maricopacountyparks.net/park-locator/userymountain-regional-park) to see giant Saguaro cacti close-up — those towering, bent-armed things made famous in Hollywood westerns and Saturday cartoons. It’s about five kilometres out and back.

Eat: Located in a small, former drag club in Phoenix’s Roosevelt Row district, The Dressing Room (conceptuallysocial.squarespace.com/ thedressingroom-menu) is a smallish restaurant with a backyard patio that serves an outstanding Peruvian ceviche salad bowl with citrus-tart fish, toasted maize and sweet potato in a coconut-lime dressing. Mesa neighbour Gilbert has a happening main street with a variety of hip bars and restaurants. Postino East Wine Cafe (postinowinecafe.com/our-story) serves a sizable choice of wines by the glass and has a big selection of bruschetta served on soft focaccia, many of which feature locally sourced food. Do your research: Visit Phoenix (visitphoenix.com) and Visit Mesa (visitmesa.com).