Take a break and explore what Arizona has to offer
Head out to explore these spots while the kids are out of school
Some years, spring break is anything but a break for parents. ● Comfortable routines involving school and homework disappear when classes are suspended for a week. Children clamoring for a few days off experience sudden-onset boredom, looking to parents for the cure. Thanks to typically lovely weather, spring ● break is a great time of year to get out of town. Here are some suggestions for every age of kid. Some are easy day trips, others will get you out of town for a weekend or more.
Titan Missile Museum
What: A fortified underground bunker housing a 103-foot-tall Titan II missile and several 3-ton blast doors. Educational value: Docents relate Cold War history while sharing what life was like living and working on the edge of nuclear war.
Entertainment value: It’s a missile! And you might be chosen to “fire” it!
Even kids paying no attention to the lessons will find much to like about being in an underground bunker. They may even want their bedrooms decorated in Cold War chic. Cool fact: The silo has a transparent cover so the satellites of foreign governments can keep an eye on things. Details: 1580 W. Duval Mine Road, Sahuarita. $10.50, $7 for ages 5-12. 520-6257736, www.titanmissilemuseum.org.
Arizona-Sonora Desert Museum
What: If named more accurately, it would be the Arizona-Sonora Desert Zoo Aquarium Botanical Garden Museum. The 97-acre facility offers an excellent representation of the regional flora and fauna.
Educational value: Even if you don’t read the plaques explaining each animal and plant, a lot of knowledge can be absorbed while roaming the exhibits.
Entertainment value: With 106 mammals, 241 birds, 361 reptiles, 122 amphibians, 10,700 fish and 840 arthropods (animals with exoskeletons), there is something cool to see at every turn.
Cool fact: This comprehensive collection of desert life and plants was cofounded by William H. Carr, from New York. He moved to Tucson in 1944 and was stunned how few residents understood the desert. Details: 2021 N. Kinney Road, Tucson. $21.95, $8.95 for ages 3-12. 520-883-2702, desertmuseum.org.
Tombstone
What: The Town Too Tough to Die was notable for the Gunfight at the OK Corral. It’s just as notable today for saloons and gift shops. Educational value: With various groups offering regular shootouts, tourists are exposed more myths and legends than to what life was really like back in the 1880s. Entertainment value: Gun-toting cowboys roam the streets happy to pose for selfies as they slip you a coupon for the next shootout. The stunt shows are a lot of fun, though kids may want to cover their ears.
Cool fact: In spite of the unfortunate incident at the OK Corral, Tombstone was a peaceful town that required visitors to surrender their weapons upon entry.
Details: On State Route 80 about 180 miles southeast of Phoenix. Fees for shows and museums. www.tombstone web.com.
Granite Dells and Watson Lake
What: Exposed bedrock has been smoothed by centuries of wind and rain to form rounded, pillowy formations that lend themselves to hiking.
Educational value: With no visitor center or plaques, it’s up to parents to explain how the unusual landscape was formed.
Here’s a starter: The granite has been dated at 1.4 billion years old, give or take a few million. Entertainment value: Pick a trail and hike around the deep blue waters of Watson Lake. Your kids will want to scramble up the boulders; make sure they do so safely. Cool fact: Keep an eye out for the region’s only rowing crew, that of Tri-City College Prep High School, which practices on Watson Lake.
Details: 928-777-1121, www.prescottaz.gov/recreation-events/recreation -areas/trails.
Mini Time Machine Museum of Miniatures
What: A collection of tiny homes and villages so detailed that it’s easy to think they were built full-scale and miniaturized. Whatever you do, do not call them dollhouses. Educational value: Docents are happy to explain how each miniature was built, but children probably won’t care how artists used stamps as paintings or buttons as tables. They’ll be kids in an eye-candy store.
Entertainment value: Forget images of a stodgy museum. Dramatically lit galleries lead visitors along, though children likely will be drawn to the Enchanted Realm, dominated by a three-faced tree.
Cool fact: Patricia Arnell had collected miniatures since the 1930s. When they took over the home she shared with husband Walter, this museum was built to house and display Arnell’s not-so-miniature collection.
Details: 4455 E. Camp Lowell Drive, Tucson. $9, $6 for ages 4-17. 520-8810606, www.theminitimemachine.org.
Arizona Renaissance Festival
What: Sanitized version of the 16th century populated by those happy to drop hundreds of dollars on clothing that’s been out of season for hundreds of years.
Educational value: None, really, but that’s not a bad thing. Visiting the real 16th century would mean inadequate sewage treatment, early-onset death and a remarkable shortage of giant turkey legs.
Entertainment value: From the puffy, layered costumes to midway games involving arrow-shooting and ax-throwing, the fair nails the type of frivolity the real 16th century wished it had.
Cool fact: While the festival’s signature food was introduced in the 16th century, the New World turkey was largely available only to nobility.
Details: Open weekends through April 2. 12601 U.S. 60, Gold Canyon. $23, $13 for ages 5-12. 520-463-2600, arizona.renfest info.com.
Petrified Forest National Park
Educational value: Guided hikes and other activities abound, including the Junior Ranger program for youngsters.
Entertainment value: Choose one of the trails off the beaten path to see lessexplored areas of the park. The Blue Forest hike, for example, offers amazing views of the Painted Desert.
Cool fact: Just out of sight from visitors is a large pile of petrified wood, each chunk returned by the regretful person who took it. For the sake of preservation, the rocks are placed in the pile since rangers have no idea of their original location.
Details: The park stretches between Interstate 40 and U.S. 180 near Holbrook. $20 per car (good for seven days). 928524-6228, www.nps.gov/pefo.