This is the first of a new series we’re calling “Arizona Adventures.” Here’s the concept: As Greg’s retirement approached, I was looking for something we could use to get out of the house more often. I learned of a set of scratch-off cards designed to steer the user to perhaps unconsidered classics or hidden gems in a given region. I chose the Arizona deck of cards over the Phoenix deck to give us slightly farther-afield adventures.
It’s been a week since his official retirement party, so I encouraged him to take the cellophane off the deck and get this party started. We checked out the icons on “The Adventure Key” and pared the choices down to four, opting to stay relatively close to home and keep the first adventure at the lower-cost end.
From there, I fanned out the choices and offered the time-honored “pick a card, any card” method of choosing a destination to kick off our newfound freedom to explore.
Underneath the scratch-off layer, we learned the result was the rather well-known (but not-yet visited by us) Heard Museum in downtown Phoenix. We scanned the cards “Learn more” QR code. As Greg landed on the museum’s website, I quickly popped onto the Maricopa County library website to see if I could save us a few bucks. The library offers culture passes to many Phoenix-area sites. I was thrilled to learn the Heard Museum is among them and the culture pass would save us the $21 senior and $26 adult admission charges! We swung by a branch library on the way downtown and got our pass. (Note: you have to be a library card holder to get the pass).
Arriving at the museum, which is dedicated to the advancement of American Indian art, we snagged a nice parking spot in the free lot and wandered up to the ticket counter where our library pass was welcomed. We stuck our admission stickers to our shirts and sauntered over to the information desk where Eleanor gave her intro spiel and shared a free guide map. From there it was off to explore.
We were both interested in the exhibit telling the story of the boarding schools built in the 19th century to “civilize” Native American children. It told stories of heart-breaking family separations and tales of children and teens who managed to find ways to avoid punishment for celebrating and honoring their traditions.
Per Eleanor’s suggestion, we returned to the information desk at noon to join the guided tour designed to introduce visitors to the museum and the tribes that historically inhabited what is now Arizona and New Mexico. It was a fascinating and eye-opening experience filled with interesting facts about how tribes evolved and adapted over the centuries.
Once the tour was over, it was off to the Courtyard Cafe to enjoy a delicious lunch of southwestern flavors on a beautiful, sun-filled January day.
The plan is to scratch off a card (or two) a week to complete the deck this year. So far, we’re loving the mystery of not knowing where the day will take us. After all … there’s a whole world out there just waiting to be explored; you don’t always have to plan your adventures in advance!
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