Holy moly, it’s been a long time since I’ve done a blog post. I’ve had a really hard time writing about travel when our lives have been put on hold since last March. I still believe we should be sticking close to home until this disease is gone, or better managed than it is today, but I can’t help to daydream about future trips. I’m feeling hopeful that we can start traveling later this year, but until then, I’ll be recapping some trips we took right before our lives changed, starting with our trip out west to Arizona.

Innings Festival

Dan bought us tickets to Innings Fest to see Dave Matthews Band (anyone surprised by that? 😂) for my birthday. Innings Fest is a baseball and music festival, two of my favorite things, in Tempe, Arizona. The festival takes place over two days with bands playing all day and night, and fun baseball activities sprinkled throughout the festival. You can buy a single day pass or a two-day pass. We bought a one day pass because we really only cared about seeing DMB. One thing that we really liked was that we were able to come and go, so once you entered the festival, you could leave if you needed to. We did since it was hot during the day and then chilly at night, and went back to our hotel to change. DMB played a great show and we met some really nice people. Looking back at these pictures I can’t believe how many people were around us, from all over the country, as COVID was quietly brewing. 😱

So easy to come and go as you please
Dan and me waiting for Dave to come on (we found out right before this trip that I was pregnant!)
One of my all time favorite DMB songs “Crush”

Desert Botanical Garden

The day after Innings Fest we went to the Desert Botanical Garden, which was really easy to get to by bus and tram from where we were staying in Tempe. The botanical garden is out in the Sonoran Desert and is filled with all different types of cacti, succulents and other desert plants. The gardens were BEAUTIFUL. We literally spent all day walking along the different trails. There is a restaurant within the gardens where we had lunch. It was a nice break from the desert sun to cool off with a refreshing drink and some food. The food was SO good. Tickets were around $60 for two adults and there was no time limit for our stay (keep in mind this was prior to covid).

Cacti wall
Prickly little guys
Love how vibrant this one is

Where to Stay

We stayed in Tempe at The Graduate Hotel. We were familiar with the hotel because there is one in Providence, RI and the festival was running a deal with local hotels, so we got a discounted rate because we were attending the festival. We loved the vibe of the hotel and liked that it was right across the street from ASU. We were in walking distance to the festival and downtown Tempe, which has many restaurants, bars and shops.

Loved our room with the American flag blankets
The decor was 👌🏻

Arizona was a pleasant surprise. We didn’t think we’d like it as much as we did, if I’m being honest. We talk about going back and Dan even talks about moving there. 😂 I’ll be rounding up places we ate at in another post, but we actually kept to a few of the same places (I blame me being pregnant), and I’ll break down some local breweries we hit up!

As always, thanks for reading and following along on our adventures. I hope everyone is staying safe and healthy.

-Steph, xx

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