ON THE MAP
Robert Indiana's Love sculpture
One of the most celebrated works of the Pop Art movement, this iconic sculpture originated in a series of visual poems in 1958 and came to Scottsdale in 2002.
Civic Center Mall
3839 N. Drinkwater Blvd. 480-874-4607
www.scottsdalepublicart.org/collection/love.php
Hotel Valley Ho
Originally opened in 1956, this Scottsdale sister of Phoenix's Westward Ho offers 10 acres of classic mid-century design and upscale resort living.
6850 E. Main St.
480-248-2000
www.hotelvalleyho.com
Old Adobe Mission Church
Made from 6,000 hand-hewn adobe bricks in 1931, this landmark is the original home of Our Lady of Perpetual Help parish.
First Street and Brown
480-947-4331
www.olphaz.com/old_adobe_mission.html
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TIPS
Water Watching
Fans of wet will want to tour the nearly 50-mile-long Arizona Canal, which commences at the Granite Reef dam and flows west through downtown Scottsdale. You can check the progress of the gorgeous SOLERI PLAZA (6433 E. Doubletree Ranch Rd.) and the 115,000-pound stainless steel bridge placed over the newly developed area near FASHION SQUARE (7014 E. Camelback Rd.) with wide walkways and a ton of new bars and restaurants. Farther west, Salt River Project's ARIZONA FALLS (5802 E. Indian School Rd.; www.srpnet.com/water/canals/azfalls.aspx), designed by Boston artists Lajos Heder and Mags Harries, offers the cool and soothing sounds of sheets of flowing water; antique gears used in SRP's original hydroelectric plant, and a pair of aqueducts that give the illusion of being inside a colossal waterfall. Landlovers with a fondness for water may want to cruise INDIAN BEND WASH (between Pima and Scottsdale roads and bordering McKellips and Jackrabbit), which will lead you through many of Scottsdale's prettier parks. Acclaimed as an engineering wonder of the world, this lush, 7½-mile-long greenbelt is one of the nation's best flood-control projects.
Getting Around
No matter where you're headed, there are plenty of on-road options to get you there. In addition to good old-fashioned buses and taxi cabs, Scottsdale's free downtown trolley runs every 15 minutes (11 a.m. to 6 p.m. Monday through Sunday; 11 a.m. to 9 p.m. Thursday; call 480-970-8130) and will take you on a leisurely tour of Old Town, the Main Street and Marshall Way arts districts, and the Fifth Avenue Shops, as well as newer locales like the Waterfront and SouthBridge. Ecocabs can also be had from 10 a.m. until 6 p.m. Wednesday through Sunday, for point-to-point cab service in exchange for a modest tip, from 7 p.m. until 2 in the morning for the safest possible Scottsdale pub crawl. Call 602-435-5284.
Hidden Gems
For off-the-beaten-path fun, drop in at the Ziegler Fiesta Bowl Museum (7135 E. Camelback Rd., 480-350-0900; www.fiestabowl.org) to relive the great moments in college football history. Head out to the Cosanti Foundation (6433 E. Doubletree Ranch Rd., 480-948-6145; www.cosanti.com), a not-for-profit educational organization devoted to the support of some of the desert's most noted architectural and urban planning research (not to mention a great place to buy founder Paolo Soleri's gorgeous copper wind chimes). Too hot to get out of the car, or just tired of desert architecture? Jump onto Exeter Boulevard between 55th Street and Goldwater, for a quick car tour of some outrageous English manors, transplanted here to sunny Scottsdale.
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There's a reason why people who live in Phoenix sometimes fib and claim to live in Scottsdale. Named in 1894 for Army chaplain Winfield Scott, this smallish city is big on style. It's no wonder that folks take long, loving detours through Scottsdale — there's plenty to ogle. We say, start out at Scottsdale Center for the Arts (7380 E. 2nd St., 480-994-2787, www.scottsdaleperformingarts.org), where you can wander the grounds, nip into the lobby to see the gallery show that's on display, and check out the fun stuff for sale in the renovated gallery gift shop. Drop by the Scottsdale Public Library (3839 N. Drinkwater Blvd., 480-312-7323, www.library.scottsdaleaz.gov), with its stunning glass-and-steel underground entry and its cool retro interior. Then, hop into your car and head out for some architectural ogling. Due northwest, you'll find the Phoenician Resort(6000 E. Camelback Rd., 480-423-2530), with its extraordinary mountain backdrop and authentic Native American sculptures. Head north on Hayden through the Scottsdale Nature Park(7011 N. Hayden Rd.), and on into the McCormick Railroad Park(7301 E. Indian Bend Rd., 480-312-2312), a lush and gorgeous play park that's home to a pair of scaled-down, ride-able locomotives for kids of all ages (not to mention a really glam merry-go-round for folks who eschew choo-choos). Keep going toward the Cosanti Foundation (6433 E. Doubletree Ranch Rd., 480-948-6145), home to some of the state's most forward-thinking architecture programs and a whole bunch of really gorgeous copper sculptures and wind chimes, visible from the comfort of your automobile. Contrast this rustic desert architecture with a drive past the new and very urban Safari Drivelive-work community (4725 N. Scottsdale Rd., 480-222-2586), all rusted steel, exposed concrete, and shiny glass. No tour of Scottsdale would be complete without a trip to Frank Lloyd Wright's Taliesin West (12621 N. Frank Lloyd Wright Blvd., 480-860-8810), and we recommend winding things up with a visit to Wright's 125-foot spire wedged at the front of the new and newly prominent Promenade (16427 N. Scottsdale Rd., 480-385-2820), one of Scottsdale's most important shopping and commerce centers — and, like so much of Scottsdale, a real monument to beauty.
