Arizona:
Tempe
and Phoenix are nice places to visit and live, if you like golf and the
heat. Scottsdale is a beautiful suburb of Phoenix and has a lot to
offer with its spas, immaculate golf courses and gorgeous resorts.
If lounging is what you want then the Phoenian Spa and Resort is the place
for you. Make sure you save some energy for a hike up Squaw Peak
for some great views of the surrounding area, be warned it is a tough climb.
Downtown Phoenix has definitely come a long way since I lived there, its
new developments like the Arizona Center, Bank One Ballpark and the new
face lift to Central Avenue and its stores as made it a super town to work
and live in. Tempe is my favorite town though and it has a lot to
do with it being a college town with great bars and beautiful coeds;-)
The list of bars and restaurants is endless but here are some of my regular
hangouts. The Vine on Apache is great for cheap beer and awesome
wings and right next door is the Timberlodge with its many beers on tap
and TV trivia. Down on Mill Avenue you can hit Long Wong's (GREAT
wings) and PF Chang's along with a lot of other places. Make sure
you grab a beer at Casey Moore's, the Den and the Thirsty Beaver.
For an early morning wake up call a trip to the Yucca Tap Room is in the
cards. If you are feeling adventurous a houseboating trip to Lake
Powell is well worth the six hour drive north.
Colorado:
Denver
was a great place to live by and it just seems to get better. Denver
has one of the best and most beautiful venues to see a concert, Red Rocks
Amphitheater-GO! If that doesn't work out try and see Opie Gone Bad
play at Herman's Hideaway (say hi to Dana). The bars and restaurants
in LoDo as well as the many sports and cultural attractions make this a
great place to spend time in. The Brown Palace is fabulous hotel
to stay at when visiting. If you have time the park and the zoo are
super places to spend an afternoon. If you have time (whether winter/summer)
a trip to Loveland and Vail is a beautiful drive through the mountains.
Another must is a drive through Golden to see the Coors brewery and a stop
off in Blackhawk to try your luck at the tables in this mining town turned
mini Reno. Boulder one of my favorite cities in the US and was a
great place to live. The mountains, trails and CU campus give you
a ton of things both outdoors and indoors to do. Mountain biking
and hiking/climbing were two of my favorites. Make sure you walk
around on the 6th street mall area to people watch. The Walrus, Walnut
Brewery and the Catacombs are great places to grab a beer. If wine
is your thing then a trip to Trio's is the restaurant to hit. A trip
up Hwy36 to see Estes Park is worth the trip, great drive. It is
an awesome view when you come over the mountain and see the lake in the
valley!
Las Vegas, NV:
Las
Vegas baby, enough said! You can't go wrong with hotels here, spend
what you want. My favorites are Caesar's (a classic), MGM, Luxor
and the Hard Rock with its fabulous pool and scenery. Whether you
like old Vegas or the strip you can count on having all distractions you
can handle. If you do want to venture off the tables, Vegas has some
nice golf courses and a trip to Hoover Dam is actually pretty cool.
If you get a chance play the Desert Inn course and try the roller coaster
at New York New York. Red 25!