Visiting Phoenix

by SeanRamblings on Oct 27, 2009 2:19 PM MST Comment 7 comments

My friend and I are taking a hockey road trip where we visit every NHL arena. Between families and jobs, we cannot visit each arena in a season, so we have attended games at several venues each year. Last year's trip included stops in Montreal, Ottawa and Toronto. Anyway, we are planning on going to Denver and Phoenix for this year's trip, and it looks like we will be in Phoenix on Saturday, January 9th for the game against the New York Islanders. I am excited for the trip, especially since we saw the Coyotes on the road during three straight games in Minnesota, Chicago and Detroit a few years ago. Plus, it has to be much warmer in Phoenix than it was in Montreal last January!

One of the reasons I am writing is I feel like you know the Coyotes better than anyone else. On a practical side, while I have somewhere to stay, I wanted to know if you had any suggestions about places to eat around the arena as well as things to do in Phoenix. Plus, besides the Coyotes website, is there any place to get tickets, perhaps discounted ones?

As for the game and the team, I have chronicled portions of the trip on my blog and plan on continuing to do so this year. However, I'd like to expand my observations about the teams and arena and talk/e-mail with some of the people behind the scenes. Ideally, we'd like to write a book about our experiences, though this may just be an unrealistic dream. In the meantime, we're just enjoying watching hockey and sharing stories of our trip!

Any insight or assistance that you could provide is extremely appreciated.

Thank you,
Sean

Sean's Ramblings

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Phoenix

is a typical large city in that it has the usual mix of art, museums, and other sights. Since the arena is in the West Valley, I’d probably stay over there (probably cheaper hotel rates, too), but it isn’t too difficult to drive to other parts of the city to see things.

If you’re willing to make a 40 minute drive or so, then head on over to the East Valley (Tempe, Scottsdale, and I guess I’ll include Mesa) to check out some pretty good restaurants and some interesting urban villages with shopping and restaurants. Downtown Phoenix has some interesting stuff to see (museums as well as the stadiums for baseball and basketball), too.

I guess I’d do one of the following: Mill Ave (on ASU’s campus, but school is out so you won’t have to fight with us annoying college students) which has some great Irish food at Rula Bula’s; Old Town Scottsdale (Scottsdale Rd.) which has a lot of shopping and restaurants to peruse if you want a relaxing time (or a club scene at night if you prefer) and I’d recommend Sting Ray for sushi; Downtown Phoenix, where you can take in museums and some cool older buildings as well as grab some chicken and waffles on Yuma St (YUUUUUUUUUUUMA).

I hope that at least gives you some direction, depending on what you want to do.

Oh, and if you like golf then you’ll love Phoenix. Tons of courses (especially over here in Scottsdale) and great weather to play it in.

I am Shiva the Destroyer, your harbinger of doom this evening.

by soco on Oct 27, 2009 10:03 PM MST reply actions 0 recs

Thank you!

Soco – Thank you very much for the great suggestions!

by SeanRamblings on Oct 28, 2009 6:11 AM MST up reply actions 0 recs

No problem

if there’s anything more specific you want to know, then just let me know.

I am Shiva the Destroyer, your harbinger of doom this evening.

by soco on Oct 28, 2009 7:10 AM MST up reply actions 0 recs

omg soco!

You just did NOT recommend a trip to Mesa, did you?

LOLO’s Chicken and Waffles has a shop on Thomas and Scottsdale Rd now, where the old Kyoto Bowl use to be by Blockbuster. I know how much the Word YUMA brings you a certain joy, but you’ll have to take it up with LoLo

"If there's nothing wrong with me, maybe there's something wrong with the universe!"

by unnamedDBacksfan on Nov 2, 2009 5:11 PM MST up reply actions 0 recs

Sounds like a great plan!

Wish I had the time to do something similar…

I can’t disagree with any of soco’s points re: the city. Depending on how long you are here, I would definitely plan on eating out for some Mexican/southwest cuisine since it is some of the best in the world. I would most recommend Los Dos Molinos which has a few valley locations (the best is probably South of downtown by about six miles near Baseline and Central). There are also a ton of good local places (Postino, Cibo, Tuck Shop) that are a bit more off the beaten path. If you are going to be in the West Valley (Glendale-area), I highly recommend La Piazza al Forno for homemade, birck-oven pizzas and pastas…it is a fabulous, family-owned restaurant.

As for all things Coyotes, Odie does a good job keeping the site up to date with the latest news and notes, so it’s as good a place as any.

As far as tickets go, just keep an eye on craigslist. There are always some tickets popping up there for a decent discount…

World Ph*cking Champs! That was fun - let's do it again...

by Moridin417 on Oct 30, 2009 12:13 PM MST reply actions 0 recs

Thanks!

We’ll probably be in Phoenix for a few days, which will be plenty of time for both Mexican/southwestern food and great pizza/pasta. I’m getting hungry just thinking about it (and because it’s lunchtime on the East coast)!

Thank you very much for the great suggestions. I’ll also take a look at Craigslist.

by SeanRamblings on Nov 2, 2009 9:57 AM MST reply actions 0 recs

Game tickets

I’m a STH who is always happy to offer visitors tickets at my STH discount prices. Can get you downstairs for $31.25 – $81.25, upstairs $10.25 – $21.25. That’s the actual cost of the ticket and there are no TM fees. Odinmercer can vouch for me that I’m not a ticket agency and there is no markup. It’s all about getting butts in seats in Phoenix.
DM me at http://twitter.com/BuyYotesTix and I’ll be happy to help you out.

by RousselRising on Nov 4, 2009 6:14 PM MST up reply actions 0 recs

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