A definite MUST DO if you happen to be in Phoenix!!! If I lived in Phoenix, I'd be a member and a volunteer!!! :)
After a full day of eating from the day before, I wanted to do a non food outing. My friend suggested the Botanical Garden which was a 30 minute drive from her place in Scottsdale. The parking lot was packed when we arrived at 930am. My friend was shocked at how crowded it was considering the past few times she'd been here, there'd been plenty of parking spots. We eventually found a spot by following a couple who were walking back to their car. FYI parking is free but in cases where the parking lot is completely full you may have to wait it out OR possibly forgo visiting the Garden since the parking lot is the only place to park your car--there aren't any side streets to park on.
As we stood in line to purchase our tickets, surrounded by families with young children, we found out why it was so crazy busy: the Garden was hosting "The Great Pumpkin Festival" which happened to be the same exact weekend we were at the Garden. This Festival offered plenty of activities for families: a hayride; pumpkin carving and decorating; a hay maze; a petting zoo; carnival games; and a free pumpkin for every child under 12. How cute is that!!!
Admission for adults is $18. My friend had a 50% groupon for herself so her ticket was $9. A random guy came up to us and asked if we wanted his extra coupon that he and his family weren't using. I gladly accepted and once we got to the counter, my admission was free AND I also had FREE access to the butterfly exhibit which wasn't included in my friend's groupon deal. However the admissions guy ended up giving us 2 butterfly admission stickers--1 for me and 1 for my friend. Thanks random guy & admissions guy for being nice and generous!!
Off we went to explore the Botanical Garden. My 4 favorite things during my visit:
1) The Chocolate Flower: no joke this is a flower that smells exactly like chocolate; how did I not know about this?!
2) Upon walking further we approached some cacti that were enormously tall; think sequoia tree height (ok I exaggerate, but these cacti were the tallest I've ever seen). I was in awe.
3) The random tidbits and interactive displays that provide useful information as to what you're seeing or the history behind it.
4) The layout of the Garden was easy to follow and made it easy to not really miss anything. Upon entering the Garden there's main trail that loops around, but along the main trail there are 4 sub-trails that will loop you back where you turned off of the main trail. My favorite trail was the "Plants & People of the Sonoran Desert Loop Trail."
The weather was warm but bearable. Bring bottled water, sunglasses, hats, and comfortable shoes since there's hardly any shade and most of the trails are dirt trails. We arrived at 9:30am and managed to see most of the Garden, including the Butterfly exhibit, by 11am.
I absolutely loved visiting this place and wouldn't mind going again especially to the various events they host throughout the year...just another reason to re-visit Phoenix!!! :)