Where to Find Street Art in Phoenix

By now I'm sure it comes as no surprise that I'm a BIG fan of street art. 

I'm also a big fan of traveling. 

So when I come across fun street art while on vacation I'm in heaven! Nothing like combining two of your favorite things, right?

Our recent trip to Phoenix, Arizona over Spring Break turned out to be one such trip. I already knew that Phoenix was home to some pretty great street art, but I was not prepared for just how much of it there would be. Spoiler alert... Phoenix has a LOT of street art!

Today I'm sharing some of my favorite street art finds from our time in Phoenix. 

There's a lot of great street art to be found all throughout Phoenix, and taking a drive or walk in ay direction is sure to lead you to some colorful walls. It was pretty hot already when we visited Phoenix over Spring Break and it's a pretty sprawled city, so before we headed out for the day I did a little research online and found particular murals and areas I wanted to go check out. Usually I'm more of a "wander around and see what we find" kind of girl, but I'm also not a fan of heat, so being prepared made things a lot easier.

Here are some of the must see murals around Phoenix...

Desert Botanical Garden in Phoenix, Arizona

When you think of a desert what springs to mind? 

For most of us sand and cacti are probably the first two things we think of. But what about colorful flowers, trees and bushes? What about swathes of lush, green plant life? These may not be what comes to mind when we think of deserts, but there is a wealth of plant life that thrives in desert conditions and it can be all of these things. 

During our recent Spring Break we took a road trip to Phoenix, Arizona to visit friends. While we were there we spent half a day exploring Desert Botanical Gardens and it was absolutely stunning. A desert botanical garden may sound like a bit of an oxymoron, but trust me, this is one botanical garden that will blow you away.

Now, you're probably looking at that photo below and thinking "Hey, that looks like glass". And you'd be right! Desert Botanical Garden is currently home to "Chihuly in the Desert" an exhibition by famed glass artist Dale Chihuly. Chihuly's glass sculptures can be found dotted around the gardens where their organic shapes add an extra touch of whimsy to an already magical landscape. What I love about this exhibition is that the striking glass sculptures add to the landscape without taking away from the natural beauty. They work so perfectly in unison. 

Desert Botanical Garden is quite large with over 50,000 outdoor plant displays spread over 55 acres. Visitors will also find a butterfly pavilion, an onsite restaurant and café, several learning centers and exhibition spaces, and of course, a gift shop. Restrooms and hydration stations are also dotted around the gardens. It gets pretty hot in Arizona (it was already in the 90s when we visited in March) so you'll definitely want to make use of those hydration stations!

The gardens are wheelchair and stroller accessible with wide trails winding through the different areas. The trails vary in length from 1/10 mile to 1/3 mile with each focusing on a particular theme including desert wildflowers, plants and people of the Sonoran Desert and the Sonoran Desert Nature Loop. I took so many photos during our visit that I can't remember which ones are from which trail, but believe me when I say that all of the trails are worth walking. My photos will be a little mixed up, but if you really want to know which trail a particular photo was taken on let me know and I'll try to work it out.

Ok, let's take a look around Desert Botanical Garden...

Hoover Dam

One last post from our Spring Break trip...

Our last stop during our Spring Break trip back in April was Hoover Dam. Admittedly, we hadn't actually planned to visit Hoover Dam until I noticed that it was on our drive back to Las Vegas from the Grand Canyon. We knew that the kids would love to visit such an iconic site so we made sure to start our drive from the Grand Canyon a little earlier than planned to make it to the dam before it got dark.

We had pretty good timing as we arrived at Hoover Dam just as the sun was starting to set. The light was still good when we arrived, and just before we left twilight had set in and the structures were aglow in man made light. It was quite pretty seeing the dam in such different light conditions over a fairly short amount of time.  

Grand Canyon

Here we are, the first week of Summer vacation and I still haven't finished sharing our trip from Spring Break! Truth be told, I still haven't finished sharing our trip from Winter Break either. I really need to start playing catch up! Let's start with a look at our visit to the Grand Canyon over Spring Break...

We visited the Grand Canyon as part of our Spring Break in the desert trip. We started our trip in Las Vegas before heading to Valley of Fire State Park, Zion National Park and then the Grand Canyon.

Spring Break in the Desert

Last week Ava and Lola were on Spring Break so we decided to take a trip to show the girls a little of America's most stunning natural landscapes in Nevada, Utah and Arizona. I'll have in depth posts (and a gazillion photos!) coming about each place we visited, but for now I want to share an overview of our trip.