Free Eats on Sunless Days in Yuma

July 21, 2011 By Leave a Comment
Sunshine Guarantee

YUMA — This city is so proud of its sunshine that it has always been willing to be on it. According to the Guinness World Record book, Yuma is the sunniest place on earth, with bright skies prevailing an average of 4,055 hours out of a possible 4,456 hours every year. That’s 91 percent of the time. Or 350 days per year.

More than a century ago, Yuma hotels backed up the sunshine boast by offering free board to visitors every day the sun didn’t shine. Times have changed, but there are still freebies.

Filed Under: Food & Dining, Small Town Scene, Southern Arizona, Weather Talk Tagged With: , , , ,

World’s First Wave Pool Returns to its Roots

May 21, 2011 By 1 Comment
Big Surf in the 1970s

Did you know the Valley is home to the world’s first wave pool? “Waikiki Beach” at Big Surf Waterpark in Tempe has welcomed desert beach bums for more than four decades. Today, it remains the third largest wave pool worldwide, containing some 2.5 million gallons of water.

The wave pool is the brainchild of Phoenix construction engineer Phillip Dexter. Fascinated by surfers he saw on TV during the 60s, Dexter envisioned a surfing destination right here in the Valley of the Sun. Ironically, Dexter wasn’t a good surfer himself. Prior to embarking on this project, he had only seen the ocean a handful of times. First when deployed on a pocket carrier during World War II, the second in 1965 when serving a small stint as a construction engineer in California.

Filed Under: Dose of History, Recreation, Valley of the Sun Tagged With: , , , ,

ASU Makes PLAYBOY’s Top 10 List of Party Schools for 2011

April 13, 2011 By 1 Comment
ASU_sign

To anyone familiar with the nightlife scene at Arizona State University, this shouldn’t come as a huge shocker. The behemoth university has once again gained notoriety as one of North America’s top party schools, according to media giant PLAYBOY. The Wildcats were left out of the fun this year, but I do recall them landing the honor in the past.

PLAYBOY says the rankings were determined by student surveys and interviews, social media and feedback from PLAYBOY campus representatives. They also took male-to-female ratios, academics, winning percentage of sports teams and “proximity to beaches, ski slopes and lively music scenes” into account.

Filed Under: Culture, Valley of the Sun Tagged With: ,

Is Phoenix the Most Miserable City in the US?

March 31, 2011 By 3 Comments

According to a new report from the Wall Street Journal, Phoenix has been named the most miserable city in the US.

This new “misery index” looks at unemployment, gas prices and a change in home prices. What do you think? Are we worse off than those residing in Boston, Cleveland, New York and Detroit… which are apparently the least miserable?

Filed Under: Culture, Valley of the Sun Tagged With: ,

Two Arizona Cities Rank Among America’s Drunkest

December 30, 2010 By Leave a Comment
Beer

With New Year’s Eve on the horizon, many Arizonans are stocking their liquor cabinets and planning their bar hopping destinations. Yet how often are we likely to party year round?

ASU and UA alum shouldn’t be super surprised to discover that Phoenix and Tucson made the list of America’s Top 40 Drunkest Cities, according to The Daily Beast. However, we didn’t come in as high as you may have thought.

Filed Under: Culture, Food & Dining, Southern Arizona, Valley of the Sun Tagged With: , ,
« Older Posts
Newer Posts »