things to do and eat in Scottsdale

Before I embarked on my semester abroad, I first had one final pitstop in America: namely, a trip with some of my Cornell friends to visit our friend who lived in Scottsdale. It was pretty exciting, as my other friends had never been to the land of cacti, and since we were all finally of age, we could get the full Arizona experience.

After a mandatory first stop at Dutch Bros ( I missed those energy drinks pumped with sugary syrup), we headed to In-N-Out, where I got a mandatory animal-style burger with fries that were a lot better than the soggy ones I got last time I visited.

Since most of us had spent our mornings on a plane, we spent the rest of the day checking into our AirBnb, before heading to Postino for their weekly board and bottle, which lets you get 4 hefty bruschetta and a bottle of wine for $25. Naturally, we shared everything, so we got to try essentially the entire menu of bruschetta. My favorites had to be the street corn and the brie, pear and fig jam ones, as well as a deliciously sweet riesling I plan on purchasing ASAP.

The next day was our day in Sedona, so we headed on the road, and quickly set off to hike to Devil’s Bridge. Unfortunately, I had a meeting, so we had to turn around so I could make my meeting in time, but it was nonetheless a beautiful hike (although a tad dusty). After a quick lunch at a Thai place, we then walked around the shops, before heading back to prepare for a night out.

That night, we hit some of the Scottsdale spots (or so I’m told): a big indoor/outdoor bar, a bar with a shot wheel, and a bar with a jukebox and a ping pong table I may or may not have temporarily broken (it was fine when we left, I promise). All in all, an adventure of a night, especially with the obligatory golf cart ride in between bars (one of the best ideas I’ve ever seen).

After a only mildly-hungover brunch at Morning Squeeze, where I treated myself to a hefty plate of chilaquiles and a smoothie (for balance), we headed to our first activity of the day: Funbox. We had first glimpsed this mythical place while driving by on the highway the other day, and after discovering that, for only about $25 (less with our 20% coupon), we could spend 90 minutes roaming around a massive bounce house complex, we were in.

It was glorious. I have never had so much fun while exercising so much. By the end, we were all slightly doused in sweat. But was it worth it, despite some of us getting terrorized by small children and the suspicious pools of liquid? Absolutely. Thank god we passed by it, because I can not picture a better way to spend some of my last day in Arizona.

We then hit up the happy hours at Diego Pops and Drunk Munk for some snacks and bevs. The Drunk Munk sushi turned out to be surprisingly good, and turned out to be a good move, as we ended up eating dinner quite late due to our first CAVA order being stolen by our door dasher.

Nevertheless, despite these challenges, we persevered to have an amazing final night. The combination of a bucket of dirty shirley running through my veins, Casa’s house night, and a semi-successful mechanical bull-riding attempt proved to be a fitting final night out in America before I left for three months.