Travel Adventures in Arizona and New Mexico, Part 10: Flagstaff

This is my tenth post about our adventures traveling through Arizona and New Mexico. I recommend reading the first, second, third, fourth, fifth, sixth, seventh, eighth, and ninth posts before this one. Because I blog about educational travel, I received complimentary passes, media rates, and other benefits for several of the places we visited throughout the trip. Some of the attractions we toured are free to everyone; we paid full price for the rest. What I paid or didn't pay has no bearing on my reviews. Everything that I share is something I recommend without hesitation.

---------

Travel Adventures in Flagstaff, Arizona

 

Steve is passionate about astronomy and has been wanting to visit Flagstaff pretty much forever. Flagstaff is the the home of Lowell Observatory and is the world's first International Dark Sky City. In other words, it's a mecca for anyone who loves astronomy.  

The first thing we did when we arrived just before 3:00 pm was the Cosmic Highways: A Centennial Tour talk. It highlights the role Route 66 played in astronomical discovery. 

It concludes with a visit to the private collections exhibit at the Putnam Collection Center. This is Percival Lowell's 1911 Stevens-Duryea, called Big Red. 

  

Next, we attended the Origins of Lowell talk. We both found it really interesting. 

Then we explored the exhibits in the Discovery Center. It's always fun to see so many hands-on activities that are fun and interesting for both children and adults. 

This dimensional display is for the visually impaired. Love it!

The Orbits Curiosity Zone is awesome. There are so many opportunities for hands-on learning and play in this creative space. 

Time to look at (and through) telescopes. We started at the Open Deck Observatory. 

  

There are a lot of interesting exhibits there as well. 

This astrograph was built to search for Lowell’s ‘Planet X.’ It was used by Clyde Tombaugh to discover Pluto in February of 1930. 

This dome houses the Clark Telescope. 

  

  

It is really impressive.  

  

  

Percival Lowell's mausoleum is right next to the Clark Dome. 

  

Take a moment to enjoy the view of downtown Flagstaff. 

This is Lowell's Pluto Walk. It's like a Planet Walk. 

There are so many interesting things to see at Lowell Observatory. 

Obviously, everything I've shown you so far took place in the daytime. Not surprisingly, Lowell Observatory is even more popular at night. Our plan was to see everything would could during the day, then leave to check into our hotel and have dinner, and return to for the evening activities. It worked out perfectly. 

Speaking of hotels, I put a lot of effort into selecting hotels when we travel. A good hotel does so much to enhance a trip and a bad one can make an otherwise good trip miserable. When I was searching for just the right hotel for our time in Flagstaff, I discovered there was a Drury Inn and Suites in our ideal location, right on Route 66. The ratings were great and the price was right. Bonus - free parking! We'd stayed at a Drury in St. Louis and loved it, so I was excited to try out the brand again. I'm happy to report that it exceeded my (high) expectations! 

Our room was spectacular. And enormous! I've lived in apartments smaller (and a lot less nice) than our room at the Drury. 

We had a fantastic view of the mountains.

We dropped off our stuff, then headed back downstairs for the Drury's  5:30 Kickback. They call it evening snacks, but it's way more than snacks. Soup, salad, hot dogs, nachos, entrees... it's dinner, no question about it. I had eaten a corndog at 2:00, so I had a light dinner of chicken fajitas with street corn and chips. It was fantastic. Each adult can have three alcoholic beverages (or mocktails - yea!). There's all-you-can-drink sodas and unlimited popcorn for dessert. Not having to go out for dinner is a huge money saver. 

We took popcorn bags and mocktails up to our room and watched the sun set over the mountains. So pretty! That's Route 66 where all the cars are stopped at the light; I'm happy to report that we didn't hear any road noise at all during our stay. 

Once it was dark, we headed back to Lowell Observatory. It's only 1.6 miles from the Drury and a very easy 6 minute drive. We had tickets for the 8:30 pm presentation of Strange New Worlds, an immersive show that takes place outdoors at the Dark Sky Planetarium. 

We wore all of our warmest clothes; temperatures in Flagstaff can drop dramatically at night. The heated seats were delightful and helped keep us comfy during the show.  

When the show ended, we headed straight for the Clark Telescope. We'd been so spoiled walking in and using it without a wait during the day; the line at night was quite long. Fortunately, the other telescopes weren't as popular. 

You may be wondering about these photos. Lowell has a strict "red light only" policy after dark. You can bring your own red flashlight, check one out from the front desk, or just rely on the existing light, which worked out fine for us. Do not use your cell phone; it will destroy your night vision and that of everyone else around you. I kept my phone put away; these pictures are from Steve's camera. 

We stayed at Lowell until right before closing (10:00 pm). I was so glad it was a such a short drive back to the Dury. It had been a busy day and we were both ready to collapse into bed. We had another packed day ahead of us. I'll tell you all about it tomorrow.