ZonaGardens Bed and Breakfast is the perfect base for your perfect Tucson weekend.

Below are some summaries of terrific themed itineraries for Tucson. Complete directions, including maps, schedules, and menus are available at ZonaGardens.

• For Birding Enthusiasts
• For Gardeners
• For Cultural Creatives
    

For Birding Enthusiasts

Saturday

Get up early and pack a breakfast and your binoculars. Drive to Saguaro Park East at dawn. Park at the picnic grounds. Set up breakfast at a table and eat while watching all the desert bird species, like cactus wren, cardinals, road runners, quail, hummingbirds, curved bill thrashers, to name a few. Enjoy your morning. Take a hike, we like the Freeman loop trail, it's about a mile long.

Head back and freshen up. Then drive to Patagonia. Eat a late lunch at Grasslands in Sonoita. Drive to Patagonia and do a little shopping at the eclectic art galleries and visit the mission that has been turned into a bar. Before dusk, drive to the Nature Conservancy Preserve, walk along Sonoita Creek for more bird watching. You can find vermillion fly catchers and red winged blackbirds. And then head home. Order a pizza from Magpies or Picurros.

Sunday (Option A)

Sleep in. Enjoy the newspaper and breakfast. Eat lunch in Sierra Vista, where there is surprisingly more Asian restaurants than Mexican. After lunch, drive to Ramsey Canyon, a world famous birding destination for hummingbirds. Spend the afternoon there. If you get back in time for dinner, eat at McGraws steakhouse, just up the road from Civano, where you can enjoy the view of the Santa Rita mountains, option B's destination.

Sunday (Option B)

Get up early and pack breakfast, midmorning snack, water and binoculars. Drive to Madera Canyon (about a 45 minute drive) at dawn. Drive as far up the canyon as you want. Find a picnic table and enjoy your breakfast. Madera Canyon is home to the elusive Elegant Trogon (its call sounds like a small barking dog). Check into the Madera Canyon cabins gift shop for the most current birding information.

On the way back, eat at the Agave restaurant at the Casino of the Sun. At dusk, walk around Civano and see quail, cactus wrens, roadrunners, cardinals, hummingbirds, finches, and killdeer. Grab a dinner snack and relax for the evening.

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For Gardeners

Saturday

Enjoy your breakfast, walk to Civano nursery and wander around all the plants. Return to ZonaGardens and then drive to Tucson Botanical Gardens, eat lunch at Feast (closed during the hot season), located within the gardens. On your way back, stop at Bon Ellen, a small store with great gardening gifts. Eat dinner at Dakota Café, one of Tucson's finest patio dining experiences. Wander through Trail Dust Town.

Sunday

Enjoy your breakfast, walk to the neighborhood center's farmers market to get some tamales for lunch. Get a guided tour from proprieter Scott Calhoun of the landscaping in Civano, both private gardens, common areas, and the community garden. Please make arrangements ahead of time.

Option A

Drive to Saguaro Park East to see some of the native Sonoran vegetation Tucson is famous for. Walk the Freeman Loop Trail.

Option B

Drive to Tohona Chul Botanical Gardens. Eat at the tea room there.

Option C

Read Scott's book, A Yard Full of Sun.

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For Cultural Creatives

Saturday

After enjoying your breakfast, head to Santa Teresa Tileworks to buy some handmade tiles, sold by the square foot. Or go to the Lost Barrio shopping district.

For lunch, buy a Sonoran hot dog or a taco at Guerro Cannelo. Drive down to Tubac for unique shopping. Stop at the San Xavier Mission on your way back and have fry bread for dinner. Then go to the Greyhound Park and place a $2 quenella (the best odds with the best payoff). Sit outside to get a close look at the dogs or hang out at the clubhouse (they have good fries). We have free entrance tickets.

Sunday

After enjoying your breakfast, walk over to the neighborhood center's farmers market. Then drive down to 4th avenue to shop at the many eclectic shops and thrift stores. Grab a light lunch and tea at the Casbah tea house or a cheese board at Delectables. Continue shopping or head to the U of A and visit the free Center for Creative Photography and see the latest exhibit. Or go to the Tucson Museum of Art (admission is free on the first Sunday of the month).

It's a nice walk from the Museum to have an early dinner at El Charro Café or walk through the La Placita Village and Tucson Convention Center to El Minuto. Then walk around the barrio to see original adobe homes mixed with new adobe houses to see some authentic Tucson neighborhoods. Make sure you visit the shrine just south of El Minuto.

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