Eighty-one holes of golf, two baseball games, a visit to a desert museum, and plenty of poolside relaxation-that pretty much describes my family's recent spring break vacation to Tucson, Arizona.

Coming from a cold climate, our goal was to soak up sun and warm temperatures. Tucson complied nicely; every day was in the eighties and we didn't see a single cloud the entire week. Since, as might be obvious, we are a golfing family, we stayed in a casita on the grounds of Arizona National Golf Club, the home course for the University of Arizona golf team. Every morning, we rose to the sound of birds chirping, grounds crews grooming the greens, and early golfers teeing off on the first hole. If we didn't have an early tee time ourselves, we would wander over to the clubhouse for the breakfast special-eggs, bacon, pancake, all for only five dollars.

In addition to Arizona National, we played the executive course at the Hilton El Conquistador, and the Golf Club at Vistoso in Oro Valley. The latter was particularly beautiful with elevated tees offering gorgeous views of the Santa Catalina mountains. The clubhouse there was lovely and offered a super lunch menu. All in all, Vistoso was our favorite course (of course, it didn't hurt that my son shot a 73 there!).

Besides golf, the other reason for visiting Tucson for spring break is to take in a spring training baseball game. Three major league teams, the Colorado Rockies, the Chicago White Sox, and the Arizona Diamondbacks, call Tucson home from February through March. This is a baseball fan's dream come true-an opportunity to see his favorite veteran players up close and personal, combined with a look at new talent. Small ballparks mean there are no bad seats, ticket prices are reasonable, and you might even get your favorite player to wander over to the fence during warm-ups and sign your baseball or jersey.

Don't miss the Arizona Sonora Desert Museum, which is in an outdoor setting that is more zoo than museum. We went just before closing time (5 PM), and though it was quite warm we still saw plenty of animals-mountain lions, bighorn sheep, wolves, beaver, rattlesnakes, tarantulas-all denizens of the desert. The cactus garden featured hundreds of variety of the prickly plants all abloom during this spring season.

Golf, baseball, hiking, swimming, tennis, bike riding-Tucson offers it all!

Learn more about this author, Suzanne Lyon.
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