By Jimi Jo Story
Arizona Daily Wildcat
March 13, 1998

Multiple activities possible for those stuck in Tucson

It's Friday. The sunscreen supply at University Drug has been wiped out. Everyone in class is chattering about spring break plans.

And you don't have any.

Never fear - there are still things Tucson-bound breakers can do to make their tan buddies salivate once they return from Mexican and Californian beachs.

For Penniless Paupers

Tuesday, the city of Tucson will be celebrating the old Irish with a St. Patrick's Day Parade. You can kiss your Blarney stone downtown. Call 797-9431 for all the green information you want.

A trip up to the cool heights of Mount Lemmon can clear any head of Tucson smog and heat. All that is needed is a vehicle and a map.

Other free activities:

• Visit the Mission in the Sun/DeGrazia Gallery and find out why Ted DeGrazia's art is synonymous with the Southwest. It's at 6300 N. Swan Road. Call 299-9191 for information.
• Look for the white towers of the Mission de San Xavier del Bac. This site, which is a puzzle of Spanish, Byzantine and Morrish architecture, can be found off Interstate 19 and San Xavier Road. It is open until 5 each night. Call 294-2624 for information.
• The Fourth Avenue Street Fair will be in town next weekend with its one-of-a-kind goods and ambiance between East University Boulevard and East Ninth Street.
• Downtown Saturday Night will offer entertainment, food and disco-crazy shops and galleries March 21. For information call 624-9977.

For Those Who Have a Few Dinero

• Take a relaxing walk through the Tucson Botanical Gardens. The complex, with more plant variety than your grandma's herb garden, is at 2150 N. Alvernon Way and costs $4. Wait to visit till next weekend, though, because there will be a plant sale for budding green thumbs to start an herb gardens of their own.
• Anyone interested in animal life can ride away into the sunset on a horseback excursion through Walking Winds Stables. One hour of mounted bliss is $15. The trail winds through the Coronado National Forest and Santa Catalina Mountains.

Other animal options:

• Reid Park Zoo may not be San Diego but it does have elephants, tigers and bears - oh my! For $3.50 you can wander through the complex with more that 450 animals. Call 791-8700.
• The Arizona-Sonora Desert Museum charges $8.95 to see its desert landscape filled with naturally living critters. A short jaunt west on Speedway Boulevard, the museum is at 2021 N. Kinney Rd.
• Find out what the bats leave behind at Colossal Cave Mountain Park. The $7.50 admission includes a guided tour at the site, which is 17 miles east of Tucson. For more information call 647-7275.

For the Day Tripper

Tombstone offers the legendary O.K. Corral, Boothill Cemetery and Bird Cage Theatre of Old West and Hollywood fame. The town, which has shoot-outs each day at 2 p.m., is 70 miles southeast of Tucson. Don't get caught in the crossfire, and get your questions answered at 457-2211.

If you want to enrich your life with some artistry, visit Tubac. The creative little town is just off I-19, about an hour south of Tucson.

And if you still have nothing to do, experience Nogales in the daytime. The border town at the end of I-19 offers bargains for the wary shopper. And if you stay all day, you can still dance in the Mexican bars all night.