AHS/AIH Water Symposium Spouse Tours
Two days filled with exploration, art, shopping and desert mystique.

Monday, August 31 – Southwest Explorations
8:30am – 3:00pm
Tuesday, September 1 – The Art of the Old West in Old Town Scottsdale
8:30am – 2:00pm
Cost $225 per person. Minimum attendance: 8

Monday, August 31, 2009
Southwest Explorations
8:30am – 3:00pm
The heard Museum, founded in 1929, and the desert Botanical Gardens, founded in 1939, have come together to present you with a wonderfully insightful Southwest experience acquainting your group with the diversity of the Sonoran Desert and the resourcefulness of the native people.
This exciting tour begins with a privately guided tour of the Desert Botanical gardens. This tour will demonstrate how Native people used the unique plants of the region. The Garden’s collection includes more than 20,000 cataloged plants, representing one of the most documented collections of desert plants in the world. Many pants you will see are rare, threatened and endangered. Following the tour you will enjoy lunch at the Patio Café after which you will have a little to time to explore and shop.
After lunch you will depart for the Heard Museum. You will enjoy a privately guided tour featuring their permanent collection. Learn how wine is made from saguaro fruit, and how native plants are woven into basketry. Touch a glass sculpture inspired by ocotillo plants. Continue discovering as you have the opportunity to visit their contemporary traveling exhibits and world-renowned gift shop during the free time following your tour. You will be inspired by the fine art and rich cultural heritage of the Native people. Key collection areas feature textiles, katsina dolls, pottery, jewelry, baskets, cradleboards, paintings, sculpture and World Cultures materials.
Tuesday, September 1, 2009
The Art of the Old West in Old Town Scottsdale
8:30 – 2:00pm
Old Town Scottsdale is a special place and it is being revived to be the “hip” place to be in Scottsdale. The Fifth Avenue Shops have been the heart and soul of Scottsdale shopping for 50 years. Specialty stores and art galleries line the streets. You will be guided by an insider on this special tour. You will explore the art galleries that Scottsdale is famous for, and of course stroll right over to Main Street to indulge your senses even more. Art lovers and shoppers alike will enjoy this excursion. The streets have blocks of galleries that feature different styles of arts, including contemporary, western realism, American Indian, and traditional. Antique shops are also located on the Main Street Arts District.
When you’re ready to relax, you will be treated to an amazing lunch at Taggia at Firesky. Taggia offers Old Town Scottsdale guests a welcome dining destination. Reminiscent of the Italian Riviera, the experience here is rustic yet refined, casual yet elegant. Taggia’s chefs transform carefully chosen organic, seasonal ingredients into the time-tested, naturally healthy dishes of Italy's Ligurian coastline, believing that true Mediterranean cuisine is defined by the quality of the ingredients.