When I think of architect Frank Lloyd Wright and everything I’ve read or written about him, the adjectives ‘relaxed’, ‘easy-going’ or ‘fun-loving’ definitely do not come to mind. Yet after visiting Taliesin West, his architecture studio and home just outside Phoenix, Arizona, I came to understand that this property was probably the one place where Wright was at his most chill. Relatively speaking, of course.
Louis Sullivan. Frank Lloyd Wright. Daniel Burnham. Minoru Yamasaki. If the names of these American architects don’t ring a bell, their buildings definitely might. Think of the Sullivan Centre in Chicago, Fallingwater in Pennsylvania, the pointed Flatiron Building in New York City or the World Trade Centre’s Twin Towers. What many people don’t know is that the same architects who designed these iconic structures also created buildings in Buffalo, New York, making this city one of America’s best when it comes to architecture. Luckily, you don’t have to be an expert in architecture to appreciate these buildings – you can join a Buffalo architecture tour like Henk and I did, and/or create your own independent tour from this list. You’ll see for yourself the best of Buffalo’s impressive architectural heritage.
Snowbirds have loved it for decades. It’s a destination where the sands are white, the ocean is blue and the temperature averages a comfortable 23 degrees from November to April. It’s St. Petersburg, Florida, much more than just a pretty beach destination.
Henk and I never seem to tire of visiting the southwestern United States; we’ve been there several times, and on each trip we discover something new and amazing. But although we have visited Arizona and toured much of the state, we hadn’t really spent much time in Phoenix. So we were thrilled when Visit Phoenix invited us down for a visit, as this gave us a chance to really explore the city, and put together a ‘grownup’ guide of things to do around Phoenix.
