Explore Tucson During NLC25 | Guest Renee Rogers with Visit Tucson

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Welcome to the REALTORS^® Land Institute Podcast, the Voice of land, the industry's leading land real estate organization.

Justin Osborn: Welcome to the REALTORS^® Land Institute podcast, the Voice of Land, the industry's leading land real estate organization. This is Justin Osborn Accredited Land Consultant with the Wells Group in Durango, Colorado. We're getting close to coming back together for one of our favorite events of the year, the National Land Conference. This year's conference will be held in sunny Tucson, Arizona at the El Conquistador Hilton resort in the heart of the Sonoran Desert. On today's episode of the Voices of Land podcast, we're talking to Renee Rogers, Convention Services Manager at Visit Tucson. Renee is a Tucson native who lived away for 10 years and returned home to raise her son near her family in the Old Pueblo. After high school, Renee traveled with the international organization Up With People and had a chance to explore the world, but ultimately knew that home would always be Tucson. With the hospitality and events career following her travels, Renee now gets to share what makes Tucson a unique and amazing place to live. America's best Mexican food, saguaro cactus and the dry heat are just a couple of the things that make Tucson worth the trip out to visit. Welcome to the podcast, Renee.

JO: I'm excited to talk about all things our NLC attendees can do and experience while they are in Tucson.

Renee Rogers: Yes, thanks so much for having me.

JO: Well, you guys are kind of famous for that dry heat. You know, as we're doing this recording, it's a little chilly here in Durango right now.

RR: Yeah, I can imagine. Everywhere else is getting, you know, crazy weather. We've got snow in Texas and fires in California. We're sitting here dry, kind of boring and dusty, waiting for some rain. [laughter] We have no snow on the mountains right now, but hopefully when you guys are here in March, you'll get some snow on the Catalinas, but then get to enjoy our warmer temps down in the valley.

JO: Well, we're certainly looking forward to it. So tell us a little bit about what sets Tucson apart from some of the other big cities.

RR: Absolutely. So, Tucson, we are getting ready to celebrate our 250th birthday coming up in August. We're very proud of that. Tucson was founded back in 1775 as a presidio. We were one of the first military presidios in the Southwest. For a while we were part of Mexico, but then obviously came back to the United States back, back in the day. We are currently the second largest city in Arizona. We were the original territory capital of the state, but that move obviously up to Phoenix some years ago, but we're still the second largest city with a little over half a million people. So, we're definitely small but mighty. We're home to the University of Arizona. Go Wildcats. Traditionally really good in basketball, have been good in football the last couple years. But we're not going to talk about this year because we did not do well with our new football coach. However, U of A spirit is definitely strong in this community. I went there, lots of us went there. And it's a great college campus that's in the heart of our city. So half the year we have about, let's see... I think the last time I heard, we were at about 65,000 students now during the school year.

RR: So, that's a huge influx of students. But we have a lot of really good programs. We have University Medical center here. We have a great engineering program. And one of the things we're most excited about right now is we just launched an astro trail because we are a dark sky community, which basically means we have a light ordinance, so lights cannot be above a certain level so that you can actually see more stars here in Tucson than many other cities. So our astro tourism trail ranges all across the southwest. But we have our Flandreau Science center here, which has an observatory. A lot of people are not aware that we also host the Mirror Lab, which makes a lot of the mirrors for the large telescopes throughout the world here at the university. They actually make those underneath our U of A football stadium, which is kind of unique. And we also have Kitt Peak Observatory, Mount Lemmon, Skylab. So a lot of the astro tourism that you're going to start seeing is going to be grounded and rooted here in Tucson coming up. So that's very exciting.

JO: That's great. You know, I'm in southwest Colorado, and so we get a lot of the same kind of dark skies request that you're talking about. And just right over the state line into Utah. Over in Moab, there's a lot of places where people will go out there to the desert where they can see all the stars and comets and everything else that's pretty sweet that you can't see in some of the big cities. So, that's cool that you being a big city, you've got that right there. And you know, you hit on the U of A University of Arizona. And last year when we were in Louisville, there was a bunch of us that were able to go to the basketball game out there. So that may be something we have to check into with NLC and it being basketball season in March, see if we can try to get a group that wants to go out there if you all have a home game that weekend.

RR: Yeah, that would be a lot of fun. McKale Center is a great little facility. And yeah, March madness. We'll see if hopefully it works out for us that we're still playing when you guys are here, but we'll see. [laughter]

JO: Well, tell us about El Conquistador Resort. You know, our conference is going to be there. And what are some of the attractions that are close by? Maybe within a short drive or even better yet, walking distance.

RR: Yeah, absolutely. So where you guys are located is kind of in the north foothills area of Tucson. So you are just one mile from Catalina State park, which has amazing hiking, great camping all year round.

RR: So that's one of the closest attractions. There's also Tohono Chul Park, which is similar to more like of a botanical garden that people might be used to. They have a great bistro there. If you're spending the day, you can get brunch or lunch. We have riding stables nearby. I've heard that a lot of your people really like to look at local horseback riding facilities. So there's several that'll take you around the Catalina mountains there. We have everything from ziplining, not too far away. We have the DeGrazia Gallery in the Sun, which was Ted DeGrazia's original home turned art gallery now, and Biosphere two. I don't know if you're familiar with the movie Biodome that came out in the early 90s with Pauly Shore and one of the Baldwin brothers, but Biosphere two, which is the actual project, still is in existence and still is here, and you can take tours of it.

RR: I totally remember that movie. So, yeah, might be showing my age here, but yeah, I definitely remember that.

JO: Yeah, that's one of our few claims to fame. We also have, you know, old Tucson studios. A lot of westerns have been filmed out here in the years, but more of my generation, things like camp, I mean, love was filmed at Tucson High School, and then Biosphere was filmed out here for a portion of it. So we also bring in a lot of filming besides, you know, some of the westerns that you might be familiar with, so.

RR: Well, that's great. Yeah, I'm looking at the... At some maps right now and looking at the elevation change, like, looks like anybody that's feeling aggressive for getting in shape can walk right out the resort and go, what is this? Mount Kimball? That looks like it's about 5,000 ft higher than the El Conquistador resort right there to the east. So, that's great.

RR: We have a lot hiking trails all around, pretty much literally anyone's backyard. So, I can walk out my door and be in Saguaro Park West you guys will be closer to Catalina State Park up where you are. So Tucson is definitely known for hiking and biking and outdoor recreation year round. So.

JO: Well, and you know what I learned? It's kind of embarrassing that I didn't know this before being a ski instructor, but there y'all have a ski resort like, right outside of Tucson, and I just learned that a couple of years ago. And I'm like, wait a second. Like, how is their skiing that far south? But that was kind of enlightening to me.

RR: Yeah. So we're the southernmost ski facility in the entire continental US but I'm going to put an asterisk on that. Skiing has been somewhat limited lately because we haven't had as much snow. We're actually in one of the driest winters we've ever had. So, I think we've had two total snow days up there so far. So, yes, it is possible to ski. Whether you'll be able to, I'm not sure yet, but we do have a chairlift that goes up so you can ride that year round whether there's snow or not. And that's up at the top of Mount Lemmon, which is just literally at the, the base of where El Conquistador is. You're going to be at the base of Mount Lemon at El Conquistador, I should say. But Mount Lemmon and Summer Haven is going to be the top of that. And like I mentioned, we have the Mount Lemmon Observatory up there. We also have a cookie cabin. If you wanted to take a day trip, it's probably about an hour to an hour and a half up to the very top. But yeah, you could take that chairlift, maybe ski probably more like sled. [laughter] But yes, we do have a skiing facility here.

JO: So the chairlift, the bottom of the chairlift loading is right there by the El Conquistador? 

RR: Oh, no, no, it's at the top of the mountain. So it's about an hour and a half to the top, I think.

JO: Okay, well, that's driving distance. There's a lot of us, there's a lot of us that drive a lot further than an hour and a half to show a property. So I tell you what, anybody listening that wants to bring their skis, I'll have mine in the truck. And if they happen to have snow, we'll go get in a Ski day at RLI and then the next day we can hang out down by the pools at the resort.

RR: Yeah, exactly. [laughter]

JO: First time for everything. All right, I like it. Talk to us a little bit about some dining options, good places to eat that might be around there that we should hit up.

RR: Yeah. So, El Conquistador is surrounded by so many amazing restaurants. So, where you are is actually considered Oral Valley. Oral Valley stands for the Gold Valley. There is several options for Mexican food because as I mentioned, we are America's best Mexican food. We're located only about 60 miles from Mexico, so we have everything from like Mexico City style cuisine to more like street taco style. One of the things that you should definitely try and check out while you're here is getting a Sonoran hot dog that's very different than like a Chicago style hot dog or some of the other hot dogs that you've seen. A Sonoran hot dog is actually a hot dog that is bacon wrapped, put into a bun, covered with beans, covered with mayonnaise, covered with salsa. So I mean, it's, it's incredible. It sounds like a big mess, but it's delicious. So if you have an opportunity to have a Sonoran dog, definitely try it. But we also have, you know, tons of other great little restaurants here. We have Noble Hops. We have the Keg Steakhouse. Closest, probably my favorite Mexican food to where you guys are are either going to be Seis Kitchen or El Charro.

RR: And El Charro is famous because we just celebrated 100 years of their existence about two years ago. So they're 102 now. It's one of the longest run family restaurants in the entire country. I think they're on their third generation now, and their claim to fame is that they invented the chimichanga.

JO: Nice. Well, that's 102 years in business. Is that something we need a reservation for, you think? Probably, or we good? 

RR: You'd probably be okay. They're definitely busy, so you might want to call ahead, but I've never had a problem getting in. So we have a few locations in town now. There's one literally two blocks here from my office downtown. And then there's one right up next to you guys at Elkin Key. There's one right down the street from you, so.

JO: Okay, we'll have to go check that out now. I want to go back to the Sonoran hot dog. You perked me up a little bit there. Anytime you say wrapped in bacon, covered in beans, like, okay, yes, I'm listening. Did you say mayonnaise? That, that threw me off just a little bit.

RR: I know it sounds crazy, but a Sonoran dog recipe, I will actually read to you exactly what it says. So a Sonoran hot dog is bacon wrapped hot dog served in a Mexican style roll topped with a variety of Tex Mex condiments. So the dish originated in Hermosillo, but of course we have made our own twist on it. So, it's going to have grilled onions, pinto beans, pico de gallo, mayo, mustard, jalapeno salsa, chopped tomatoes, onions, and guacamole.

JO: Nice. All right. I'm excited. You know, growing up in Texas, there's like the Tex Mex side of me. And then living in the Southwest, you know, we get a lot of green chilies here where I'm at. But getting down that close to the border, definitely going to be a different spin on what I'm used to. So I'm definitely looking forward to this.

RR: Yeah, it's definitely something to try. [laughter] We don't eat them every day here because we probably end up like Elvis and have heart attacks. But they are delicious. It's definitely something that anytime somebody comes to visit, we Tucson locals take our friends and family to our favorite local hot dog stand. But so many restaurants are doing them now. Some of them even put their own twists on them. But pretty much any Sonoran hot dog you get is going to be pretty great. [laughter]

JO: All right, great. We'll definitely check that out. Now, weather middle of March, are we, are we going to be talking like 60s, 70s? What do you think the weather's going to be like? 

RR: Yeah, so weather is interesting here. We have all four seasons in one day, so we always recommend layering. You're going to have really cold mornings. It'll warm up throughout the day. You can go swimming and enjoy the sunshine. And then you're going to want that jacket or blanket when you're sitting out by the fire at night. So typically, on average, we're about 72 to 79 degrees during the day in March. And then we cool down about 47, 50 degrees at night. One of the best things about us here is that we have 360 days of sunshine, we say a year. Because, even during our monsoon season, which is when we get the majority of our rain for the year, it'll still usually be sunny for about half the day. So, we have a lot of sunny days. Make sure you pack some sunscreen and some sunglasses and a hat because that is definitely something you can count on while you're here.

JO: That sounds like perfect Golf weather. I mean, you got to have some good golf resorts around there, I would imagine, right? 

RR: Oh, my gosh. We have golf at every single property here in Tucson. And even in some people's backyards. We have golf literally all over the city. We even have a Topgolf here now. So if you've never been to Topgolf, that's just right down the road from El Conquistador as well.

JO: All right, so I'm starting to get excited here. I don't have hardly... I don't know if I've ever done this, but I'm going to go on vacation, and I'm going to have my skis and my golf clubs in the truck at the same time. So, we just got to see if we can make that happen, Renee, where I can have a first and ski in the morning and golf in the afternoon. Can you make that happen for me? 

RR: We'll do our best. I will order a truckload of snow for up on top of Mount Lemmon for you. [laughter]

JO: All right, excellent. First time for everything. Well, what else would you like to share with our listeners about Tucson in that area that we haven't covered yet? 

RR: One of the things I wanted to mention is that you guys picked a great time to come visit. BBC Travel just voted us one of the 25 best places to travel in 2025. So, you guys are ahead of the game. You're already coming. Everyone else will probably be here next year by the time they get their trips planned and their bags packed. But we just have a lot going on. This is a great little community. We're celebrating 100 years of our Tucson Vaqueros parade, which is our Tucson Rodeo parade. Many people laugh, but Tucson is one of the few places where our kiddos get two days out of school every February for the rodeo.

JO: I'm familiar with that. Yeah, you all come up here to purgatory and go skiing. So we get booked with private lessons like crazy during Tucson rodeo days in February.

RR: Yeah. So end of February every year, we host our Tucson Rodeo Parade and rodeo. So the Rodeo Parade is the longest running non motorized, non vehicle parade in the United States. So, we're celebrating 100 years this year, which we're very excited for. They actually just reopened after a major renovation, the Tucson Wagon Museum. It used to be called the Tucson Rodeo Museum, but they just changed that name. So we have everything from little surreys with the fringe on top to the big giant wagons that you see in, you know, larger parades, floats. They're all Horse drawn. There's a huge bedding to be part of this parade. We have bands from across the state that come to join, pretty much, if you've grown up in Tucson, you've been at or been in the Rodeo Parade at some point in your life.

JO: So that's great. Yeah, I've heard about rodeo days for a long time now. You just hit on something new that perked my interest here. The wagon museum, how far is that from where we're going to be staying? 

RR: So if you were driving, if you rented a car or you were driving in, it would actually be on your way from the airport to El Conquistador. Otherwise, if you're coming back down, I would say probably 20 to 25 minutes away.

JO: Oh, that's okay. That's easy.

RR: Yeah, not super far. Everything in Tucson, probably about 30, maybe 45 minutes. If you're going out to like, the desert museum or if you're going out to old Tucson or Saguaro National Park west. Only because that's on the opposite side of town of where you are at El conquistador. But everything is very easily navigable. Doesn't take long to get to parking super simple, unlike a lot of bigger cities where parking is a nightmare. But yeah, the Tucson Wagon Museum is really fun little spot. They have everything from hearse wagons that they used back, you know, back when people passed away and were, you know, wagon wheeling it through the city all the way up to more modern like the fire engine wagons and things like that. Also some of the local... What are they called? Like our dude ranches. We have a couple dude ranches here in town. Some of their chuck wagon, wagons are in that museum as well. So anything you can imagine, they probably have.

JO: Well, that's great. Any listeners that want to get a group together and go with Tammy and I out to go check out some wagons, I'm all over that. You know, we can't be ranch brokers selling properties in the west and not go check out wagons in Tucson. So I'll be signing up for that as well. Sonoran hot dogs I've got on my list. Go try to catch some basketball games, skiing and golf. I don't know if I'd have time to actually go to any events at the conference, Renee. I think I'm just gonna have to vacation in Tucson.

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RR: You're definitely not going to be bored when you're here. We always recommend people come out a few days before or a few days after because you're going to want to do a lot and you're going to want to see a lot. We also have some pretty incredible wildlife here. People, when they come out to visit, they're always asking, you know, can we see a snake, can we see a tarantula? Can we see all these random creatures that we've heard of but not actually seen in our own backyards. I can't guarantee that you'll see them over at El Conquistador, but if you came out and you went to the desert museum, that's a great place to stop, either if you're here a day before, a day after, it's a little bit further from El Conquistador, it's in Saguaro Park West. But you're going to see all of your animals. You're going to see coyotes. You're actually going to see stingrays there because they just opened a stingray exhibit. But you're going to see, you know, your scorpions, your snakes, your tarantulas. You're going to see all sorts of wildlife there. Javelinas, which are our local pig here.

RR: I guess it's in the pig family. It kind of looks like a wild boar, but it's called the javelina. Road runners are always fun. People are always a little disappointed when they see a roadrunner in real life because they're not ostrich sized like they are in the cartoons. But yeah, we have a lot of amazing wildlife here, too.

JO: Well, we'll definitely have to check that out as well. Well, Renee, thank you for joining us today. If our listeners wanted to learn more about Visit Tucson, where's the best place for them to go to do that? 

RR: That would be visittucson.org we actually just released today our 2025 Insider's Guide. So our Insider's Guide is more than just your local restaurants and things like that. We also have articles on what to do while you're here, where to go. We have sample itineraries, all that can be found on our website.

JO: Excellent. Well, folks, as you've heard, beyond education and being face to face with the top land professionals in real estate, there's lots to do in Tucson during National Land conference. If you haven't registered yet, be sure to do that on the RLI website at rliland.com/nlc we'll see you in Tucson on March 16th. 

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