Wild Western Festival - Glendale, Arizona

Worth It?  NO.  No, No, NO!

I came across the Wild Western Festival online.  It was supposed to be "Arizona's answer to a wild west Renaissance Festival," and it was close to our home, so I asked Adam if we could go.  It was located in the Sahuaro Ranch Park, and cost $10 per person to get in.  It ran Oct 15-17 and was open from 10-6.  We stopped by on Sunday, the last day, around 12:30pm.  The "cast" was definietly in character, though I'm pretty sure that they didn't have to do much to get into their roles.  There were 2 stages, one featuring a very poor "stunt" show, which was so boring and we couldn't stand to watch it for more than 2 minutes, and the other with a quartet playing country music. 

We moved on to the old-fashioned soda stand- the highlight of the festival.

We ordered one mug of the Sassafras soda for $6.  She accidently poured us two, so we ended up with a huge mug each.  The soda was good, but very sweet and neither of us could have more than a few sips.  The bees followed us around too with all of that sugar we were carrying around.

Stage 2 in the background, with Adam holding his soda-mug. 

They had very few food options, mostly "fair-type" food, including fry bread and other friend fares.  They also had a few vendors, maybe 15, that had tents set up.  There was one belt-buckle maker that was cool to watch and tied in with the theme of the festival, but most of the vendors had nothing to do with the theme (i.e. tye-dye at a Western Festival?).

The other "attractions" included a few photos and paintings you could buy, which they labeled "Stars of the West."  If there were any stars over there, we couldn't tell who they were.  They also had a few kids rides, including a spiderman bouncy house.  The train was kind of cute, and they had the "sheriff" ride around in a small car and arrest kids, putting them in a little cart with rails so it looks kinda like a jail cell.

After about 30 minutes, we decided to admit to ourselves that we'd just wasted $26 and at least hope to save the rest of the day.  As we were walking out, the lady that took our tickets on the way in said, "Do I even need to ask if you're coming back?"  Nope. 

The Purpose

My husand and I are suckers for travel and new experiences.  I prefer not to go to the same restaurant or city more than once, because there is so much world out there to explore.  Recently, my husband Adam and I took a roadtrip around our current state of Arizona.  Arizona has a wealth of outdoor parks, as well as "side-of-the-road" attractions.  The problem is that you really can't tell what you're going to see until you've paid for it.  So then I got the idea for this blog.  I would review the places we go and let readers know if it was worth time and money.  I'll review anything from cities to hotels to restaurants to attractions and everything in between.  I'm not the best writer, but I'll be honest about the experience and if each place lives up to its hype.  Adam and I are Food Network junkies, and we go to as many restaurants as possible from "Best Thing I Ever Ate" or "Diners, Drive-Ins, and Dives," so you'll probably get quite a few reviews of restaurants.  Other than that, I'll try to give an honest and fair perspective of the places we go, as well as include a few pictures so you can decide for yourself.