As an addendum to my last post – What This Scottsdale Gal is Doing for the Fourth of July – I wanted to add a couple details I found were missing from the parade’s official site, arcadiaparade.com. I emailed the parade chairperson, Johanna Boslin, and received a very kind response from her. Here, find details on parking, the exact parade route, the potluck breakfast and where Johanna recommends we sit for optimal parade viewing.

Parade Route: The parade route starts and ends at Jokake and Calle Tuberia. It heads west on Calle Tuberia to 58th Street, then south on 58th street (short block) to Calle Del Paisano, east on Calle Del Paisano, short jog to Calle Rosa, continue east to 62nd street, go north to Calle Tuberia (short blocks) then west on Calle Tuberia back to the parade start. It is about a mile for the route.

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Parking: Most of the neighbors know we have a parade that day, and park their cars in the driveways and carport and garages off the street. And most parade participants walk or ride their bikes to the start, so there is not a lot of cars and parking except for the volunteers and sponsors. You should have no problem parking on the streets close by, but we would appreciate no parking on the parade route.

Where to Sit: You will have the best luck for shade on Calle Tuberia, and go to the parade end. The conjestion at Jokake and Calle Tuberia is unbelievable. As a parade watcher, you can probably bring your lawn chairs and sit right on the street.

Potluck Breakfast and Aprés Parade: Please join us after the parade for the potluck breakfast. Safeway provides water and ice, and Bandera’s brings warm cornbread, cookies and ice cold lemonaide, Einstein Bagels gives us bagels, and a lot of neighbors bring homemade everything… Please join us for that and the fire dept. hooking up the hose and cooling everyone off.

A personal post… Knowing all the terrific Independence Day celebration options available to us throughout the state of Arizona, my husband and I have given a lot of thought to how we wanted to spend our holiday. I’d written an earlier post giving Arizona visitors and travelers some 4th of July event ideas, but what was my family going to do? The idea for this blog post was born: What does a Scottsdale resident and mother of a toddler plan to do on the Fourth of July?

We ruled out the Tempe Town Lake Festival (or any fireworks displays) because our 18-month old will never be able to hang out for hours in the heat then stay awake past sunset.

Next we seriously considered driving up to Flagstaff on Thursday night and getting up for their awesome parade on Friday morning; I even found there are still Flagstaff hotels available between $90 and $170/night. The idea only got nixed because on a late Thursday afternoon work obligation that would put us right in the thick of I-17 Northbound holiday traffic, which could get hairy, especially with the current fire conditions around Crown King/Mayer, Arizona.

The potential wildfire and traffic trouble also ruled out our third idea to stay in town for the Fourth but travel up to Prescott for their Frontier Days/World’s Oldest Rodeo Parade on Saturday the 5th. Sigh…

Then, Jackpot! I remembered that our former neighborhood, the popular section of Phoenix known as Arcadia, hosts a charming, old-fashioned Arcadia Fourth of July Parade. A-ha! That’s it! This neighborhood parade, now in its 12th year, features kids, adults and pets in festively decorated cars, strollers, scooters, bikes and tricycles.

Arcadia’s boundaries are roughly 32nd Street on the west, Camelback Road to the north, 68th Street to the east and Thomas Rd to the south. Marked by mid-century architecture, mature trees and green lawns, it’s a favorite Phoenix village that’s been lovingly maintained and respectfully gentrified by Arizona natives and young, affluent families.

So you can bet we’ll be setting up our lawn chairs and blankets along the shady, tree-lined streets of Arcadia at 8:00am. Get maps and more detailed information about the parade, route, and corresponding potluck breakfast at www.arcadiaparade.com. Hope to see you there!

Photo source: arcadiaparade.com