Photo: Volodymyr Tverdokhlib/Shutterstock

15 Things Arizonans Are Weirdly Passionate About

Arizona
by Angela Orlando Oct 3, 2017

1. Local homemade tortillas

Most of us have our favorite tortilleria.

2. Chihuahuas and pit bulls

Arizonan animal shelters have the entire spectrum of both breeds.

3. Hot springs

We’ll hike for miles through the forest to soak in our own hidden bathing spot.

4. The Wild West

We keep shootout reenactments going and abandoned mining ghost towns alive.

5. Out of business mattress stores and new antique stores

There seem to be one of each on every corner.

6. Eegee’s frozen fruit drinks

Everyone looks forward to their favorite Flavor of the Month, and U of A students know that they all taste scrumptious with vodka.

7. Rodeos

Tucson school kids get two days off in February for Rodeo Week.

8. Law enforcement

Joe Arpaio and the Arizona Rangers — while that might be a great band name, those two entities are our two deepest fears.

9. Design

We are in love with our vintage art deco signage, Airstreams, Modernism, and restoring historic adobes.

10. Biggggg vehicles

Much needed to see past all the other giant gas hogs on the highway.

11. The weather

We can tell you how hot or cold it is to the degree — and the chance of rain by the way the air smells.

12. El Jefe

We’d all love to be able to spot this elusive guy or the other two jaguars roaming through the Southern Arizona Sky Islands.

13. Salsa

We basically drink it.

14. The origin of the chimichanga

That healthiest of foods may or may not have been the result of a happy accident by Monica Flin, the owner El Charro, in Tucson — the nation’s oldest Mexican restaurant. Rumor has it that Flin accidentally dropped a burrito into her deep-fryer in the early 1920s while she was cooking, and voila! Heart attack! Phoenix-based Woody Johnson, the owner of what’s now Macayo’s, claimed that same fortunate accident happened to him in 1946. Still, others claim the fried burrito is a traditional brainchild of Pima Native Americans and has been around for a long, long time. We don’t know for sure where it comes from, but we love eating chimichangas — and talking about them.

15. The Sonoran hot dog

Southern Arizonans are practically wedded to this special dog. Who wouldn’t fall in love with a hot dog wrapped in bacon and topped with diced tomatoes, onions, beans, mayonnaise or crema, and mustard?

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