Las Noches de las Luminarias at the Desert Botanical Garden in late fall. I enjoy walking through the Garden at night, enjoying hot chocolate. It’s so peaceful.

Mary Coyle’s Ice Cream in Phoenix. I’ve lived here my entire life. My dad would tell me when he was a little boy, if he made it home from school on time, his grandmother (my great-grandmother) would give him a nickel so he could run down to Mary Coyle’s and get an ice cream cone. It’s been our family tradition on Christmas Eve to deliver food and gifts to needy families and, afterwards, we all meet up at Mary Coyle’s for a Christmas Eve treat.

There’s a great Valley look-out spot off Shea Boulevard just before Fountain Hills at approximately 136th Street (it’s a right turn off Shea as you head east just before Eagle Mountain Parkway), and you can see the entire East Valley from there. It’s quite breathtaking. —Cara Langley’s, Arizona Biltmore’s assistant front office manager and former lead concierge and Valley native