Santa Cruz County Heritage Foundation Events for April
April 11: Presidio District Tour: Part 1, 9:30am - 11:30am, hosted by Presidio San Agustin del Tucson, 196 N Court Ave, Tucson.
April 18: Birding Canoa Ranch, 8am - 10am, hosted by the Historic Canoa Ranch, 5375 I-19 Frontage Rd, Green Valley.
April 19: Tucson Earth Day Festival and FREE Day, 9am - 1pm, hosted by the Childrens Museum Tucson, Childrens Museum Tucson, Tucson. Visit our table at this event to play our match game!
April 20: Santa Cruz Watershed Day of Connection, 9am-12pm, hosted by Tucson Clean and Beautiful, Location TBD, Tucson.
April 25: SRER Discovery Friday Spring Seminar Series, 10am - 11am, hosted by the University of Arizona, Santa Rita Experimental Range, Green Valley.
BCA EVENTS IN APRIL
- Tuesday, April 15: Cross-Border Day Tour: Magdalena, Sonora. A visit to Magdalena today reflects the culture of a small town in Sonora, MX as it has been for centuries. On this full-day tour, we will stop at the village of San Ignacio to visit the Misión San Ignacio de Cabórica, the picturesque main plaza of Magdalena, Father Kino’s shrine, the church of Santa Maria Magdalena, and the Municipal Palace, to view the murals depicting the history of Mexico. Fee: $185/members; $205 non-members includes van transportation from Tubac, and an authentic Sonoran meal. THIS TOUR IS SOLD OUT - THERE IS A WAITING LIST.
- Wednesday, April 23: Cross-Border Day Tour: Nogales, Sonora. Visit our partner nonprofit organizations in Nogales, eat lunch at Burrito Hass, learn about the city of Nogales, Sonora (past, present, future) and have coffee & dessert at La Roca. Learn about the value of “social investment” in cultivating community with our neighbors to the South. All day tour, meeting at 8:30am in Nogales, AZ. Tour fee: $95/ members; $105/ non-members
- Friday, April 25, 9am-12:30pm: Day Tour: Tucson Desert Art Museum. The Tucson Desert Art Museum’s mission is to ‘'Visualize History Through Art". The Tucson Desert Art Museum is located at 7000 E. Tanque Verde Rd in Tucson. This is a private docent-led tour with time at the end to explore the museum’s many galleries on your own. Funded in part by a grant from the Santa Cruz Valley National Heritage Area (SCVNHA) and the Santa Cruz Community Foundation. $15 Tour fee includes van transportation from Green Valley.
- Tuesday, April 29: Cross-Border Day Tour: Nogales, Sonora. Visit our partner nonprofit organizations in Nogales, eat lunch at Burrito Hass, learn about the city of Nogales, Sonora (past, present, future) and have coffee & dessert at La Roca.. All day tour, meeting at 8:30am in Nogales, AZ. Tour fee: $95/ members; $105/ non-members.
- Wednesday, April 30, 2025, 9:30am-1pm: Border Produce Tour: Learn about the ins & outs of the produce (fruits & veggies) industry, the primary economic contributor of Santa Cruz County, and what the impact of tariffs will be directly to the U.S., the U.S. consumer, and why. We'll visit Borderlands Produce Rescue, a non-profit organization that eliminates wasted produce going to the landfill, and then Chamberlain Distributing, a produce company, and meet with Jaime Chamberlain, CEO, and Board member of the Greater Nogales Port Authority. Tour fee: $20 fee includes van transportation from Tubac. Meet at 9:30am at the BCA office, 8 Burruel St., in Tubac. Funded in part by a grant from the Santa Cruz Valley National Heritage Area (SCVNHA) and the Santa Cruz Community Foundation.
- Wednesday, May 7: Cross-Border Day Tour: Nogales, Sonora. Visit our partner nonprofit organizations in Nogales, eat lunch at Burrito Hass, learn about the city of Nogales, Sonora (past, present, future) and have coffee & dessert at La Roca. Learn about the value of “social investment” in cultivating community with our neighbors to the South. All day tour, meeting at 8:30am in Nogales, AZ. Tour fee: $95/ members; $105/ non-members.
Phone: (520) 398-3229 • Email: info@bordercommunityalliance.org • Office Address: 8 Burruel St., Tubac, AZ
Mailing Address: PO Box 1863, Tubac, AZ 85646
THE BORDER COMMUNITY ALLIANCE TOURS
Executive Chef Saul Diaz makes up a chicken enchilada dish.
Six Tucson restaurants are among Yelp's top spots to eat in the country.
Six Tucson restaurants including one that has been open just over a year landed on Yelp’s 2025 Top 100 Places to Eat in America, a list that Tucson vegan Mexican restaurant Tumerico topped last year.
Tucson’s Baja Cafe at 7002 E. Broadway and 2970 N. Campbell Ave. was the first Tucson restaurant on the 2025 list, coming in at No. 34. Buendia Breakfast & Lunch Cafe, 2530 N. First Ave., landed at No. 38, followed by Tito & Pep, 4122 E. Speedway, at 56; Penelope Pizza, 800 N. Kolb Road, at 65; and The Parish, 6453 N. Oracle Road, at 69.
The big surprise on the list was Tucson’s innovative, upscale La Frida Mexican Grill & Seafood, which has only been open since December 2023, located at 7230 E. 22nd St.
La Frida broke the Top 50 at No. 41, likely driven by Yelp reviews that praised its unique twists on classic Mexican specialties including Aguachile de Ribeye, a dish normally centered on shrimp.
“A lot of the things we come up with is from our chef Saul Diaz, who’s from Mexico,” General Manager Jesus Arana said, describing a recent Diaz creation — cheese ceviche with cucumber, green tomato and onions — that was hit with diners.
Arana’s mother, Claudia Vindiola, opened La Frida, which draws inspiration from her family’s restaurant in her native Magdalena, Mexico, and from dishes she has experienced throughout Mexico. The molé Magdelena, a complex sauce that employs 37 ingredients, takes its cues from Oaxaca while seafood dishes are inspired by meals Vindiola had in Baja California.
Diaz plates every dish with precision and an emphasis on beauty, something that hasn’t gone unnoticed by diners posting Yelp reviews.
“We try to put a lot of new innovative twists in our food as far as presentation and stepping out of the box,” said Arana, giving a lot of the menu’s credit to Chef Diaz, who he said “is the hands and my mom is the brains.”
La Frida’s marked its one-year anniversary by recently expanding, growing from 48 seats to 84 after knocking down a wall in the dining room. But Arana said there are still wait times.
“Sometimes people wait 45 minutes to three hours, and they don’t leave,” he said.
The six Tucson restaurants on this year’s Yelp list is two more than we had last year. Baja Cafe was No. 50 last year and Buendia was 39.
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Explore: Your Spirituality
St. ANN'S PARRISH in Tubac Village Location: 11 Calle Iglesia Tubac.
Mass
5:PM- Saturday
9:AM- Sunday
Arizona's Beautiful State Parks
VISIT ARIZONA STATE PARKS
Buenos Aires National Wildlife Refuge- Arivaca
Enjoy THE VIEW - Ruby Road to Pena Blanca Lake, Arivaca.
BISBEE - JUST 2 HOURS AWAY !
BISBEE BY DAY by DAVID DAY
BISBEE BY NIGHT by DAVID DAY
Town of Patagonia 45 min from Tubac
patagonia, AZ -see stunning green hills, a BIRD SANCTUARY & a HISTORICAL RANCH museum.
patagonia, AZ -see stunning green hills, a BIRD SANCTUARY & a HISTORICAL RANCH museum.
patagonia, AZ -see stunning green hills, a BIRD SANCTUARY & a HISTORICAL RANCH museum.
Patagonia State Park lake -hiking, camping and boating, only a few miles from town !
patagonia, AZ -see stunning green hills, a BIRD SANCTUARY & a HISTORICAL RANCH museum.
patagonia, AZ -see stunning green hills, a BIRD SANCTUARY & a HISTORICAL RANCH museum.
