Happy New Year!

Peter’s first radio show of 2010 is coming to us from The Ritz-Carlton, Dove Mountain in Marana, Arizona, just outside of Tucson.

From spectacular scenery to memorable Mexican food, we asked the locals about some of their favorite places in this oasis of the Sonoran desert.

Yvonne Morris, Executive Director, Pima Air Space Museum & Titan Missile Museum

Visitors shouldn’t miss Café Poca Cosa in downtown Tucson. It has a bistro atmosphere and an upscale Mexican menu that changes daily. I recommend the Chef’s Plate which allows you to sample three entrees that are the chef’s choice. Their salsa is some of the best in the Southwest in my opinion. I recommend reservations for dinner and note that it’s closed on Sundays.

Teresa’s Mosaic Café sits up on hill on the west end of Tucson on Silverbell Avenue, and it offers great views of the city. Their flour tortillas are homemade, as is the lemonade. It’s the best place in Tucson for calabacitas (squash) and mole. It’s a little out of the way and tucked in behind a carwash and the parking can be tight, but it’s worth it!

For fantastic Mexican pastries and tortillas, I recommend El Rio Bakery on North Grande Avenue. It’s where the locals stop on the way to work for that great morning pick-me-up of fresh made pan dulce (Mexican sweet breads), empanadas, pan de huevo (egg bread), and cochinitos (pig-shaped gingerbread cookies). They also have excellent burritos and their caldo con queso (soup made with chicken stock and cheese) is smooth and rich. It’s also very inexpensive.

Everyone should visit the Saguaro National Park. It’s a great place to hike and is the best place to really experience the grandeur of the Saguaro cactus. Once you’re there, Gates Pass is the best place to see a Tucson sunset and it has some of the best hiking around.

Need a place to stay in Tucson that’s allergy-free? Don’t miss Lodging Au Naturel: Allergy-Free Rooms With a Green Touch.

Paul J. Lawton, Film Historian, Pyro Tech, Gun Wrangler, and author of Old Tucson Studios’ – Images of America

One of my favorite places to take out-of-towners is the Mission San Xavier, just south of Tucson. It is a classic Spanish mission, founded and built in the 1700s. We call it the “White Dove of the Desert.” In addition to the building as a working church, it has been used in several films and was the Don’s house in the old TV series, High Chaparral. Visitors can also take some time and look through booths the Tohono O’odham Indians set up in the parking lot with native crafts and foods.

As for eating out, my wife and I have been dining at a very good Italian restaurant called Caruso’s which is located on North 4th Ave in Tucson. As far as we’re concerned, it’s the best Italian food in town.

When we are feeling a little more extravagant, we go Daisy Mae’s Steakhouse in its original location on West Anklam Road. It’s the only place I will eat ribeye steak without steak sauce!

I hike the various trails in the Tucson Mountains. There is a good, fairly short hike along Picture Rock Road starting in the Saguaro National Park that ends up at some Indian rock art.

Another short trip from town, which is a must during the summer, is to drive up Mt. Lemmon, just on the north side of Tucson, which has lots of great hiking trails. The upper part of the mountain is a pine forest and temperatures run in the 70s when Tucson is at 105 degrees. And here’s a little-known fact about Mt. Lemmon: it has the southernmost ski area in the 48 continental states.

Another great reason to visit: 5 Places to Catch Baseball’s Spring Training.

Another must-visit includes the Arizona Sonora Desert Museum, a world-class zoo that displays the animals and plants of the Sonoran desert in natural habitats.

And don’t miss the Pima Air & Space Museum, which has a large collection of historical aircraft. While there, a shuttle takes visitors to the storage facility on Davis-Monthan Air Force Base. An auxiliary site to the air museum is the Titan Missile Museum in Green Valley, an underground facility that is the only publicly accessible Titan II missile site in the nation.

Traveling to Arizona? Don’t miss this Report From Bisbee, Arizona.

Check out more from this series in our Ask the Locals Travel Guides section.

And don’t miss this fantastic slideshow: Landscape Photography in Arizona.