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(Inn Suites location.)
Where: 4 locations:
1. Hotel Tucson City Center Conference Suite Resort (formerly the InnSuites Hote) 475 N. Granada, downtown.
2008 Best Overall Mineral Show (Click here to read why Arizona Bead Dog named this 2008's best mineral show.)
2. Mineral & Fossil Marketplace, 1333 N. Oracle, near Drachman;
3. Ramada Limited, 665 N. Freeway Avenue, near St. Mary’s Rd; and
4. Quality Inn, 1025 E. Benson Highway.
What: A collection mostly of beautiful mineral specimens, rocks of all sizes, and fossils. You’ll find other items, too, like sea shells, beads, and finished jewelry. You may not think you’re interested, but these shows should definitely be near the top of any gem-show sight-seeing list. It's a great place to take visitors and family to see the beauty our Earth holds. See individual reviews below.
Inside or Out: Inside through various hotel rooms and some outside.
Tips: Since there’s not much jewelry or beads here, it may be a show of greater general interest. Seeing minerals in their natural state will increase your appreciation for the beads that are created from them. Take a look at a few articles, essays, and interviews to whet your mineral appetite:
"Why Buy a Rock?"
Dan Goss Anderson's essay, "Rocks."
Dave Waisman's essay, "Why I Collect Minerals--2011 Update."
"Tips for Using Mineral Specimens in Home Design."
Dave Waisman's Open Call to Mineral Collectors Everywhere
2011 show dates: All shows are open over 2 weeks, beginning Saturday, January 29th and running through 3 weekends, but not the last Sunday; instead, most vendors' last day is Saturday, February 12th. (There are a handful of vendors who have signs indicating that they're open through Sunday, February 13th.)
Show hours: 10 a.m. to 6 p.m. all locations, except on the last day, when all locations close at 5 p.m.
For additional information: www.mzexpos.com.
Inn Suites location: 2008 Best Overall Mineral Show
 
What: Huge crystal specimens, cherry wood with petrified wood inlay tables, gemstone art and jewelry in the upstairs lobby, birthstone prints and notecards, mineral specimens of all kinds, shapes and sizes, stone sculptures, lots of books about minerals, lots of trace fossils, a great dinosaur bone (reproduction) display in one of the ballrooms (see for example, www.dinosounds.com), meteorites, seashells, framed insects, bats (a bit creepy), and flying lizards, carved mammoth bone, shark's teeth, gold nuggets, and other interesting items. Mineral exhibitors are in first and second floor rooms around the courtyard and don't forget to visit the rooms on the hotel's east and west side exteriors. Most have glass display cabinets with fine mineral specimens, along with flats of minerals and bulk.
The large grassy courtyard area makes this a pleasant space. Plan on spending at least 2 hours here.
2009 update: Looked like the same robust show it was last year. Enjoy this show in our wonderful weather, and admire the large-scale mineral sculptures and specimens along the property!
Parking: Free and close--directly north of the hotel in a large dirt lot.
Food: Hotel restaurant and bar, and a snack vendor outside in the courtyard.
Rest rooms: In the hotel and on premises in the courtyard corridor area near the ballrooms.
2009 Shuttle routes: Citrine/Tanzanite.
Mineral and Fossil Marketplace location.
(2008 photo of Australian Outback Mining tent, with permission.)
Where: Right at the t-intersection of Oracle and Drachman, and on the west side of the street. (The Executive Inn Hotel and Mineral Show is on the southeast corner of the same intersection, and the Executive Inn Mineral Show tents are on the northeast corner.)
What: This is a nice, mostly outdoor show that boasts 6 very large tents and about 7 smaller ones. Lots of large, chunky mineral specimens here that would look great on an office desk, outside table, or just about anywhere. Most of the dealers were selling by the pound and kilogram (2.2 pounds). You can find quartz, amethyst cathedrals with other crystals growing inside, selenite crystals in matrix, septarian, celestite, and other Madagascar minerals, hunks of polished labradorite, smaller mineral specimens, stone switch-plate covers (in the Sonoran Desert Marketplace), and other items.
Parking: Quite a few spaces; just pull into the entrance (well-marked); if no available spaces, keep driving around the west end of the tents and there's another lot directly south.
Food: A vendor offers cinnamon nuts, coffees, jelly beans, and smoothies.
Restrooms: Portable; there may be one in the main building (Arizona Bead Dog forgot to ask).
2009 Shuttle routes: Citrine/Tanzanite.
(Orbicular granite from Mt. Magnet, Western Australia, offered by Australian Outback Mining.)
Ramada Limited location.
(2008 photo looking north.)
Where: On the frontage road, north of the Carl's Jr. and Days Inn (which starts the Frontage Road shows from the north end).
What: Another location for mineral and fossil hunting. All hotel rooms, upstairs and downstairs--all around the hotel's interior, open courtyard, and exterior perimeter--are open and carry a good variety of items. There's also a row of tents directly east of the hotel, in the parking area, and more tents directly north. You'll find lots of fossil fish in limestone (learn more about one fossil fish story at www.frontierfossils.com, and click on "geology"), cave stalagmites or stalactites, teeth in matrix, 4'-long shivalingum stones (and in all other sizes), amethyst and citrine cathedrals and 2'-wide "bowls," fossil starfish and sea urchins, fossil ivory, animal skulls, huge 2.5' x 2.5' clam shells (a small child could fit inside!), shark jaws, mineral specimens, and many other items such as quartz crystals and Moroccan fossil plates and tables, and dino bones. A nice show to spend a couple of hours at on a warm Tucson day. The area also seemed dog-friendly (don't forget to bring a bag to pick up after your dog). Lots of people here on the weekend.
Parking: It's paved, and there's quite a few spaces around the hotel, around the Denny's directly south, and around a Shell station further south. These locations seemed gem-show friendly, and Arizona Bead Dog did not see any "no parking" signs.
Food: Arizona Bead Dog saw one vendor in the tent area, north of the hotel, offering hot dogs, hamburgers, and nachos. Vending machines around the hotel also had sodas and water.
Restrooms: There's one in the hotel lobby.
2009 Shuttle routes: Citrine/Tanzanite.
Quality Inn location. 
Where: On the northeast corner of Benson Highway and Park Ave.
What: Another nice mineral show offering mineral specimens of all kinds, some Moroccan fossil items, lots of rough rock here (for example, Arizona Bead Dog saw one vendor with lots of rough kyanite), tumbled stones, shivalingums, crystals of all sorts, shapes, and sizes, a few bead strands, and other items, all in hotel rooms surrounding a good-sized open courtyard/pool/grass area. Tents lined the pool and grass area also. You can walk this show from the outside, or from the interior hotel hallways. Dealers were from Russia, China, Brazil, India, and the United States, to name a few countries.
Parking: Paved parking is available around the hotel area, and there's a Country Folks restaurant adjacent (west) of the hotel with some parking.
Food: The Country Folks restaurant--plus, the hotel had snack and drink vending machines scattered throughout.
Restrooms: Located in the Ballroom lobby area.
2009 Shuttle routes: Ruby/Emerald.
(2008 photo showing tables of quartz points and crystals, with permission of Underground Brazil.)
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