If you’ve searched for Tucson recommendations online, chances are you’ve come across Tucson Love Letter created by Gloria Knott. This rising influencer was born and raised in Tucson, using social media platforms to share the magic of the
Old Pueblo with her thousands of followers—a following she earned from hard work.
It all started with a journalism degree from The University of Arizona and a job as a reporter, producer, and editor at the Arizona Daily Star. After seven years, she stepped away from the newspaper to start her own business focused on the place she came to love.
“When I was a teenager, I wanted to live somewhere greener or near the beach so badly. Through my work, I realized that my hometown is an incredible city,” she said. “The food, the monsoons, the art—but more than anything, the people are warm and welcoming.”
She started by surveying more than 80 Tucsonans to understand what they wanted from the media. The result is Tucson Love Letter. She uses her channels and events to highlight local businesses, artists, restaurants, and locals, encouraging meaningful connections across the city.
Now, she’s a proud ambassador for the city she once dreamed of leaving. Here are but a few of the ways you can experience Tucson to see what keeps her here.
By Tucson Guide Editor Stacey Gregory
Photos by Leslie Burbidge
Gloria’s Tastes of Tucson
If she only had one day in Tucson, Gloria says there are two places you just have to go to.
“Start with the King Kong breakfast with extra Gouda sauce at Baja Café. It’s this mashup of just all the best breakfast favorites on one plate,” she said. “You have to try Tacos Apson. I love their barbacoa and carne asada, but my go-to is just a very simple bean taco. They call it the Taco Chino, and it’s a dollar, which is crazy.”
For drinks, Chappopin Café’s Cuban and Mexican coffee traditions are underrated. For tea, her go-to is the Cloud Tea at Scented Leaf Tea House, made with yerba mate, black tea, butterfly tea, and sweet cream. When you’re looking for sweet treats, she can’t pick just one thing at Houlden’s Rise Above. Every item on their menu of scratch-made vegan pastries hits the spot.
Gloria’s Tour of Tucson
Perhaps the most surprising thing to do on her must-do list involves bats. A colony of Mexican free-tailed bats lives beneath the North Campbell Avenue bridge over the Rillito River during the summer. Thousands of bats emerge at sunset, creating a surprisingly spectacular show against the desert sky. September is peak viewing season, when the pups join the nightly flights before migrating to Mexico in October for the winter.
Catching a sunset is a quintessential thing to do in Southern Arizona. She says to go to Gates Pass in the Tucson Mountain Park or from a hiking trail lined with towering saguaros. She loves to hike Sabino Dam and Sabino Canyon, especially after it rains.
When it comes to shopping, Gloria loves to support local makers and businesses at some of Tucson’s most creative shops. Arizona Poppy carries more than 70 local makers and is one of Gloria’s first stops for gifts, home goods, and desert-inspired finds. She rarely leaves without a bundle of fresh creosote, which she hangs in her shower to release its signature desert scent.
Not only can you pick up handcrafted soy candles and other products made by local artists at Di Luna Candles + Goods, but you can also connect with the community at hands-on workshops and events hosted here. Yōlia Botánica is a colorful, Mexican-inspired metaphysical shop filled with plants, crystals, and unique treasures, and Warm Shape is packed with playful artwork and unexpected finds.
“If you’ve never been to Warm Shape, you gotta go,” she said. “There’s so much absurd art that doesn’t make sense, but it does make sense. I love that it’s very unserious and that it’s just fun.”