PHOENIX -- Sometimes, though admittedly less so as life gets more complicated, vacations just happen.

Most of the time, they are planned well in advance. My normal Spring Training work/fun trip to Arizona, for example, starts being bandied about right around the time we hop on the plane ride home.

But this long weekend with my wife and two friends of ours sprung from a simple e-mail from our contact at the Sheraton Crescent Hotel in Phoenix, where the OnMilwaukee.com junket stayed last March. He said something to the extent of, "Hey, you guys should come and visit."

Sold.

There wasn't much of a work component to this trip, though we began the dialogue of planning out a promotion for the readers of OnMilwaukee.com to stay at the Sheraton Crescent. It's the closest, best option to Maryvale for Brewers fans, after all, and our group really likes this place. It's not the fanciest hotel in which we've stayed, but it's clean, comfortable and friendly, and with a great pool and superlative location for spring training fun, we were delighted to be extended an invitation to visit.

But in the many, many times I've visited the Phoenix area, this was only the second time I came when baseball wasn't being played. In other words, I knew what to do after dark, but not so much during the day.

Which made the trip fun, impromptu and different. We spent the first day lounging poolside, but we spent the second day visiting Taliesen West, the amazing winter home of Wisconsin's own Frank Lloyd Wright. While I took this tour back in 2004, it was great to revisit it again. It's a pricey at $32 for 90 minutes, but I found it well worth it.

We also drove to Apache Junction to visit the hilariously yet wonderfully cheesy Goldfield Ghost Town, which was the kind of activity I'd wanted to try since first seeing "Vacation" as a kid. Goldfield was pretty fun, actually, with mock gunfights and a combination of genuine and replicated Old West buildings. Lunch, however, was mediocre and expensive -- though considering that admission to Goldfield is free, I can hardly complain.

While in Apache Junction, we also stopped at a few local shops and drove through the scenic Lost Dutchman State Park. I only wish we had more time, as I would've loved to take a hike around Tonto National Forest and further explore this frontier outpost. Next time.

Nighttime activities were easy to find, and it was cool to show my wife around our regular Scottsdale and Tempe haunts, like Hotel Valley Ho, Coach House and Four Peaks. Realizing that the significant others might not appreciate places like Fat Tuesday as much as us slovenly guys do, we also tried nicer places like Phoenix's The Vig and Postino wine bar. And, since the Packers game was unmissable, us guys camped out at Dos Gringos while the ladies spent four hours waiting for the allegedly best pizza in the world (says Oprah) at Phoenix's Pizzeria Bianco.

It was a nice reinvention of a trip that at times feels like "Groundhog Day." We mixed in old and new, and had a spectacular dinner at the hotel's Indigo Bistro. While you might not visit this restaurant if you weren't staying at the hotel, it might the kind of place that could convince you to stay at the Crescent: their new chef prepared dinners so delicious and reasonably priced that I had to ask myself where I was dining. No kidding; it was that good.

Side note: In case you're wondering (as I was), there were signs everywhere that the people of Phoenix were quite moved by the recent shooting in nearby Tuscon. While it wasn't the main topic of discussion, everyone talked about it. Flags sat at half-staff everyone, and digital billboards were converted into makeshift tributes. It was the only sad part of this trip, though it put a spotlight on the this state's unique attitude on gun control, and we noticed many posters around the area declaring where firearms were and were not prohibited.

A three-day (plus one for travel), well-behaved trip to Arizona in January was just what the doctor ordered -- especially since it forced me to do stuff other than devote day after day to glorious baseball.

But it also left me wanting for more. As the temperatures climbed over 70, I realized that pitchers and catchers report in less than a month. I already can't wait to be back.