Forget hipster hotels and trendy restaurants. In Yuma, it’s the plucky locals who make this town a worthy weekend getaway.
By Jessica Dunham | Photography By Mirelle Inglefield
When Tyler Woodman peels the rind from a lemon growing on his 900-acre citrus grove, it unspools cleanly, in one perfect spiral. The rind is thick but malleable, the fruit drenched in juice. It’s the most delicious lemon I’ve ever tasted – tangy and zesty, tart and punchy. Woodman tells me this is because the fruit has been left to fully mature on the tree. Given the freedom to do its own thing, the lemon ripens into a fever pitch of flavor.
As a commercial grower, Woodman – a Yuma native and co-owner of his family’s multigenerational farm enterprise, one of many in this giant agricultural hub – doesn’t get the luxury of allowing produce to “do its own thing.” Big business mandates that fruit is plucked early, transited quickly. That’s why he launched The Lemon Grove in 2022, a roadside farmstand where local growers can sell the freshest of their crops, those goods that aren’t packaged and shipped, and Woodman can offer up his lemons and oranges and tangelos at peak piquancy.
“Yuma grows the most delicious food in the United States, yet nobody gets to taste it at its best,” Woodman says. “Except here.”
At first, I presume Woodman’s passion to showcase Yuma – the home he loves, the place he knows is more than a stopover on the way to some shinier destination – is a trait specific to him alone. After all, this city of 98,000 residents, located in the remote desert where Arizona, California and Mexico converge, rarely scores Condé Nast travel profiles or appears on popular must-visit lists.
But after exploring the town’s locally owned offerings and meeting the people behind the places, I soon realize this passion is, well, a Yuman thing.
“And that’s how I ended up living in carnie town,” Joe Alberts says to me.
“Carnie town?” I ask.
“Gibsonton. In Florida. Where the circus people live.”
We’re sitting in Sunny’s Book Truck, a store (not a truck) in Downtown Yuma owned by Alberts’ daughter, CJ Alberts. Joe is holding court telling behind-the-curtain stories of his life as a career carnival worker: fistfights and hook-ups, a brush with the law, navigating long-distance fatherhood.
I Google Gibsonton later, and sure enough, it’s a town near Tampa where carnival industry folk winter in the off-season – a place The Guardian once fondly called “the last freakshow town in America.” These days, Joe winters in Yuma, pitching in at his daughter’s store. CJ says Joe, an affable, tattooed, 70-something she describes as “zany and one of a kind,” is the real draw for regulars. But that’s being humble. People love Sunny’s Book Truck because it’s easily one of the most interesting and intentionally curated bookstores in the Southwest, a feast of surprising titles (each hand-picked by CJ) across genres and from diverse voices (think Elena Ferrante, Melissa Broder and Tucson-based Caroline Tracey). My favorite section: Weird Little Books, CJ’s collection of delightfully strange novellas from indie presses.
“I want [the store] to be a point of discovery,” CJ says. “I hope everyone coming in here gets to experience something they haven’t before.”
Born and raised in Yuma, CJ started Sunny’s in Oregon as an actual book truck but soon returned to Arizona, bringing the yellow Japanese mini truck with her, to cultivate a literary community in her hometown. She hosts an impressive lineup of popular events (book clubs, trivia nights, Joe’s bracelet-making sessions) and author readings, which have been successful thanks to CJ’s tireless pitching of Yuma to publishers as a must-stop on author press tours. The crux of her pitch? Yumans.
“We have such an enthusiastic base here,” CJ explains. “They are ready to show up and engage.”
To experience how locals “show up” – literally and figuratively – I’m told to visit the funky-vibed Cafecito across the street from Sunny’s. Owners Travis and Ashley Krizay are Yuma natives who transformed a mobile coffee trailer into a 10,000-square-foot, indoor-outdoor coffee bar and eatery. As I wait for my iced corchata, I watch a steady stream of people pour through the doors, waving hello and stopping for a hug from the Krizays.
That’s the literal part. The figurative part, I learn later from the couple, is that none of this – the thoughtfully rehabbed building Cafecito calls home, the locally sourced fare on the menu – would have been possible without their fellow Yumans.
“In the summer of 2018 we lost our son to an accident,” Travis tells me. “We were working on this brick and mortar, and when our son passed, we wanted to walk away. It felt impossible. But the community rallied to make this happen. Now we want to take care of the people who took care of us.”
The couple launched The Atticus Kindness Project, a nonprofit that raises funds to support local families facing hardships. Cafecito plays host to these fundraising events, as well as serves as a happening spot for First Friday outings and other showcases of local talent.
No matter the time of day, the place positively hums with activity – baristas steaming drinks, a DJ spinning 1990s hip hop, moms with kids meeting for play dates – and it’s clear that Travis and Ashley have created the heart center of a town for all walks of life.
“We’re open to everyone,” Travis says. “We’re a box of misfit toys here, and that’s how we like it.”
I find a similar open-arms spirit in Nikki Burns. Burns is a native Yuman and owner of Nikki’s Chickies, her honey-product and farm-goods store near Cafecito. Burns likes people too, but she’s a self-described animal lover. Cats, dogs, rabbits, chickens – she adores them all.
“Growing up, I’d bring home random animals all the time,” she laughs.
Then came the bees. In 2017, Burns’ father-in-law asked her to check on some beehives, thinking the insects were dead. They were, in fact, very much alive, and furious that Burns dare disturb them. They attacked. But where most people might flee in terror, Burns was fascinated.
“They’re amazing,” she says. “I love how brilliant they are, how hard they work. I wanted to learn everything about them.”
And she did, finding a mentor to teach her about caring for bees. The hobby soon turned into a bee-rescue service, and eventually a honey production operation of some 150 hives. Burns takes care of the bees herself and says their honey is particularly unique due to Yuma’s low moisture – a light, never-thick consistency with a floral, sweet taste. She welcomes people to Nikki’s Chickies Friday through Sunday to purchase the honey along with eggs from Burns’ chickens, homemade goods like lemon bread and carrot cake, plus gifts from local makers.
“The best part of my day is knowing that a little bit of Yuma is in people’s homes,” Burns says. She pauses, thinking: “That and taking care of bees. I love when it’s just me and the bees!”
Later, I’m back at The Lemon Grove, standing in the shade in a city known as the “sunniest place on Earth.” (Like, literally. Climatologists identified Yuma as the sunniest incorporated settlement on the planet, receiving more than 4,000 hours of sunshine a year.)
Woodman’s citrus groves sprawl in every direction. In the nearly five years since opening, The Lemon Grove has expanded from a simple produce stand to a year-round hangout where guests sit at picnic tables to nosh on sandwiches and salads – possibly the freshest in the U.S. – from the on-site restaurant; where yoga classes take place in a stand of lemon trees, a peacock or two strutting by; and where, come sunset, musicians play to crowds on a string-lit stage. Shifting 10 percent of his citrus trees from commercial use to retail use has allowed Woodman to bolster his family’s farm business, yes. But also, and perhaps more significantly, to create a space for Yumans to celebrate what makes this oft-misunderstood town so special – them.
“I get a lot of people thanking me for this,” Woodman says. “But I tell them that none of it means anything without them.”
A Yuman’s Guide for Where To…
Eat
Savor breakfast at the tree-shaded Garden Café (250 S. Madison Ave., 928-783-1491, gardencafeyuma.com), where the homemade quiches are nothing short of perfection. For dinner, sample Yuma’s famous Kamman sausage, a local staple best enjoyed with spicy coleslaw, at Prison Hill Brewing (278 S. Main St., 928-276-4001, prisonhill.com).
Sleep
The newish outpost of Home2 Suites by Hilton (155 N. Madison Ave., 928-783-0057, hilton.com) anchors Yuma’s walkable downtown and boasts river views to boot. From $129.
Play
The Yuma Art Center & Historic Yuma Theatre (254 S. Main St., 928-373-5202, yumaaz.gov) hosts First Fridays in Downtown Yuma, as well as cult-favorite events like Rocky Horror Picture Show screenings (Oct. 24), the comics and pop culture fest YumaCon (Nov. 7-8) and Yuma Rocks (Sept. 11), a showcase of regional rock bands.
Shop
Pay a visit to The Maples Apothecary (261 S. Main St., 928-318-7332, themaplesco.com) for rare houseplants, odd taxidermy and hand-poured candles, then pop over to Revival Fix (281 S. Main St., 928-373-7063, revivalfix.com) for the coolest selection of vintage fashion. Call ahead to make an appointment at Tomkins Pottery (78 W. Second St., 928-750-1195, tomkinspottery.com) as much to browse the sculptural functional art as to meet owners and artists George and Neely Tomkins – 1970s-era Yuma transplants with fascinating pasts.
Drink
It’s all dive bars or saloons in this town. For the former, try The Alement (179 E. First St., 928-782-6200) or Jimmie Dee’s (38 W. Second St., 928-783-5647). For the latter, head underground to the historic Red’s Bird Cage (231 S. Main St., 928-783-1050).
