Growing up amid the pines and rolling foothills of North Carolina formed my concept of beauty in nature. I loved what I knew. My family had a cabin in Ashe County, North Carolina, so the New River and the mountains surrounding it were also benchmarks of beauty.

As I got a little older, trips to Myrtle Beach and the North Carolina coast allowed me to appreciate the white sand meeting the vast ocean, the shimmer of water in the sun and the sensation of standing perfectly still on the sand as water rushed around my feet, leaving me balancing on a tiny patch of wet sand.

Traveling the world has broadened my concept of beauty in nature. I think that’s the reason I’ve never been homesick. Beauty is everywhere, in a million forms. That revelation came to me not long after I moved to Texas. There wasn’t a pine tree or rolling hill in sight, just flat land everywhere I looked and the widest sky. Driving in rural Grimes County, Texas, on a late afternoon, I was struck by how beautiful it truly was. And I realized that a place didn’t have to be home to be beautiful.

I fell in love with the desert more than 20 years ago. Before I went to Las Vegas for the first time (in June yet!), friends warned me about extreme heat and barren landscape. But when I got there, all I saw was amazing craggy mountains, expansive desert and the most beautiful, blazing sunsets.

I was lucky enough to get to the desert in winter, too. In December 2007, I spent about a week in Phoenix. It was a lovely time to be there; the days were warm and sunny, the nights were clear and cool. Back in the 1920s, Phoenix was recognized as an alternative to winters in Florida. After being there in December, I understand why.

The Arizona Biltmore

Charles and Warren McArthur, scions of a wealthy Chicago family, arrived in the Arizona desert in the second decade of the 20th century with big ideas. The territory had just become the 48th state and the brothers were ahead of the boom, opening a string of Dodge dealerships, the first car lots in Arizona.

But the McArthur brothers wanted to do more than just sell cars. They had escaped the brutal Chicago winter, and they felt that warm, dry Phoenix had a climate other Northerners could appreciate.

The McArthurs set out to create a desert resort that would become a magnet for the wealthy Jazz Age social set.  With help from their architect brother, Albert McArthur, they started building the fabulous Arizona Biltmore, a Frank Lloyd Wright-inspired destination in the Sonoran Desert at the foot of the Phoenix Mountain Preserve.

Great idea. Bad timing.

The dazzling hotel opened in February 1929, just eight months before the stock market crash. The McArthurs tried to hold on, but within a year, they gave control of the Arizona Biltmore to an investor, William Wrigley, the chewing gum and baseball magnate.

Wrigley died in 1932, but the Arizona Biltmore stayed in family hands until the 1970s. The resort has long been a playground for the rich and famous – Ronald and Nancy Reagan honeymooned there; Sandra Day O’Connor was married in the Aztec Room and John McCain held his wedding reception in the same elegant room with the gold-leaf paint. Irving Berlin wrote “White Christmas” by one of the resort’s many swimming pools, and every sitting president since 1929 (except Obama)has vacationed there.

Eightysome years later, the prescience of the McArthur brothers is astounding. Where others saw a rough-and-tumble western town, the McArthurs saw luxury and glamour. Indeed they were correct – the Phoenix area offers 19 AAA Four Diamond lodgings and six Five Diamond lodgings. Few metropolitan areas can match that total.

The Biltmore is a sprawling property, with 740 rooms, 78 villas, eight swimming pools and seven tennis courts. It’s said that Irving Berlin wrote “White Christmas” sitting by a pool at the Biltmore. Marilyn Monroe called the pool at the Biltmore her favorite.

When you go to the Biltmore, it’s easy to imagine it in his glory days.

And being there in winter is perfect because you can enjoy the day and night. When visitors come in the summer, I was told, they often sleep the day away to escape the punishing sun. So going to Phoenix in winter or spring makes great sense.

Whether your interest is hiking, cultural enrichment, sightseeing, golf, shopping, sports or just cooling off by the pool, there’s a resort in the Phoenix area that’s just right for you.

We crossed the sprawling Valley of the Sun to settle into another resort, the 248-room Radisson Fort McDowell Resort and Casino, on the far edge of Scottsdale, near Fountain Hills. The hotel, which opened in 2005, is on the desert  land of the Fort McDowell Yavapai Nation. It’s charming and warm with a light-filled, two-story rock-walled lobby that has a welcoming lodge-y feel. Outdoor pools and hot tubs are open 24 hours. Sitting in a chaise lounge watching the sunset in a blazing palette of purple, pink, orange and blue is an unforgettable experience. Grab a jacket, though – when the sun goes down, the temperature drops and a chill sets in quickly.

Step outside the hotel lobby, walk a curving path and down a staircase, and you’ll see the Fort McDowell Casino, run by the Fort McDowell Yavapai Nation. Open 24 hours a day, the casino features blackjack, poker and 775 slot machines. Each hotel guest gets a $10 casino credit; we used ours after 11 p.m. one weeknight and turned it into $158 cash within 30 minutes.

The lights of Noches de las Luminarias

But what I loved most in Phoenix may have been a night at the Desert Botanical Gardens, a 50-acre showcase for more than 50,000 plants and flowers, including 139 rare and endangered species. If you’re visiting Phoenix around the holidays, don’t miss the Botanical Garden’s annual Las Noches de las Luminarias. More than 7,000 tiny white lights are placed on plants and along trails in the gardens; another 8,000 are in bags placed along the winding sidewalks. Entertainers ranging from swing groups to jazz bands perform throughout the park.  Visitors gather, sip wine and cider and enjoy the music from 5:30 to 9:30 p.m. This year, the event starts Dec. 9.

In the spring, the Garden’s Marshall Butterfly Pavilion sponsors an exhibit celebrating the diversity of the North American butterfly.

For a taste of Southwestern culture, a trip to the Heard Museum is a must. The Heard houses an amazing collection of Native American art, including handmade pottery, jewelry, baskets and kachina figurines carved by Hopi Indians.

Frank Lloyd Wright's "desert camp"

Architectural icon Frank Lloyd Wright’s work inspired the Arizona Biltmore, and Wright’s consulting work on the hotel drew him to the Phoenix area. He decided to stay, constructing a winter home in the foothills of the McDowell Mountains in Scottsdale. Visitors can tour the property, but don’t expect a traditional museum setting. The tour is about 90 minutes in length, and there’s not a velvet rope in sight to keep people off the furniture and carpets. Instead, visitors are encouraged to sit on the Wright-designed furniture and get a feel for the complex that was Wright’s home in the final years of his life. Taliesin West now is home to an architecture school that bears Wright’s name and about 70 people live on the 600-acre “desert camp.” If you’re a Wright fan, as I am, you will love seeing his work and experiencing how he lived.