Trips: USA – Sedona, Arizona

Where did I go?

• Sedona, Arizona (USA)
• For more info, visit: http://visitsedona.com/

When did I go?

• 5 days, 4 nights in mid-March 2017
• Weather was great
  • 70 degrees in the daytime, 50 degrees in the evening
  • 1 day of rain (very unusual), so we did a lot of site-seeing in the car

Who did I go with?

• Significant Other

Why did I go?

• We both turned 40 in March and wanted a little celebratory get away

• I hate hot weather so it had to be somewhere cool to comfy
• Relaxation
• I’d only been briefly once, about ten years ago during a cross-country drive trip. He’d never been before and wanted to see the area.

What did I do?

• Wednesday
  • Arrived at the hotel around 9:15pm
  • Had dinner and went to sleep
• Thursday
  • Since it rained, we drove around and checked out various views and sites.
    • Cathedral Rock
    • Oak Creek Canyon
    • Tlaquepaque Arts and Crafts Village
  • Spa Time! Facial and Massages. We went to the spa at the hotel. The services were good, and the facility was clean. But it wasn’t as relaxing as it should have been. With so much nature and sweeping views, they should have had it outdoors or at least somewhere that made you feel like you were out in the open.

•  Friday
  • Historic Tour of Jerome, Arizona via http://www.toursofjerome.com/
    • Van with AC picked us up and drove around for 5 hours to Jerome, Clarkdale and Cottonwood towns. It was an old mining area that was very profitable until the 1950s when people just started abandoning it due to poor quality, conditions and lack of money.
    • Jerome was a famous ghost town where you can take a tour of all the ghost sightings. It also was a city of brothels! We visited one. Relax – it was no longer in operation. I’m not confessing to anything here. 😛
    • Clarkdale was founded by Senator William Andrews Clark, a transplant from Montana who helped build out the mining facilities and railroads. The family was also very prominent in Nevada (Clark County) where Las Vegas stands.
    • Cottonwood was a beautiful town full of great tourism and a lot of history.
    • Wine Tasting… had a few good wines. We tried to buy some but they won’t ship again until November when it’s cooler. What a shame!

• Saturday
  • Chapel of the Holy Cross – a beautiful church built into the landscape

• Saturday
  • Verde Canyon Train
    • 5 hour train trip with breath-taking views
    • On-board appetizers and drinks
    • Was an amazing experience as you have an outdoor car, tour guides, a few stop… felt like a little tour of history as the area is rich with famous explorers, founders and the birth of the West.

•  Sunday
  • Head Home! 🙁

What didn’t I do that I should have?

• Jeep Tours of the area – drivers take you everywhere!
• Helicopter Tours of the area – what a view!
• Las Vegas: Two hours away, but would be an all-day trip
• Flagstaff: An hour away, but couldn’t squeeze it in

Interesting Info

• Sedona is a Dark Sky Community, meaning they have very little if any traffic lights so that the beauty of the night sky shines through without interruption. You see so many stars and across long distances.

• It’s the land of the traffic circle! Every day, the trip from the hotel to the parts of Sedona we visited had at least 20 traffic circles. After the first day, we became experts at the proper merging positions.
• Always make reservations! The first two nights, anywhere we went, the wait time was for 90 minutes for a table. I can get a table at a fancy NYC restaurant quicker than that without a reservation. Shocking!

Restaurants

• Wednesday
  • At the hotel bar as it was so late
• Thursday
  • Lunch – Nick’s in West Sedona. Basic American diner, but had a solid brunch!
  • Dinner – At the hotel restaurant as everything else was closed… but was still good food and we could have a lot of drinks without having to drive anywhere. Had tried to get into the Mexican restaurant but the wait was too long! Prickly Pear Margarita!!!!
• Friday
  • Lunch – At Grapes in Jerome. Part of it was included in the bus tour. Was a really great restaurant.
  • Dinner – Mariposa, a Latin / Spanish restaurant on the top of a hill with valet car service only, where Chef Lisa Dahl dreams up savory cuisines. Beautiful building with so many glass windows and tall ceilings. And she followed me on Instagram after I posted about her restaurant!
• Saturday
  • Lunch – On the Verde Canyon Train, we grabbed some appetizers. Nothing big or fancy. We knew we had a dinner we were looking forward to.
  • Dinner – Cress on Oak Creek at L’Auberge. It’s now one of my favorite restaurants. We ate outside along the banks of stream at 9pm with a few spotlights and candles, a heat lamp and rushing water about us. Excellent food. Expensive 3 or 4 course meal, but well worth it.

Hotel

• Hilton Bell Rock just outside of Sedona. I didn’t realize it was about 15 minutes away from Sedona, which meant a little extra driving every day. But it was a great hotel.
• Spa, Pool, Fire Place in room, Restaurant and Bar on property
• Very friendly and informative staff
  • Not enough coffee in the room… and always decaf! 🙁
• Parking was a little tight, as we didn’t get back until after 10 each night and many of the spots were taken. So we parked in the furthest lot. Oh well! Walking is good for you.
• http://www3.hilton.com/en/hotels/arizona/hilton-sedona-resort-at-bell-rock-SDXSEHH/index.html

Transportation

• Trip to Sedona
  • I took an American Airlines (AA) flight out of NYC’s JFK Airport and arrived in Phoenix’s Sky Harbor Airport at 6:30 pm. It was a direct flight, about 4 1/2 hours to fly.
  • Once you arrive at the airport, you take a shuttle bus to the car rental facility, which is at least 15 minutes away. That was a surprise!
  • Rented a mid-size car at Alamo for about $60 per day. They were super-friendly and sent us on our drive to Sedona.
  • In hindsight, it would have been better to arrive during the daytime in order to enjoy the view on the 2 hour drive, as it was dark and we were unable to see the beautiful red rock mountains. We did on the drive back tho!
• Trip Home
  • Drove from Sedona early in the morning back to Phoenix. No traffic, about 2 hours. Dropped the car off at the car rental facility.
  • Shuttle Bus back to Sky Harbor Airport.
  • Delay….. about an hour, not too bad. Got on an AA flight by 3pm and arrived back in NY about 8:15. Home by 10 to check on Ryder… (our shiba inu dog… he missed us a lot!)

Favorite Part

• Verde Canyon Train

Lease Favorite Part

• Wasted time looking for places to eat the first two nights

 

About Me

I’m Jay. I am 40 and live in NYC. By profession, I work in technology. By passion, I work in writing. Each week, I will post a summary of a trip I’ve taken somewhere in the world. I’ll cover the transportation, hotel, restaurants, activities, who, what, when, where and why… and let you decide for yourself if it’s a trip worth taking.

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