 89A which was a WILD, beautiful, scenic drive going into Sedona - I usually do not like being in the car but all of our drives were just stunning!
We pulled up to Casa Sedona Inn and immediately fell in love. It is a gorgeous, well-maintained property with a stunning garden and delicious restaurant (breakfast and lunch). We later discovered it was voted #6 romantic hotels in the country, and that it certainly was!
We got a private tour of the place when we arrived, full with a kitchen, wine cooler, and freshly baked cookies everyday for guests. We were on the first floor but had our own private patio and entrance right to the parking lot, which made it easy for us to go and arrive without disturbing anyone. It was quiet, clean, and beautiful. Exceeded all expectations - 5 STARS. Also felt the price was very fair for all we got! We would not hesitate to stay here again.
Dahl & DiLuca Restaurant (Italian) -- Dinner Reservation -- Our favorite cocktails of the entire trip! We ended up eating at the bar because we moved our reservation (Originally we were going to eat at The Hudson - which we couldn't get into then - but we were tired! This was the night we arrived from the GC), but had a lovely time chatting with the bartender and talking about what to do in Sedona. Food was good as well.
Rascal at The Wilde Resort -- Drinks -- We decided to walk to Rascal from D&D for a nightcap cocktail and it was another delicious drink! They make a lot of infused liquors in house and it was a cool vibe inside. We walked the mile home to the Inn.
Casa Sedona Inn Restaurant -- Breakfasts -- We ate at the hotel for breakfast every morning and it was delicious every day! My favorite coffee of the entire trip! You do have to have reservations if you are not a guest.
Creekside American Bistro -- Lunch Reservation -- A little trick to find the parking lot, but really awesome views and cool flavors of the dishes.
Mariposa (Latin Inspired Grill) -- Dinner Reservation -- We both agreed this was our favorite for the views, the elevated service, the experience. We considered this our formal "anniversary dinner" and even got treated to a little dessert at the end.
SaltRock -- Dinner Reservation -- This had beautiful views (really all of Sedona does!!) but perhaps felt the most "plain" of the nicer restaurants we tried. It is a restaurant in the Amara Resort so you are overlooking the balconies and common area of the guests.
We ate at a couple other lunch places without reservations and they were okay. No shortage of restaurants in the area, just need to plan if you want to try some of the ones mentioned!
Pink Jeep Tour - Coyote Canyons - this was great! We learned a lot about the area while seeing it from a cool perspective and Tommy our guide was super knowledgeable about the area and restaurants. Start this early! (We did 9 am but maybe even a little earlier would have been better for the heat) This was rated a 5/10 for roughness and I definitely wouldn't have wanted any more than that.
Uptown Massage - Couples Bliss Massage Package - This was wonderful and needed after the Grand Canyon hike! Melissa and Patricia made the experience relaxing, just what we needed! Loved that they gave us a little break in-between our massages and foot reflexology to have some water, tea, and snacks. Details like this matter to me!!
Visited Jerome - this is probably the only thing I would say was a bust. Learning about the town was really cool and seeing/driving up to it was unique, but the actual town just really fell flat for us. It was also super hot...
Tlaquepaque Arts & Crafts Village - we stopped here before our lunch at Creekside American Bistro because it was across the street. It was pretty, just not our interests/type of shopping.
Chapel of the Holy Cross - my husband wasn't really into making this a priority so we ran out of time!
At this point, we did a lot of hiking, and we took it easy the first couple days, just doing 1-1.5 mile hikes that were close and beautiful, but do not feel they were "different" enough to recommend. The two hikes we loved in Sedona: Devil's Bridge & Cathedral Rock!
I have to mention here, I have no idea what happened but with all of this hiking and walking, but MY ANKLE HEALED. It makes 0 sense to me. I'm not sure if it was the massage, being relaxed on vacation, the "healing power" of Sedona (which some claim) or what... but by the time we went to do the Devil's Bridge hike, I felt good!
We started this hike around 6:15am... in truth, we wish we would have started it even earlier!
This is a 5.7 mile hike, out and back with a 728 ft elevation gain. We parked at Dry Creek Vista Trailhead off of Vultee Road. This was actually very close to our hotel.
I'd definitely not recommend this for young kids or people afraid of heights.
You could make it shorter and go on the ATV road for 1 mile vs the Chuck Wagon Trail for 2.1 miles, but CW was really beautiful and shaded on the way out. We saw the ATV road when we did our jeep tour and it was just a wide, sandstone path in direct sun that you share with cars - not what we were looking for.
The 0.7 miles of Devil's Bridge is an ascent and the very end before the bridge is a rock "scramble" of basically climbing rock stairs (0.2-0.3 miles I'm guessing?)... but WOW is the view worth it!!! We were both speechless.
We got up there pretty early and there was a bit of a wait for pictures, but had a nice woman offer to take some for us. Definitely get pictures if you make it to the top!!
We ran out of time, and had to do the Cathedral Rock hike at sunset on the same day that we did Devil's Bridge at sunrise. Probably not what I would recommend if you can help it!
We got to the parking lot by 5:30pm and there was 1 spot left!! This is what we heard can be challenging with CR as there are only 2 small lots.
This is 1.2 mile out and back with a 741 ft elevation change.
I admit, I was nervous. I absolutely recommend hiking boots for this hike, especially for the way down (which I worried about the whole way hike, but it wasn't so bad with the good grip of hiking boots).
This is really what I would call rock climbing vs hiking? Maybe I'm just not experienced enough, but it was basically 0.7 hikes of "rock scrambling" and walking up/down sandstone.
Really beautiful views at the top, especially with the sun setting, and a cool ledge you can get photos on.
We didn't want to climb down in the dark (omg, seems so dangerous!) so we left around 6:45pm from the top to get back down. The hike took us a little under an hour with pausing at the top to take in the views. A really cool and unique experience!!
And that's that! One of our most favorite vacations ever is in the books with tons of memories and dreams for how to visit again in the future!!!
Leave comments below if you've over gone or what your favorite experiences were... I hope this helps someone plan an awesome trip to the Southwest in the future!
Listen: Harry Styles' new song ‘Sweet Creature’.
Listen: Harry Styles' new song ‘Sweet Creature’.
May 3, 2017 | by Rose Riddell
Following the announcement of his album, as well as a worldwide tour (click here for more info on the NZ show), Harry Styles has dropped a new song in the form of ‘Sweet Creature’.
The song comes from his self-titled debut album which is set for release on May 12th, and is a more guitar-driven love song, with Harry crooning “When I run out of rope, you bring me home."
Listen to ‘Sweet Creature’ below…In celebration of the 25th anniversary of Roe v. Wade, Sherri Chessen, former television host of Romper Room, came to the capitol to share her abortion experience. Tristin Yeager reports from the state capitol.
Sherri Chessen and her daughter, Kristin Atwell, spoke to legislators and the Missouri Alliance for Choice. Chessen traveled to Sweden for an abortion after doctors refused to perform the procedure following the national attention focused on her case.
OutCue: "...rests with the mother."
Contents: "And I know, having gone through this 35-years ago that the decision, bittersweet as it is, rests with the mother."
Anti-abortion Representative Rich Chrismer got emotional while discussing the 25th anniversary of Roe v. Wade. Tristin Yeager reports from the state capitol.
Chrismer has been active in the anti-abortion movement for 25 years. He recalls his experience councelling women who considered abortion.
OutCue: "...hold it dearly."
Contents: "When the girl takes the baby and puts it in your arms and tells you 'This is the baby you talked me out of killing. I want to thank you'...I've had that