Week in and Around Sedona, AZ

Please note that our visit was after Labor Day so it was not crowded and there were very few children about. Hike the trails. Airport Loop and Devils Arch are both awesome. Visit Flagstaff and the San Francisco Peaks, but do not stop at the Chinese buffet on Milton Street.

Visit Cottonwood and Jerome, which are only 20 and 30 minutes west of Sedona. Visit Red Rock State Park, Slide Rock State Park, and the Grand Canyon if you have time (about 2 hours northwest).

Quick Tips:

The Chamber of Commerce is usually a good place to pick up coupons, but they cater to the more expensive tourist-type restaurants. Also, there's a very nice outdoor mall called Tlaquepaque. You can get coupons on their website.

Best Way To Get Around:

Fly into Phoenix and rent a car. Car rentals are off the charts in Sedona and more costly in Flagstaff, too. If you go to the Grand Canyon, go early and park your car. They have free shuttle buses

We had a very spacious apartment. King size bed, big jacuzzi tub and queen size sleeper sofa. There was a fully equipped kitchen and a covered patio with chairs and a small table. Connected was a lock-off studio that was also very roomy. It had a queen size bed I think, a very large bathroom with a shower and a big vanity. There was also a kitchenette with a more than adequate refrigerator, a convection oven, small counter top, a sink, more utensils than we needed and a table for four. The lock-off also had a covered patio with chairs. Did I mention plenty of closet space and a safe in each bedroom?

The view wasn't good at all but believe me when I say the amount of time we actually spent at the apartment was so minimal, the view didn't matter. We're outdoor people and we liked it a lot. The resort itself has like three pools and four or more spas. It was fantastic to go in the spa at night and soothe our muscles from the hiking and climbing we did during the day.

American and Mexican cuisine. Very friendly people, good food, large portions, and very reasonably priced food and drinks. They have live music and a rustic-looking but comfortable atmosphere. I WILL go back next time I visit Sedona.

I loved it. I went back the following evening. Very comfortable and friendly bar and restaurant. Young friendly staff provides an acceptable level of service. The food is very good, portions are large to very large and the prices are very reasonable for both food and drinks. You can have Italian, American, Mexican, Steaks, Seafood, just about anything you could want. A lot of locals there. It's a fun place.

This place is a real gem. It's so good, I hesitate to tell anyone. I almost feel it should be kept a secret: incredible breads, pastries, fresh salads, sandwiches, soups, and juices. I could go on and on. We went every day for breakfast and a couple times for lunch. I cannot say enough good things about this pseudo-cafeteria/deli, a very unique eatery. There are huge glass windows, so you can have the stunning Sedona views, even if you choose to sit indoors.

Don't go in there! Stay as far away from this place as you can. Do not, I repeat do NOT, even entertain the notion of entering this establishment. I don't care if you are starving and there's not an empty table within 50 miles. Just don't eat. Go to bed hungry before you even consider this place. The best thing about this place is that it has...no, wait a minute, I can't think of anything at all that's good about it. I suppose in all fairness that it has a pretty nice sign out front. Don't be fooled if the parking lot is full. I think they make the employees park out front. There was one open spot when I pulled in and almost no one at the tables inside. I feel very fortunate that I didn't become ill.

Check out this link: http://blog.qiken.org/archives/2006/03/casa_rincon_whe.html. Here's an excerpt: "But when Carey said that we ate at Casa Rincon the night before, the first thing out of the nurse's mouth was: 'Say no more.'"

A very decent place to get a good, quick breakfast. They have 101 omlette choices, and you can invent your own if, by some chance, you don't find what you want. They serve American and Mexican. Very nice covered patio if you don't want to eat inside. Reasonable prices and acceptable service. It is hard to get a parking spot. It's a very popular restaurant.

This is just a roadside diner type restaurant that boasts great pizza. It's not really a diner but it has that sort of feel to it. Pretty average but at least they don't over-charge too much. We stopped for breakfast on our way out of town. It was early so it wasn't crowded and the service, while lacking in some respects, was tolerable and relatively fast. The food was not served hot which I thought was kind of odd since there were only a handful of people inside. My wife said she thought her bacon strips were left over from the day before. I agreed. They serve a giant pancake which my friend Dave enjoyed. My biscuits and gravy were served up luke warm. Other than the temperature of the food and the so-so service it was just OK. At least it was filling, the waitress was nice and the coffee was good.

We loved it. The staff made us feel right at home. Although it was pretty crowded, my wife and I took seats at the bar right away. Our drinks were brought quickly and that was really cool because we were pretty thirsty from walking up the hill. I had a soda and my wife had a glass of wine. We ordered tortilla chips with spicy salsa. She had a cheeseburger with a twice baked potato and I had the chili burger with a twice baked potato. They have a small "fixins" bar with lettuce, tomato, pickles, onions, peppers, and some other condiments. The portions were very large. I am a big eater and could not finish. The staff was extremely nice and the conversation went round the bar. We met really nice people there. An absolute pleasure. The bill was only slightly over $20. Hard to beat that in a tourist area. I should mention that Rachel Ray did a segment of her $40 a day from the Haunted Hamburger some time ago. She picked another winner. Trust me on this.

Very crowded but we didn't have to wait too long to be seated. The food is good not great. The portions are adequate. I didn't leave hungry. The service was efficient and quick but lacking personality and charm. The only reason we went there is because I wanted to try fried rattlesnake. It wasn't bad but I wouldn't order it again. I just wanted to say I tried it. It's served on a skewer and the batter seemed like a tempura. Anyhow, we ate and I have no complaints.

There really aren't any significant steep parts to the trail. It is rocky and my opinion is that kids over the age of six could do it unless they are the "complain a lot" type. BRING WATER.

It's mostly a gentle slope up along the side of a large hill. There are great views of the other red rock formations off in the distance.

I think it was $6 per car for day use, no more than $10 anyhow. Oak creek runs through and there are trails next to the creek. A lot of birds to see. Very nice scenery.

It starts off on a slight uphill grade. Many parts of the beginning of the path are very easy. There a sign in/out book. I suppose so they can make sure everyone who went up also came back in one piece. It's also fun to look and see where the other visitors are from.

It gets progressively steeper. There are rock steps some placed, some natural, and some may be carved out. I wouldn't say the last bit of the trail is straight up but it is a climb. There is an outcropping before you get to the top where you can rest and see a wonderful vista. When we got all the way up there were a few kids up there (with their parents, of course) ranging in age from about 8 to 14. You can walk onto the "devil's bridge" for a picture but it is a little scary just because you are so high up and there are no hand rails. I would recommend proper footwear.

You cannot do justice to the scenery with words or photos. Perhaps an Imax movie can get close but this is something you really have to see for yourself. We started at the east rim just a few minutes before sunrise. Dark skies slowly became different shades of purple pink white and red and kept changing little by little as the earth rotated toward the sun. The cliffs plateaus and deep crevices kept changing too from grey and black to white, red, orange, and purple. It is more incredible than you can imagine.

 After regaining our composure we drove about 25 miles along the rim to Mather point where we met up with our traveling companions who had come in the south rim entrance a little later than us. They went off to take a helicopter tour and my wife and I went to park in the village because we wanted to stop at all the views along the free bus route. I think I took about 80 pictures. I was able to download my memory card onto a CD. There's a Kodak machine at the General Store. The download and the CD were under $5 total for both. I got great shots of the California Condors in flight which I hope to share on this website as soon as I can figure out how to upload them. Anyhow, we went all the way to Hermit's Rest which has a very interesting history. I will be back to the Grand Canyon someday soon to camp on the Havasupai Indian Reservation.

The state park museum has very interesting historic displays and, of course, a little gift shop. It doesn't take a very long time to go through it and you can learn many interesting facts about the town. There are videos and panoramic photographs, artifacts of all kinds and sizes. I really enjoyed it. It was very relaxing after all the hiking we did during our first few days in the Sedona area.

After we visited the state park we went into town to look in the shops and have lunch. There are only a few streets and they climb back and forth across the side of the hill. Not too hard to walk if you pace yourself. We had lunch at The Haunted Hamburger. It is a restaurant and bar that has very reasonable prices, good service and good food.

Some shops have a lot of the same things you see in all the tourist stores all over the place. There are also a lot of shops with unique items, locally made arts and crafts which are moderate to high priced. In my humble opinion it is worthwhile to visit Jerome.

Over-rated but better than average for a public course. The scenery and landscape is beautiful but the condition of the fairways and greens is as I said, just above average. I think it's overpriced but maybe that's just because of the cost of real estate in Sedona.