Sedona, Az. 2017

Just came back from a SUPER 5 day trip with the family to Sedona Az. and I thought I’d add some brief comments for those looking at recommendation for the area.

Day 1 - Flew into Phoenix and rented a car, about two hours drive to Sedona. Stayed at a wonderful house, with perfect location, (thesedonahouse.com) which was a gift to us from owners my wife knows. Sedona has three main areas: Village of Oak Creek(our base), Uptown, and West Sedona. Grabbed food and drink at local store, and hung out for the rest of the night at house. Decent wines but nothing really special around Sedona. Brought back an Antica Chard, Au Bon Climat Pinot, Graham Beck Brut Rose’.

Day 2 - Breakfast at Red Rock Cafe next to our house, super good! Checked out and shopped around Uptown, did a trolly tour to The Chapel of the Holy Cross, dinner at Mariposa Latin inspired Grill which is on the way to West Sedona. Our favorite restaurant(went twice!). Wood smoked grilled steaks, amazing views, wine list lacking, had 2013 Ch Montelena Chard, glasses of Joseph Swan Syrah.

Day 3 - Drove to Grandcanyon, 3.5 hrs from Sedona if you go scenic route 89A(had road construction) or 2 hours on 17. We came back 17, recommended. Spent the day at the South Rim, of course awe inspiring! Great lunch and view at El Tovar Hotel. Dinner back in West Sedona, Pisa Lisa Pizzeria(same owners as Mariposa), just ok wood fired pizza, more bar like, junk wine list, had a warm Allegrini Palazzo della Torre.

Day 4 - Coffee and bites at Oak Creek Espresso(actually went there LOTS), PINK JEEP TOUR! 1.5 hr scenic rim tour…fun and informative! Try to get Andy…the “Aussi” Englishman! Then drove to the Honanki ruins, about 45mins, but 8 miles of almost “pink jeep like” dirt road…you will need to car wash and buff scratches out the rental! Interesting and worth it! Dinner Elote Cafe… Awesome authentic cuisine…totally worth the wait(no reservations)! We got in line 10 to 5 when it opens, and put our name on the come back list…came back at 6, and they sat us right away. Tequila lovers paradise, which we are not, good sangrias though!

Day 5 - Jerome about 45mins away…old copper mining ghost town…fun! Get the burger at The Haunted Hamburger! Back shopping at Tlaquepaque Arts & Crafts Village…pronounced T-lockey-pockey. A must place to shop and visit! Dinner again at Mariposa…those sunset views!!

Day 6 - Back to Phoenix and home to Calif.

From a wine retail perspective, this place (located on the main drag out on the far end of West Sedona) has the best selection in town (yeah, I know, that’s a little like “being the best man at an all girl’s school…”): Vino Di Sedona - West Sedona, Sedona, AZ . Not a wide retail selection, but what they have is relatively well curated.

Restaurant wine lists in the Sedona area are, for the most part, pretty dismal.

Michael

Get back to nature. Take a hike! One of the best places in the world for short day hikes.

These are all great and I’ve done most. West Loop is mandatory.

Vino di Sedona is a decent wine bar. Casual back yard with fire pits, baggo and seating weather permitting.

That link includes one of my favorite trail runs in Sedona. Starting in the Chapel neighborhood, head out and pick up this trail via the Little Horse trailhead. Then head south and loop around both Bell Rock and Courthouse Butte – coming back around to my starting point in the Chapel neighborhood. Makes a great training run for half marathon prep.

For those who live at sea level, I always remind that Sedona is at ~ 4,500 feet. Not uncommon for people to disregard the impact at that altitude, and get into trouble on the trail. Given that, and the (frequent) heat, my advice is “… hydrate, hydrate, hydrate …”