Sedona, AZ
The View
The brilliant red rock pillars, peaks and soil of Sedona, coupled with a bluer-than-blue sky and a rainbow of desert plants and flowers, made the perfect backdrop for our short visit here.
Sedona is truly lovely, but also can be very crowded, traffic-jammed, and expensive. We avoided the pricey lodging and restaurants near the upscale downtown, and spent the majority of our time in West Sedona, where the locals live, eat and enjoy the amazing outdoors.
The Room (and its view)
The West Sedona Airbnb we enjoyed is no longer available on the site, although this cottage is on the same property and appears to be hosted by the same couple. The location was ideal for our low-key aspirations. Rather than fighting for space on the road, in the parking lot, and on the trail at the “must see” hiking destinations, we were able to walk out our door and directly into the Thunder Mountain Area trail system, where we enjoyed amazing views, and encountered only a handful of locals enjoying the day. We spent about 3 hours hiking to Coffee Pot Rock and back, with lots of photo stops. It was a beautiful, no-stress morning for us.
In the afternoon we ventured out to the Chapel of the Holy Cross, which, even on a crowded afternoon during Holy Week, felt peaceful and contemplative.
Great Meals in Sedona
Sedona offers a wide range of dining. Keeping with our “go local” vibe, we chose these two West Sedona establishments:
The Da Dorothy pizza was delicious at busy Pisa Lisa.
We also enjoyed dinner at Nick’s West Side (“where the locals go”). The ambience is very no-frills, but the service was friendly and our enchiladas were great. I bet this would have been the perfect location for a traditional breakfast or burger and fries.
The Drive Back to Vegas
We made two stops on our 4.5 hour return drive to Vegas. After driving to Flagstaff and onto I-40 West, we made a brief coffee stop in fun downtown Williams, a “gateway to the Grand Canyon” located on historic Route 66.
Our second stop was both unexpected and unexpectedly great. About 3 hours out of Sedona, in the middle of absolutely nowhere, we needed a bathroom break, and, without data on our phones, weren’t sure how long it would be until we came upon a service station. The billboard for the former mining town of Chloride indicated there was a Arizona Visitor’s Center 4 miles off I-40, and we decided to check it out.
The visitor’s center and restroom were in the small general store, which was surrounded by fun homemade art and displays of local happenings. The friendly manager there gave us a map of the town and recommendations. We drove around the downtown square, and a few blocks to the old jail and train depot (see below). You can walk into the 2-cell jailhouse and check it out, although I note the tiny building seemed to be held together by a cable encircling it, so enter at your own risk! We skipped the “Cyanide Springs” faux ghost town attraction off the downtown square.
There were A LOT of houses that may or may not have been abandoned and were surrounded by junk-art, but I refrained from taking photos of those for privacy reasons. I later learned there are some great murals outside town, but we were unaware of that at the time. We appeared to be the only tourists in Chloride that day, and the whole situation felt somewhat surreal. While not quite a ghost town, this village of 300 was a fascinating short visit.
From Chloride, we drove back into Vegas, where we tried to get some rest before our early flight home the next morning. Our chain hotel was off the strip and near the airport, but we had a great Italian dinner and a bit of the Vegas-vibe, including a piano bar crooner, at Bootlegger.
