Travel Arizona – Sedona Pampers the Body and Soul
Travel Arizona – Sedona Pampers the Body and Soul
Travel Arizona – Sedona Pampers the Body and Soul
Sedona Stretches Legs and Minds in a Red Rock Paradise
By Dominique Millette
Nestled roughly halfway between the Grand Canyon and Phoenix, the city of Sedona offers New Age getaways as well as outdoor fun to almost 4 million visitors a year. Its modern reputation dates back to 1980, when a psychic named Page Bryant came to town and coined the word “vortex” to describe places with higher spiritual energy in the area. The resulting inflow of tourists has added good food and a good pampering to the great views in the city.
Travel Arizona – Sedona Pampers the Body and Soul
There are four main “vortexes” in Sedona: Cathedral Rock, Bell Rock, Airport Mesa and Boynton Canyon. The vortexes are said to amplify energy and help concentrate prayer, meditation and healing.
My hotel was the King’s Ransom Inn, which I feel gave me good value for money. It was clean and comfortable despite its slightly-worn exterior façade. I admired the snow-covered palm trees and cacti, but even my Great White North pedigree wasn’t strong enough to entice me into the heated outdoor pool. The hotel boasts one of the most popular restaurants in town: Elote, owned by Chef Jeff Smedstad. Some even drive the two hours north from Phoenix to sample the menu. Every afternoon, the lineups at the café start an hour before its 5 p.m. opening. Though I was early, those in front of me filled every table. I chatted at the bar with another solo diner, in town for the annual yoga festival, over the tasty house salsa with tortilla chips and blood orange margaritas. The signature Elote appetizer gets almost universal raves as well. I didn’t enjoy my too-smoky lamb enchilada as much as I’d hoped, though the corn tortillas had an authentic taste.
King’s Ransom Inn, Sedona, Arizona
The next day, I dropped by to see the Church of the Red Rocks on Bowstring Drive. It was built into a rocky hillside by the United Church of Christ and constitutes an area architectural landmark, as well as a favourite wedding spot. Inside, visitors get a panoramic view of the surrounding landscape.
Church of the Red Rocks
After hiking Cathedral Rock, I went for lunch at Shugrues Hillside Grill, where I tried the Slide Rock shrimp sauté and the bread pudding. True to its name, the restaurant offers views of the surrounding landscape, in addition to good food and good service.
A trip to Sedona wouldn’t be complete without a visit to a wellness retreat. I dropped in at the Red Rock Spa and Healing Center. Despite my last-minute arrival, they squeezed me in and gave me a custom Sedona smooth basalt hot stone massage combined with essential oils aromatherapy: basil and fennel with a peppermint finish. The masseuse even balanced my chakras as an added perk. I soaked in Sedona lore as she explained her use of larimar, or dolphin stone, on my throat chakra for better self-expression, and labradorite, a protective stone to enhance intuition. It felt so luxurious I wished I could move in. The service was beyond exceptional.
I spent the next day exploring and photographing the area around Dry Creek Road before heading southwest on Highway 89A for a short stop in Jerome, a small arts community in a historic mining town. It’s a good side trip, and only 40 minutes away.
Jerome View
The self-proclaimed “most vertical city” and “largest ghost town” in America sits atop Cleopatra Hill, at 5,200 feet above sea level. It’s accessible by a vertiginous drive on a winding road. My Jerome destination was The Asylum Restaurant, with its spectacular views overlooking the Verde Valley, Sedona and Flagstaff areas. The Spanish mission style Jerome Grand Hotel where the restaurant is located dates back to 1926. It calls itself “the original haunted hospital” and offers “ghost hunting packages” with “an EMT meter, IR thermometer and digital camera to help us document the spirits, orbs, ghost sightings, and haunted happenings at what may be one of the 10 most haunted places in America.” If you agree to the spirit stalking, you’ll get 10 per cent off your room rate. I settled for the cheese steak sandwich, the vaunted butternut squash soup and a coffee. It was great. So was the view. The restaurant’s décor matches the hotel’s past as the grandest building of the town in its day, with a few spooky hallway touches like a long-haired skull plopped on ornate period cabinetry.
Jerome Grand Hotel
I hoped for a haunting, but only got the bill. It failed to frighten me: the prices are not terribly unreasonable. They also have boutique wines (not recommended just before the drive down again).
All in all, these Central Arizona locations provided an unusual and amusing interlude.
Sedona Highway 1
IF YOU GO:
BIO:
Dominique Millette is a Toronto-based bilingual author and translator, as well as a freelance writer. She has worked in several weekly newspapers and written and published a novel in French (La Delphinée), one theatrical monologue and several short stories. One of these, “Oomblaug Day”, was published in Parsec magazine. Another, “Better than Elvis”, was published in Maisonneuve magazine. She has also studied with Joan Barfoot at the Humber School of Creative Writing.
