A Brief Respite

Guess who? Nope…not Larbs this time. A big ‘Hello’ from Matt, the caring BF. I’m not sure if it was L’s nudging or my sincere desire to allow the GF a full day of vacationing (read: no blogging…though, I’ll admit, she did upload the pics ahead of time), but I’m jumping into the ring to write a quick guest post. Have no fear, however, Laura will be back tomorrow with a much more colorful description of our activities and great eats. For now, you’re stuck with my impressions of the day…which, by all accounts, was outstanding. Nothing crazy…no hikes…no touristy destinations…no AC blasting in the rental car, just a relaxing day of pool side reading and foodie indulgences…Before I jump into the ‘play by play’, I must admit that just looking at these pics makes me realize how lucky we are to be on this trip. And for all you east coasters…if you’re thinking about breaking down and booking the trip out West, please don’t forget to stop in Sedona. Yup, it’s about time to start looking into flights and making your reservations….

As I alluded to earlier, we forced ourselves to lay poolside for a bit (after a quick workout). As you can imagine, it was a struggle, but we made due. And can we talk about this view? One word: Spoiled…

Laura avoiding any additional UV exposer to the arms…while still enjoying the soft touch of the golden AZ rays.

We contemplated making PB and banana’s in the room, but thought: “When in Sedona…” We compromised and split this handsome fella; a love fest of sweet potato, arugula, balsamic, mozzarella, tomato…and wait for it (the star of the show), a fig confit

 

 

Mid-Bite….

I REALLY wanted to pick up one of these mid-west hats prior to our trip. I searched quite a few stores to no avail. We walked into the first string of stores in up-town Sedona for some casual window-shopping, and what do you know, I find the hat of my dreams…well, maybe not, but it was pretty cool, no? I didn’t buy it, but hey, it made it onto the blog..not bad. L couldn’t resist the pink hat/pink shirt combo. Definitely picture worthy.

And why stop at a pink hat?

Ok. Window shopping was tough. Meaning we needed ice-cream..STAT. Not just any ice-cream, Sabrina’s Cinnamon Swirl. A refreshing treat on a rather warm day.

Again, we couldn’t go anywhere without this amazing view following us. I’ve travelled a fair bit outside of the US, but I can honestly say I’ve never seen anything quite like this. The color. The scale. The shapes. Ridiculous…

An awkward surprise kiss to show her I care…

Followed by a pre-dinner walk through this quaint village in Sedona.

Oh. And a stop to get a 10-oz pour from the local brew-pub: Oak Creek Brewery. We sampled the stout, and a floral pale ale. Both were delightfully unique. We were a bit disappointed, however, with the rather overly cautious, rule-heavy nature of the place. They shut down their patio (one of the main reasons we made the stop) on the off chance of rain (the forecast suggested a 10% chance. And what do you know, not a single drop the whole night).

The highlight of the evening came with our final destination: Ken’s Creekside. We read mixed reviews about the place, but everything about our experience was spot on.

The view…

The table-side pomegranate guac….

The rare wasabi-infused ahi tuna burger…

And the (yes, this was mine) melt in your mouth Short-Ribs. Laura would want me to provide you with a more detailed description of the meals, but I’m going to let the photos do the talking.

Wait. No I’m not. After much debate, Laura convinced me it was probably a good idea to get dessert. Though it’s rare an evening when she’s NOT suggesting that dessert is the right way to end the evening, she couldn’t have been more right this night. What you see below is probably the best all around dessert I’ve had in quite some time (I’m not that into superlatives). Buried beneath this homemade whip cream and caramel is a pile of peaches baked into a crumbly crust and slowly melting over a layer of vanilla ice-cream (yup – that’s one heck of a peach cobbler).

Only one more night in Sedona…A sad, sad thought. But we’ll be back…someday.