Sedona Recap!

A couple week’s ago Erik and I went on a weekend trip to Sedona, AZ with our good friends, so I thought I would give you a little recap!

First off, if you’ve never been to Sedona… I encourage you to put it on your list because it’s one of the most incredible places ever! Everyone refers to Sedona as “magical” and after spending a weekend there I completely understand why.

Our great friends, Angie and Cesar, came from Southern California to spend a few days in Scottsdale to see our new life here and then we drove a little less than 2 hours to Sedona for the weekend.

When they got to Arizona they were concerned that the weather report said it was going to rain for a few days and they didn’t want it to ruin the trip (we had plans to go hiking). It’s funny because we assured them that Arizona rain is “different” than California rain because here it will rain hard for a short amount of time and then the sun will come out. Boy were we wrong and they didn’t let us forget! Ha

The drive up to Sedona it was raining SO hard and the entire first day. At one point we had to pull over because it was hailing so bad. But, I must say, it made for beautiful scenery! You can see in the pic above all the fog surrounding the red rocks.

The hotel we stayed at had a nice walking path, and since Erik and I are early risers we grabbed coffee and walked each morning.

Hiking:

Luckily, the rain cleared up after the first day so we were able to go on a small hike – we did the Bell Rock Trail (we found it on the “All Trails” app). Angie is pregnant so we wanted something easy for her (and me!- I’m not much of an outdoorsy person, but I try!).

Everywhere you look in Sedona is gorgeous! I kept saying I felt like we were in a painting or on a movie set!

 Tlaquepaque:

When in Sedona visiting Tlaquepaque is a must! It’s the arts and crafts village in the center of town and you can find everything from art galleries to locally made jewelry.

We spent the afternoon exploring this cute village!

Chapel of the Holy Cross:

The Chapel of the Holy Cross is a Catholic Church that’s built into the red rocks and is a landmark in Sedona.

The church is a very popular destination for tourists, so it was really crowded getting up the hill and inside, but it’s breathtaking and worth the crowds.

This is the view when you exit the church.

Food:

Sedona is known for having many great restaurants, but because of my celiac we didn’t get to explore them much. I’m grateful for amazing friends that wanted to make sure I could eat and was taken care of.

The hotel we stayed at had a full kitchen, and although we didn’t cook there, we did stop at WholeFoods (there’s one in Sedona- along with other grocery stores) and bought a bunch of snacks and yogurt and fruit for breakfast.

Picazzos:

We have a Picazzos in Scottsdale and I eat there all the time, so I was happy to see Sedona had one as well. It got voted “Best Gluten Free Restaurant” in Phoenix, so I knew this was a safe option for me. Here is a pic of the gluten free/dairy free BBQ Chicken Pizza.

I also got an order of the Spicy Thai Peanut Fusilli (it’s one of my favorites on the menu!) so that I would have food for the next day if they wanted to eat somewhere else.

ChocolaTree:

Before our trip I asked people on social media where I should eat that would be safe in Sedona and the most popular response was “ChocolaTree!”.

Everything there is organic, vegetarian and gluten free! We enjoyed it so much, that we went there twice for brunch.

One day we all got the gluten free waffles. Erik and I got it with their homemade almond butter, and Angie and Cesar got it with the macadamia nut butter. It was fantastic!

They make all their own chocolate in-house, so we got the mocha coffee… so good!

The next time we went, I got the breakfast burrito. It was huge and really tasty!

Since they’re known for their chocolate, of course I had to get some for the road! This is the dark chocolate with coconut (I forget the exact name).

On our last night, everyone wanted to go to a nice dinner and after researching on my favorite GF Restaurant Finder App, we decided on Mariposa – Latin Inspired Grill. It received great reviews for the staff being knowledgeable on celiac, as well as the food being delicious and the views incredible!

Let me start by saying, I did not plan well here. We called earlier in the day to get a reservation, but they were booked and it was an automated system so I couldn’t speak to anyone. We figured we’d just go and wait. When we got there the wait was over 3.5 hours, so we decided to sit at a table in the bar. The restaurant was extremely crowded and our server did not seem to know much about celiac or cross-contamination. I can tell in the first minute of talking with a server if I’m comfortable to eat, and here I absolutely was not. Even though I had my Nima Sensor with me, just his lack of knowledge and willingness to hear my concerns, I decided I would play it safe and not eat (I had my leftover Picazzos at the hotel). I understand the Nima would have told me, but since I wasn’t confident in our server, I didn’t want to waste sensors.

Here is where I’m disappointed in myself. I’m typically an incredible planner- I should have called ahead of time and figured out how to speak with the manager and get reservations- OR I should have packed my own food (like I always do!). I think I let my guard down and had high hopes because of all the wonderful reviews on my App. I think the problem with our situation was that we were sitting in the bar and the bar servers typically aren’t as well trained on the food preparation as the dining room servers. With that being said, next time we’re in Sedona I want to try it again and plan ahead so hopefully I can eat there (and test it with my Nima).

FYI, the food looked incredible and they all loved it!! I was a little bitter, so I didn’t get any pics! Ha

This is the view outside of the restaurant. (BTW- my leopard sweater is from Amazon!)

Oh how I miss living close to her!

We’re so blessed to have such great friends!

It was a great little trip and I can’t wait to go back to Sedona!