Northern Arizona
On our recent trip to Jerome, Arizona, we stayed at The Surgeon’s House, which is a beautiful bed-and-breakfast in a historic 100+ year old building. The location is excellent, the property is gorgeous both inside and out, the food is great, and the hospitality is warm and welcoming!
A short drive from Montezuma Castle is Montezuma Well, which is part of the Montezuma Castle National Monument. Again, this place has nothing to do with the Aztec leader Montezuma! Instead, it was a source of water for indigenous people who lived there hundreds of years ago.
Located in Campe Verde, Arizona, Montezuma Castle National Monument is a well-preserved, impressive ancient cliff dwelling. It only takes about 30 minutes or less to walk through this pretty area, but the view of the castle itself is worth the visit!
In the small town Strawberry in northern Arizona there’s a newly opened take-out restaurant called the PIEbar that specializes in pies and empanadas. We drove by it on our previous trip through the area and made sure we stopped by this time.
Bearizona is a place we’ve passed by many times on our way to the Grand Canyon. We’ve been interested in going, but it never worked with our time tables for our trips. Since we were staying so close to the park for a few days, we decided to finally set some time aside and actually visit it.
Williams keeps on surprising us. We were looking for something to eat after going to the Grand Canyon and found yet another gem with The Little Chicken Spot.
Hidden away from the main trails and viewpoints at the Grand Canyon is a secret place with amazing views that very few tread.
As with Bayou By You, Williams is full of surprises and is home to a fantastic little Thai restaurant called Dara Thai Cafe.
About six miles southeast of Williams is Dogtown Lake. The lake is a recreational area and campground where people can fish, camp, picnic, hike, and just enjoy the outdoors. The name “Dogtown” comes from the large prairie dog towns that once ran through the open areas near the lake. We drove out here after breakfast to take the hiking trail around the lake.
The Sheridan House Inn really likes to emphasize the “breakfast” part of the bed and breakfast. Each morning we got a freshly made meal of our choice from the available options. In addition, the presentation of the food really goes above and beyond what we normally see for most restaurants and is akin to higher-end culinary establishments. The breakfast is particularly one of the main reasons we decided to stay at the Sheridan House Inn.
For our time in Williams we stayed at the charming Sheridan House Inn. This bed and breakfast is nestled in the hillside on the edge of Williams and is surrounded by pine trees. It’s meant to be a romantic couples escape, so rooms are limited to 2 guests and no one under 16 is allowed to stay.
Williams is a small tourist town at the main junction heading towards the Grand Canyon. With that said one wouldn’t expect there to be much variation of food there to begin with, but we were in for a surprise. We came across Bayou By You on the main stretch of Route 66 in town and nearly walked past it on our way to a different restaurant, but Michelle noticed it and pointed it out. We definitely were glad to have stopped, because their food is delicious.
On our first night staying in Williams we decided to walk into the center of town and find a nice place to eat. Since we were escaping the heat of Phoenix we also wanted to be able to sit outside and enjoy the weather. After seeing how great the menu was and that they had patio seating we chose to go to the South Rims Wine and Beer Garage.
Just eighteen miles west of Winslow and thirty seven miles east of Flagstaff is Meteor Crafter. We stopped by here on our way to Williams. This is the best preserved impact crater on the planet, and Taylor had always wanted to take Michelle here but had never been in the area. So we took advantage of the opportunity when it presented itself to us.
Just two streets over from Prescott’s historic downtown Courthouse Plaza is the quirky El Gato Azul. Here they serve their take on tapas, which are a type of Spanish food consisting of various small appetizer plates. It’s also similar to a much less formal version of Japanese kaiseki, but in this we get to actually pick our food. The great thing about tapas is that you can try out so many different things in one meal.
Every time we visit Jerome we always make sure to swing by the La Victoria Studio to watch a glass blowing demonstration. It’s easily the best part of visiting the town for us, besides eating at the Haunted Hamburger. At this studio we get to watch a master at work.
High up on the side of the Black Hills mountain range, on Cleopatra Hill, is the location of the ghost town of Jerome. What once was a booming mining town became a deserted ghost town, but has been revitalized and is now a great place to visit.
We don’t make our way to Jerome very often, but when we do we always make sure to eat at the Haunted Hamburger. The restaurant is nestled high up the hill and offers patrons some nice views to go along with the tasty food. The Haunted Hamburger’s name is fitting since Jerome is the most famous ghost town in Arizona. There are plenty of other restaurants in the small town, but it’s hard to pass up going to one of our favorite spots to get a great burger.
Fall colors in Arizona isn’t something we usually get to see often and in great quantity, so we were recommended by a friend to stop off at Lockett Meadow to see some. We happened to pass by the road for the meadow on our way back from the North Rim and had to make a quick detour.
The North Rim consists of a smaller area of the Grand Canyon than the South Rim, but it still has so much to offer. Although the park has fewer viewpoints than the South Rim, it has many more trails. These trails have a wide range from the difficult North Kaibab Trail to the very easy Cape Royal Trail. The viewpoints still offer breathtaking views of the canyon and from a lesser seen perspective.
The North Rim of the Grand Canyon has only one place to stay at overnight, other than the campgrounds, and that’s the North Rim Lodge. Fortunately, the lodge is actually very nice and provides a wonderful place to enjoy the park.
Antelope Canyon is located on the outskirts of the town of Page in northern Arizona, which is also home to Lake Powell and Horseshoe Bend. Visitors can tour either Lower or Upper Antelope Canyon - but only by guided tour! The tours can book up months in advance, so it’s recommended to book early if you can. We booked our tour with Ken’s Tours. It is recommended to make reservations, but walk ups can work to fill in spots.
In the middle of Page, Arizona we found a restaurant that specializes in fried chicken. It’s an odd location, but it’s a place that easily rivals the popular chicken chains.
Just outside the city of Page is Horseshoe Bend which is one of the most iconic viewpoints in northern Arizona. Finding Horseshoe Bend is easy, just take US 89 to the parking lot about 2 miles south of Page. There are signs for the turnoff so it isn’t hard to find.
Traversing the Monument Valley Drive was great and we saw so many wonderful views, but it isn’t quite close enough to some of the rock formations. We decided to go hiking and take the Wildcat Trail, the only self-guided trail in Monument Valley, to get a different perspective of some of the landmarks.
While the panorama from the View Hotel and its parking lot, campgrounds, and cabins is phenomenal, the best way to truly get to appreciate the rock formations of Monument Valley is through the Monument Valley Drive. A 14-mile grade dirt road will take you to see many of the major monuments in the valley, which will take two to four hours to traverse at slow speeds. A vehicle with four-wheel drive and high clearance is recommended, and there are warning signs to this effect at the beginning of the drive. The road is bumpy and rocky in many places, but the experience is worth it!
We’ve been wanting to visit Monument Valley for a long time and were thrilled to find the View Hotel for accomodations. While the rooms at the View Hotel all offer fantastic views of Monument Valley, we opted for a different option; the premium cabins.
On our recent trip to Jerome, we visited Bobby D’s BBQ for the first time. This smokehouse-style restaurant is located in the historic English Kitchen building, built in 1899, which boasts of being the oldest operating dining facility in the state of Arizona! Today, passersby are lured in to the establishment by the tantalizing smells from the Ole Hickory pit smoker outside the building.