Tuesday was our shopping day. We started with brunch at a cute little diner, then spent about seven hours walking through shops and galleries. We spent most of the day at Tlaquepaque arts and shopping village, then popped over to Uptown for a bit in search of some souvenirs for the kids.
Along the main street shops there was a guy with a whole bunch of rescued reptiles. I walked up to look at his collection and he just handed me this giant constrictor! I suppose this was my opportunity to be a bit out of my comfort zone!
When we were at the cave the day before, a lady suggested we eat at the Mariposa Grill. It was kind of a hoity toity place requiring reservations and had a dress code, but we were able to get a table and made our way there after a long day of browsing. I had a Cubano flank steak with a chimichurri dressing and black beans, which was good but maybe didn't quite merit its price tag. Dessert however was something worth mentioning. We shared a cactus fruit cheesecake with pomegranate sauce. Cactus fruit, as we know thanks to Grandma Naomi, doesn't have a super distinct flavor, but sure has a stunning color. It was definitely the pomegranate sauce that made this dish shine. The ambiance was nice, and we had a lovely conversation, so overall it was a satisfactory experience.
We headed Southwest out of Sedona on Wednesday. We spent the morning at the Tuzigoot National Monument. We checked out the little museum, explored the ruins, then did a roughly one mile nature walk along one of the largest marshes in Arizona.
We then headed to Jerome, an old mining town built into the side of the mountain. We started with the little museum, which I was actually quite impressed with. The fact that it was established in a mansion from the old mining days was an added bonus, as I really love historic architecture.
After a little break for a late picnic lunch, we drove up the switchbacks into the town. It was literally built into the side of the mountain, with houses almost hanging over one another. It was really hard to get a proper photo of the feel of the place. At its heyday in the 1920's over 10,000 people lived there, and now it has a population of less than 500, so it's definitely a ghost town. More than half of the buildings were abandoned ruins.
They've turned a section of the main street into a touristy shopping lane, so we walked along it for a bit and found a fun candy shop where I got the kids cactus fruit flavored sodas and popcorn. At dusk we headed back towards Sedona and stopped at a diner in Cottonwood for supper.
Our plan for Thursday morning was to hike along the West Fork trail a bit, as the trailhead was off state route 89a which was on the way out of town on my route home. Unfortunately, the parking lot was full when we got there just after 8am and there wasn't a great way to turn around in the canyon, so my mom suggested we just drive straight through to Flagstaff and get breakfast. We ate at a Denny's just off the road, then Mom headed South to check out Montezuma's Castle, and I headed East toward Albuquerque. This trip was a lovely little break from life and my mom and I shared some memorable experiences. I'm glad we did it.
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