Ok, it’s been a minute. Between the elections, work, upcoming holidays and life in general, it’s been hard to keep up! Getting something down has been a challenge, but I guess done is better than perfect, so here goes.
We had heard such great things about Sedona (how cute it is, how fun it is, how eco it is) we decided to forego the Grand Canyon so we could spend two nights in Sedona before getting to Phoenix.
My highlight from Sedona was when we got take out tamales from Mr. Tamaliza – hands down the best tamales I have ever had. Other than that, Sedona is pretty – the greenery in the red rocks was such a contrast from Utah. But, this is my lasting impression of Sedona:
We arrived in the afternoon, and decided to head straight into town to see what the hype was about.
Deciding on Mexican for dinner, we found Elote Café on Yelp so made that our destination, only to find out that the earliest we could get a table would be 8:30pm – way past bedtime. I also did not realize that entrées were at least $20, so that was above budget with kids.
We decided to check out another place, Javelina Cantina, which again had an ages long wait, so we settled on Dellepiane Sedona, which was a quick(er) service place with outdoor dining options and no line.
We got a some empanadas and chicken strips for the kids, which was fine, but despite being in the age of COVID, was so disappointed that even dine-in (outside) was all disposable cutlery, single-use drink containers, and so on. The food was fine – not particularly memorable – but when I asked where the recycling was, the server said to just throw it in the trash. 😒
We did a little shopping, and again, found the customer service to be lacking. Maybe I was too perceptive to it, but did not feel particularly welcomed, though we are in a weird time of COVID and xenophobia. In one store, we overheard two locals making plans for the evening but complaining about the traffic at the roundabout. Though I had heard about the issue of overtourism in Sedona and impact on local living, I was still caught off guard to witness it first hand.
Though we stayed in Cottonwood, just outside Sedona, again, I expected there to be some greater environmental conscientiousness, so perhaps my expectations were too high. Of course our RV park did not have any recycling, nor were there recycling receptacles in the streets like there was in Moab. I collected our recyclables and took them to one of the drop-off locations listed here. (Say what you will about recycling, that it only a minimal percentage gets recycled, but in my view, doing your part to close the loop and keep waste out of landfill is better than nothing. Of course, we should endeavor to just use less…)
Sadly, this tainted my impression of Sedona as an eco-destination, and which just doesn’t jive with its destination tagline, “The most beautiful place on Earth.”
Tales of RVentures 