The Grand Canyon

The Grand Canyon originally published on Food and Fond Memories on November 30, 2013 by sandyaxelrod 2 Comments (Edit)

The Grand Canyon

On Monday morning, the day we set aside for our trip to the Grand Canyon, we awoke to a sunny, crisp and windy day. Our plan was to hike along the rim on our own, have lunch at El Tovar and the take a Sunset Jeep Tour. We left Sedona early and stopped for coffee and delicious muffins at a little country store along the way. The scenic drive through National Forests was magnificent and as we drove through a little bit of Flagstaff it seemed like a big city by comparison. Our excitement built as we got closer to one of the seven wonders of the world. We both had a visit to the Grand Canyon on our “bucket lists” but a couple of weeks before our trip it looked as if we weren’t going to be able to fulfill that line item. Quite fortuitously the government went back to work and all of the National Parks were re-opened! We parked the car at the Canyon and walked to the rim. The enormity and natural beauty of it literally took our breath away. Well, that and the fiercely swirling wind. There really are no words adequate enough to describe the majesty of this landmark. Even our myriad of photos can’t do it justice. But after a couple of hours of visiting with this vast hole and fighting the blustery chilling wind we were ready for lunch and some warmth.

El Tovar is an historic landmark all it’s own. Construction of this first class hotel began immediately after the Santa Fe railroad first reached the Grand Canyon. This 100 room hotel is built of native boulders and Oregon Pine and opened on January 14, 1905. It was named El Tovar in honor of the Spanish explorer Pedro de Tobar who had let the first expedition to Hopi Indian country in 1540. And it’s built right on the South Rim! We were lucky enough to be seated near the window to enjoy the view while enjoying our fabulous lunch. Steve started with very cheesy and warming French Onion Soup and we shared a Natural Angus Burger on Ciabatta with Avocado, Pepper Jack and Ranch Aioli and Deviled Crab Cake Sliders with Remoulade along with perfect French Fries.

When we walked outside and the frigid wind hit us we decided we would forgo the tour because it would only continue to get colder. What can I say? We are wusses from Florida! But we were still lucky because the next day was much colder and snowy. I think they got something like 6 inches of snow. So glad we missed that.
Our journey back to Sedona took us back along the winding mountain roads where we continued to marvel at how beautiful G-d’s creation was. Back in town we decided to do a bit of shopping in the very pedestrian friendly village. And then we got hungry! We had heard from some locals that Javelina Cantina had the best New Mexican fare along with great Margaritas so that’s where we headed. It turned out to be in the same shopping center as Shugrue’s where we had dined the night before.

We walked in to the modern Mexican dining room and felt comfortable right away. It was casual, welcoming and beautiful. And as our server Paul promised, the Margaritas really were fabulous along with the very fresh salsa and tortilla chips. I had the Tacos a la Parrilla which was so delicious. Filled full with tender steak, queso fresca, avocado and cilantro it was accompanied by equally yummy black beans and yellow rice. Steve devoured his Open Face Scallop Quesadilla. This from a man who used to hate Mexican food! Although we were stuffed we knew we would enjoy something sweet once we were back at the Inn so we brought back fabulous cinnamony (is that a word?) churros with vanilla ice cream and were we ever glad we did.

El Tovar
South Rim, Grand Canyon
928-638-2526

Javelina Cantina
Hillside Shopping Center Highway 179
Sedona, Arizona
928-282-1313
http://www.javelinacantinasedona.com