It's Your Birthday, Lets Blow Out Your Candles!
So this year ya girl turned the big 3-0! If you have been following this blog or my twitter then you would know I was planning to do a birthday tour this year. However, my tour was cancelled after the first stop (All-Star Weekend Chicago) due to Ms. Ronna coming in hot and heavy lol!
**THANK YOU ALL FOR THE BIRTHDAY LOVE & WISHES...MAJOR THANKS TO GOD FOR ALLOWING ME TO MAKE IT THIS FAR CAUSE BAYBEYYYYY...**
After going back and forth with what I wanted to do and CAN do, I decided why not go to Sedona. Since I've moved to Arizona people have recommend that I experience Sedona's beauty.
If you search #sedona on Instagram then you will see why Arizonians suggest traveling there.
The pictures really don't do the place justice.
The plan was originally to go by myself and just relax and recharge. Fortunately, for me some of my family wanted to help me celebrate turning 30. Two of my cousins traveled all the way from Upstate New York to help me celebrate. I low-key had my own hair and makeup stylist for the weekend 😂😂.
But, on a serious note I'm very grateful that they came to Arizona because this state has been an off and on again hot spot for Covid.
I'm a planner so with that being said I had to make sure we had a whole itinerary, especially since this was their first time visiting Arizona in general.
SN: ALL ACTIVITIES AND PLACES REQUIRED A MASK!
Friday
You know the saying "Your plans are not always God's plans,"well that's exactly how Friday went. I'm learning not to let things negatively impact my spirits when things go left.
My cousins originally were suppose to arrive here around 4/5 pm. They ended up arriving around 11am. I slacked the night before so my apartment wasn't as clean as I wanted it to be, still had a load of laundry, didn't get to wash my hair, it was just a lot. I wanted to pick up the car rental that morning so I didn't have to Uber or take public transit to get my lashes done and guess what ??! Enterprise did not have my reservation or a car even available so we had to wait until after 1pm to pick the car up.
We finally made it to Sedona around 5pm. The drive was only about 1.5 hrs from Phoenix. Our hotel accommodations were at the Hilton Sedona Resort at Bell Rock. The check in was smooth, the room was nice (had a fireplace & balcony), and the viewsss ...y'all AMAZING a whole ENTIRE vibe! Once we unpacked and freshened up, we headed downstairs to eat outside and grab some drinks. I was tired and wanted to catch the sunrise from the mountain the next day so we called it a night after that.
Saturday
My official official birthday!
So what better way to bring in your 30's then with a hiking trail that leads you to a great view of the sunrise on the mountain.
Welp!
That didn't really happen.
I did however see the sunrise in front of the resort while I was waiting for my cousins to make their way to the car. Lol
We still went on the trail (Bell Rock Pathway Trail/Loop). I believe this trail was about 7-10 minutes away from the resort. There is a $5 fee for parking and parking is limited after 8am. There were multiple paths to take on this trail. However, I wish they were better outlined because of this we didn't make it as high as I would've like.
Also wear appropriate shoes and clothing cause you WONT make it far either!!
This trip was also a spiritual recharge for me, which is why I wanted to stop at the famous landmark Chapel of Holy Cross.
Bruhhhhhh! This was an emotional experience for me. Definitely, a must visit if you ever plan a trip to Sedona.
Parking is free but I would say get there at a decent time. We arrived around 10am and parked at the bottom of the hill. They have a golf cart that will drive you up to the top of the hill and you can give a donation (tip).
Views from the top are absolutely breathtaking!!
We did go inside the chapel, said our prayer, lit our candle ($1), and left. There was a wait for the gift shop so unfortunately we weren't able to check that out.
That afternoon we went on a wine tour that I found through Groupon. I did not book through groupon because at one point it was suppose to be about 8 of us. At the end of it all it was just the 3 of us and we paid $70 a piece plus tax and then we tipped our tour guide John because he was funny, had good energy, well knowledgeable, and accommodating. It took everyone some time to warm up but by the end of the tour we were dancing and laughing up a storm on that bus!
**PS: you can bring drinks on the bus they however provide water and a small snack of wine pairing items (grapes, cheese, etc). Also the aux is controlled by the guest!
That night we had reservations at Mariposa Latin Inspired Grill. This is a VERY popular spot so you must book at least 1-2 months in advance to dine here. They also have a dress-code to dine at their establishment. Just to do a quick name drop....Ludacris just dinned there a week or two before us!
Food was amazing and the next day it was even better. I think we all ended up ordering the same main dish which was their spin on the curry chicken.
My body was shutting down on me so after dinner we just called it a night.
Sunday
You already know the vibes Sunday brings right?!
Sunday Funday!!!
After checking out the resort, our first stop (besides dropping off our leftovers back to my place) was Brunch & Sip(black owned business). Its a Vibe lit-treally! We had to wait over an hour to be seated and you know we was hot but it was worth it.
**try to book in advance on Yelp before 12pm that day**
At first I was definitely hot about the wait but the food, presentation,and music was on point. The best description I can give about this place is it feels like they brought East Coast brunch vibes to Phoenix and I'm ALL THE WAY here for it! We even got to meet and have a lengthy conversation with the owner and because of that interaction alone I ended up taking my cousins to his other location Monroe's Hot Chicken.
SN: The Bananas Foster Pancakes...fire!! They also have Keto and Vegan options.
Next, we went to the Phoenix Art Museum. This was not the best experience...we ended up getting followed around by the staff in two of the showcase rooms and one of the rooms I wanted to see was not open for us to visit. We would've been better off going to Wonderspaces (on the bucket list tho..maybe a future date night ) but it was nice to do something out of the norm plus some of the pieces were cool to look at as well.
From there we went to Pigtails Downtown Phoenix which was about a 5 minute drive from the art museum. Pigtails is one of the many hidden speakeasy/bars that are out here in Arizona. The drinks are a little more than your average bar price but they are well crafted which makes it worth it.
**they do validate your parking**
Our night ended at a hookah bar in Scottsdale called Oasis and let just say I'm cool off that place. Service was trash from the moment we were seated. Its no His&Hers (South Street, Philly).
Monday
My cousins were leaving this day so we didn't do much. Went and got smoothies for breakfast, found another trail (we didn't make it to the top), and ate some food. Lol
Overall
My birthday weekend was great. I wish all my siblings were able to come because that would've made it better but hopefully I have many more birthdays that I can share with them. I also can't wait to go back to Sedona. I loved the trail so much that I made it a goal for 2021 to join a beginners hiking group (MeetUp App) to hike every month because you cant live in Arizona and not at least hit up some hiking trails, right?! lol
Birthday trip for 2021 is currently BALI so stay tuned for that! Going with black travel group Chidi Ashley Travels.
Also something to point out as a group of black young women we received A LOTTTTT of stares while in Sedona. It was to the point that we had to politely "check" a table of older white females by purposely walking pass their table on the way out and hitting them with a "good morning have a good day" to really give them something to chat about.
Check out all the IG pages of the places mentioned here:
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Until next time ✌