We took a trip out west!

In February of 2020 my wife and I went to Phoenix, AZ to attend a conference where my wife was presenting some research. Since I could work from anywhere I decided to tag along and see the sights. I have never really been to the southwest and have heard great things. So we packed up and went to the desert.

Day 1: Getting there is half the fun right?

First day of the trip was mostly dedicated to travel. Now, something you may not know about me is that I am not a fan of flying. I have done it quite a bit, but over the last 10 years or so have develop some sort of flight anxiety. Which really means any flight I take, I essentially just have to white knuckle it for a while. Maybe I'll do a blog post on this. With that said our flight about just under 4 hours going from ✈️ CLT to ✈️ PHX. Unfortunately for me, that week there was a large storm system moving through the southeast.  So the first hour of our flight had some nasty turbulence. Which for those of us with flight anxiety, this made for a really fun time.  

Needless to say we made it in one piece and made our way to our hotel, the Hyatt Regency of Phoenix. I must say it was pretty solid. The location was pretty great. It was in the heart of downtown Phoenix and within walking distant to anything we could possibly want to walk too. The room was nice and spacious and came with a couch and a decent desk for me to work at. Seeing as we had not eaten in some time we set out to explore and find food. We came across a great Thai restaurant called Tom Yum. We got some pretty tasty appetizers and shared a pad thai. Very satisfying 😋 .

Day 2: Presentation Day

Now the whole reason for going was so that my wife could present her research. So while she was prepping, I worked on a few things in the morning, attended my work meetings, and set out to find some good lunch. My wife had mentioned this place called Zooks. Sounded good to me, so I headed for it. It was pretty tasty. I got a roast beef sandwich that had a really delicious horse radish sauce. All their sandwiches come toasted in this circular toasted bun contraption. Looked unique, and tasted great!

That afternoon was the big presentation. I went to watch my wife present and she killed it! The room was engaged in her talk and the participants had good questions. I was a proud husband!

Being that she had done such a good job, we wanted to go celebrate. So we found the local cupcake bakery and realized it closed in 15 minutes. So we grabbed an Uber and rushed to Urban Cookies Bakeshop. Making it just in time, we each picked out 2 cupcakes for later. I picked out my classic chocolate, and one that was a dark velvet cupcake. My wife picked out a strawberry and a vanilla. We took them back to our room for later

We grabbed dinner at a sort of pub called the Cornish Pasty Co. The atmosphere was great and the pies we got were delicious. They were pretty big though so we both ended up taking ours back and having them for breakfast the nice day.

Day 3: Just another workday, southwestern style

With her presentation over, my wife was free to enjoy the rest of the conference. She had some meetings with colleagues so I was on my own again for lunch. I decided that since I really liked the Zooks place, that I would go back and get one of their breakfast sandwiches. This time I got a poached egg with cheddar and ham. Again it was very tasty. In fact, I think I liked this one better than my one from the previous day.

For dinner that evening we decided to try on of the most top rated restaurants in Phoenix, POMO Pizzeria. It was an Italian pizza restaurant that was, in my opinion at least, very authentic. <sidebar> Take anything I say regarding food with a grain of salt since I am neither an expert, nor a "foodie". I just like to eat and see fun places 😊. </sidebar>. We split some rice balls and the "four seasons" pizza. It was all delicious. I really liked the crust because it had a little crisp to it, but was chewy enough for my tastes. The flavor was really good.

For dessert we split a tiramisu. IT.WAS. GOOD. All and all I would concur with the great people of phoenix that this restaurant belongs among the top in the city.

Day 4: Sightseeing!

For the last day of the conference we got a little wild. We saw that we were only 3.5 hours from the Grand Canyon. So we decided to miss the last day of sessions of the conference, grab a car and make our way to see one of the great natural wonders of the world. First however, we had been told that we should drive through Sedona, AZ. So we found a breakfast place online and made out way. Driving out of the city was pretty neat because there were cacti everywhere! Now for those of you who are used to this then please forgive my excitement. But I literally have never seen them in the wild, only in books, tv, and potted plants at the store.

We made it to Sedona after about 2 hours or so and oh man was it beautiful! Seriously, I had only seen landscapes like these in movies. Such pretty red rock structures set against a beautiful horizon. It also was a plus that there was not a cloud in the sky.

We found our breakfast location the Pump House Station Urban Eatery and Market. Really fun vibe inside. The coffee was very good! I got biscuits and gravy and my wife got huevos rancheros. Being a good southerner, I have a high standard for biscuits and this place delivered. The biscuits were big and fluffy. They had a bit of a sweetness to them, which was interesting. Usually I am not too much of a fan of sweet biscuits, but with the gravy it worked.

We sat for a bit enjoying the feel of the place when my wife notice a donut shop called Sedonuts. So... naturally... we had to go, if for no other reason then because the name was that clever. The donuts were nothing too fancy, but oh so delicious. I got, surprise, surprise, a chocolate peanut butter and she got a vanilla with sprinkles.

Feeling nice and full after a big breakfast and after stopping at the local art gallery, we decided it was time to make our way to the Grand Canyon. It was another 2 hour drive though some pretty scenic countryside. We had some fun stops along the way, took some pics and bought some jewelry.

We then finally made it to our main goal. I am going to write a whole post just of the Grand Canyon, but for now know that it was breath taking. have been fortunate to see many “must” see things around the world. Most do not live up to the hype when you get there and even fewer ever exceed expectations. The Grand Canyon did not disappoint. Truly amazing to see God’s design at work. It was almost too much to take in.

We spent a few hours walking around the south rim, taking pictures and just enjoying the day. However, time was not our friend this trip as we only had just a day. So after grabbing a quick burrito from the small cafe and hitting up the gift shop, we made the trek back to Phoenix.

Our last stop of the day was to the infamous In and Out Burger. My friends from the west talk about this place in mythical grandeur. To dine here, was to catch a glimpse of heaven they said. Eat a burger from their and the paradigm you live your life by will be altered forever. So, yeah... my expectations were a bit on the high side. I got a double-double animal style.  It was... tasty. Good in fact. However, I will not bestow upon it immortal status. Would I eat there again? Yes. Would I recommend it? Absolutely! Is it my top burger place? I don't think so. I know that might be a bit controversial, but it is what it is. Leave thoughts in comments about your best burger you think we should try to make a comparison.

Day 5: Home Sweet Home

Alas, our time had come to go back home. To be honest I was ready. I like traveling, but there is something about home that makes you long to be there.  We had an early morning flight back to CLT. Got back without a hitch.

We really enjoyed our time and I would certainly recommend going. I want to go back to Sedona and the Grand Canyon to do some hiking and get to stay longer than just a few hours. I would also love to go back to Phoenix and explore more of the city.