Proud Wifey

I am still in a little bit of a reverie from the weekend.  To celebrate Mike's 5th trial win (yes, he's 5 for 5, amigos!), we decided to take a quick trip to some of the northern AZ cities.  After a month of trial prep and 2 weeks of court-time we both couldn't wait to get away together.  Funny that in the 15 years we've known each other we have traveled to places as far as Croatia, Germany, Ireland, we ran with the bulls, lived in Guadalajara but we never made the "hike" to Sedona together.  Man, was this trip overdue!  We started in Flagstaff where we visited with the maker of Mike's custom fly rod (he has been SO excited since we picked it up) then headed out for a night on the town.  We have read fun reviews of the restaurant Brix but en route to Brix we stumbled on the new sister restaurant Criollo Kitchen which was unbelievable.  The drinks were delicious (they feature several Mezcal cocktails) and the soup d jour was a blended 5-chile-bowl-of-OMG that we devoured in record time.  Everything we ate was amazing - if you're ever in the area you must go there!  We finished out the night at Beaver Street Brewery.  Mmmmm, bbbbeeeeerrr.

The next morning we packed the car, the new fly rod and our hangovers and headed to winery row!  We started at Page Springs Cellars for a beautiful late morning/early afternoon tour of the vineyard and wine tasting.  The vineyard has a patio that sits directly above the Verde River and it is incredibly peacful to sit and enjoy the sound of the water while sipping your favorite vino next to a handsome someone :) 

Our next stop was the second of the three Maynard/Glomsky affiliated vineyards, AZ Stronghold.  We just visited the tasting room after a delicious lunch at the Tavern (across the street in downtown Cottonwood).  Of the three wineries visited this was my least favorite... if you're a sweet wine person you will love it but on a warm day I like a crisp white wine or a dry rose and they had neither.

Then off to one of the best hotel's we have stayed in: L'Auberge.  It is no secret that L'Auberge carries an heir of luxury - it is consistently one of the top ranked hotels in Sedona.  We have heard of it but never dreamed we would be able to afford staying...that is until my good friend http://www.travelzoo.com/ pulled through for me!  If any of you are looking for an excuse to get a way between now and the end of June consider this deal: http://www.travelzoo.com/hotels/texas/988222/  PS- request room 55  and spring for the Sunday brunch...can you say oyesters & crab legs?  Or omelet bar and cannolis?  And don't discount the fact that with unlimited Mimosa's or bloody mary's your Sunday morning just got merrier, my friend. 

Following our brunch-fest we decided to make the final stop Jerome, AZ.  If you've never been (I had not) it's a MUST GO!  Jerome has been known for it's old-time mining and ghost town feel but recently was put on the map (again) by the Tool lead singer Maynard Keenan who decided to break into the world of wine in 2005 with Caduceus.  The tasting room is in downtown Jerome, along with lots of quirky art shops, old buildings (some of them on stilts!) and a cool view of Flagstaff and some of the lower Verde towns.  Make the trip- it's worth it!

The Caduceus tasting room...

Here is the view of the distant Flagstaff mountains...I can only imagine what it looks like in late spring/early summer when everything starts to green again...

And one final photo for all my Theta ladies out there:)