Arizona

This blog post will be a little different from the rest considering I live in the US. I do not travel much around the US but since COVID hit, I have been more interested in it. I will be updating this page as I visit more states but for now will be posting Arizona.

Time of Year: February

Places I Visited: Phoenix, Sedona, Scottsdale, Flagstaff, Grand Canyon, Tempe

Places to Stay: Marriott Canyon Villas, Airbnb- House Bang Bang Phoenix

Places to eat: Hash Kitchen, Breakfast Bitch, Golden Margarita (for drinks), Postino WineCafe

Highlights: Grand Canyon, Desert Botanical Gardens, Golden Rule Tattoo Shop, Red Rocks Sedona

Arizona in itself was a lot different than I had expected. It had the vibes and scenery of California or Florida. Overall, everyone was so nice and polite. The scenery was breathtaking and sunsets seemed unreal with the silhouettes of the mountains. We also realized that Arizona was very LGBTQ+ friendly with lots of bars and Sunday Funday was a really big thing so prepare to wait in long lines for brunch. 

We rented a car from Hertz that was the best decision ever. Also, if you have AAA they will waive the fee for renting under 25 years old. We used the car a lot so if you are thinking of tour a lot of places, I recommend getting a car. 

We started our trip by staying for a few days at the Marriott Canyon Villas. The stay was very enjoyable and clean. The room had two beds, a cute balcony, a mini kitchen, and a decent-sized bathroom. They have a pool with a bar and lots of activities for families with kids. This area is surrounded by a lot of shops and restaurants.

For the rest of our stay, we booked an Airbnb which was probably the coolest Airbnb ever. It had lots of fur walls and a very unique framed bed. It was in the heart of downtown Phoenix so it was perfect walking distance to a lot of bars and restaurants. They also have some food trucks alongside the road. 

House Bang Bang

Within walking distance of our Airbnb, were some amazing eats. Breakfast bitch was a great brunch spot, but like I said before it can get super busy so be prepared to wait or go super early. Another great brunch spot was Hash Kitchen which has a DJ, bloody mary bar, cereal shooters, and large portions of food. If you’re into lunch for a more relaxed vibe, Postinos has multiple locations and are known for their bruschetta boards, highly recommend. As for drinks and bites, a great late-night spot is Golden Margarita. They have a DJ as well and have plenty of drinks on hand. If you’re on a tighter budget, you can also go grocery shopping at Fry’s or Safeway and prepare most of your meals at home as we did. 

Hash Kitchen

Postinos

If you’re into hikes, which we did not get to do, I would say Devil’s Bridge was most popular but I was told to go very early in the AM as there were a lot of crowds If and may have to wait in line to take a picture on the bridge. Camelback Mountain, I heard was a little more challenging, if you are the type looking for a difficult hike. If you want the desert scenery without the sweat, I recommend the Desert Botanical Gardens. It only costs $25 for entry and there are open spots where you can take clear pictures of the desert and mountains with cacti and flora. 

Stepping out of Phoenix, starting with Sedona, are the amazing Red Rocks. Here we did a Pink Jeep Tour, which is the thing I would most recommend out of this entire trip. There are multiple tours you can go on here but we did the Broken Arrow (just be careful if you have back or neck issues I would not recommend doing it, it is extremely bumpy and rough). Make sure you bring your camera for the amazing views and bundle up for the colder months. 

For the Grand Canyon, we stayed overnight but If you are staying within an hour or an hour and a half I wouldn’t stay the night. The time of year we went, nothing was really open and it was a lot colder than we anticipated, it even snowed which we were very much not prepared for. There are pink jeep tours from here but I feel like it is not worth it as you can do the same thing with a car. There are also a few hikes to do here but if you want to just drive around, there are plenty of scenic overlooks to drive around and stop at.