One lucky person is going to win a free copy of Sedona: The Most Uniquely Beautiful Site on Earth.

“SEDONA: The most uniquely beautiful site on Earth” is an all-color, 128-page, 9″ x 11 ½ ” hardcover book with a laminated dust jacket and a sewn cover with foil-stamped title on the front and spine. This extremely popular book essentially is a photographic essay featuring 112 of photographer Tom Johnson’s most beautiful pictures of Sedona, Oak Creek Canyon and the surrounding area. These photographs are complemented by the descriptive, informative text of Hoyt Johnson, founder of 16-year-old, nationally circulated Sedona Magazine. The book is composed of six chapters titled The Red Rocks, The Canyon, The Rim, The Wilderness, The Ruins and The Plateau. This artful presentation of Sedona’s spectacular natural beauty, is a “must” for people throughout the world who have experienced an exhilarating romance with this unique site. It is both a prized souvenir and a cherished, decorative item for beautiful residences”

Here’s how the drawing will work:

1. Enter your name and email address below.
2. Tell your friends and family about The Roaming Boomers, and specifically this drawing in  your Facebook, Twitter, or even your own blog.  You might say something like: Win a beautiful Sedona coffee table book over at The Roaming Boomers: http://ow.ly/1QnGY (Facebook and Twitter users can simply copy & paste the red text)
3. The drawing will be held on Friday, June 4th, 2010.

Sally Boone from West Virginia is the winner.  Congratulations Sally, and thanks for being a fan/subscriber of The Roaming Boomers.

“To provide discriminating (a person with refined taste or good judgment) baby boomers a trusted travel resource to determine what to do, where to eat, and where to stay when they travel.”

Further, our intention is to actually take you there with our videos, photography, and textual recounting of our experiences.   In so doing, we hope that we might build a life-long relationship with you and your friends/family through our website’s social media tools like Facebook and Twitter.

Carol with the Sedona Chamber's Heather Hermen (left), and our waiter at Sedona's Heartline Cafe

Carol and I have been very busy forging relationships with industry partners like Heather Hermen with the Sedona Chamber of Commerce/Tourism Bureau.   It is relationships of this nature that will help us to bring you cool stuff.  And we all know that cool stuff is…well…cool!

As we were nearing Sedona, Arizona from highway 179, we were immediately greatly pleased to see that all the road construction has yielded one of the most beautiful city gateways we have ever encountered.

As you near the city’s famed red rocks, the highway splits into divergent one-way thoroughfares that provide a great many scenic view stops.  Furthermore, all traffic lights have been replaced with traffic circles, and the streets are now lined with beautiful landscaping and red rock sidewalks. It’s stunning!

Clearly the City of Sedona has been very hard at work to live up to its billing as the #1 Most Beautiful Place in America (USA Today Travel).

Unfortunately, the weather (strong winds/cloudy skies) prevented us from doing a couple things that we had planned to shared with you.  But, fortunately, we live only 90 minutes down the road from Sedona and will be back soon.  The strong wind kept us from a kayak trip on the Verde River, and the cloudy skies kept me from showing you my most favorite place to photograph the town of Sedona.

To me, its nearly a crime to shoot photographs in Sedona with cloudy skies.  Those majestic red rocks simple beam in the morning’s early light, and if the skies happen to be overcast, the incredible light is gone.  Ah…the life of a picky photographer.

Nonetheless, we do have some incredible things to share with you:

• Where to Stay:
  • The Enchantment Resort (Video)
  • The Adobe Grand Villas (Video)
• Where to Eat:
  • The Fork in the Road American Bistro
  • The Yavapai Restaurant inside the Enchantment Resort
• What to Do:
  • Hike Sedona’s Boynton Canyon Trail

We spent three nights in Sedona on this particular journey, and as I mentioned above, our “what to do” section is pretty light.  We promise to fix that in another journey “up the hill” to Sedona in the very near future.

“We can’t compete with Adobe Grand Villas.  Their property is amazing, and even Olivia Newton John stays there when she comes to town.”

I was a little taken back when I heard a competing property manager say this, but it also confirmed our resolve to go check this place out.

The Adobe Grand Villas is an amazing place!

The minute you walk through the front gate, you will be transported into a place of wonder perhaps not unlike Alice in Wonderland.  The gardens are amazing, filled with captivating sculptures, and everywhere the eye can focus is a statement from the property’s creator that this is going to be not just a stay, but an experience.

I knew this was going to be a cool place when I noticed that the front door of the lobby was in fact a working water sculpture.  When we walked in the front door, the decor (I shudder to even call it that) was filled with wonder.  There were molasses cookies, candies, and delicious lemon-aide to refresh us as we completed the brief check-in process.

We were then whisked away to our own corner of this wonderland where we were first greeted by an amazing front door, er…work of art.  We walked inside to find the smell of fresh baking bread, a romantic table set up with a welcome placard set prominently in view.

Immediately, the custom-built bed captivated our attention, quickly followed by the incredible stonework in the fireplace.  Our host taught us how to get at our bread when it finished baking, and taught us the workings of the in-room entertainment system.

She then walked us into the bathroom.  This bathroom was larger than most hotel rooms!  It was huge!

The sinks were a work of art.  The shower!  How to describe the shower?  The entrance to the shower was another labor of artistic love, and the shower itself was a waterfall!  No shower head, but you showered in a waterfall!

At the other end of this incredible bathroom, was a two-person jetted bath with another fireplace all designed to create the perfect atmosphere for romance.  The entertainment system also piped music through separate speakers into this space.

The food at Adobe Grand Villas was superb, and if you like, they have a personal on-site chef, Michael Merilli, to further compliment your experience.

Oh…and if all this wasn’t enough….this was the view outside our window!

I hope you get the picture.

You must visit Sedona, Arizona, and when you do, you must spend some time at Adobe Grand Villas!

Disclosure:  this wonderful lodging experience was provided by the kind folks at Adobe Grand Villas.

This was the case with our recent roaming to Sedona, Arizona as we explored Chef Alan McClean’s new Fork in the Road American Bistro.

The Fork in the Road American Bistro is a labor of love between a husband and wife:

“The Owners, Alan and Brenda McClean, are a husband and wife team.  Alan is the chef and Brenda does everything else!”

Carol and I understand that arrangement very well having been in business together for over 20 years, and still happily married to boot!

Chef McClean (pictured here with Carol) is a graduate of the Scottsdale Culinary Institute, has been an Executive Chef in Sedona for a number of years, and in May of 2008 opened The Fork in the Road American Bistro.

When you walk in the door, you will notice European décor, and an eclectic menu that offers tapas as well as items such as gourmet fish and chips, shepherds pie, duck cassoulet, and even a wonderful veal schnitzel.

To begin our culinary adventure, Carol started out with the Pink Lady Apple & Arugula Salad (mint, toasted walnuts, raddichio, creme fraiche, lemon dressing), while I opted for the Fork Crab Cake (creole mustard aioli with herb salad garnish).

To be honest, I have somewhere developed a general dislike of crab cakes unless I happen to be on the east coast where the crab meat is directly out of the ocean.  Otherwise, it seems to me, the crab meat has a strong, fishy taste.

However, I am greatly pleased to announce, Chef Alan’s crab cakes were most delightful, with absolutely no hint of that strong taste that I abhor.

Opakapaka Fish & Chips

For her main course, Carol went for the Fish and Chips (roasted Opakapaka, malt vinegar beurre blanc, lump crab & celery root slaw, hand cut fried potatoes).  What great fun it is to have your first bite and be so pleasantly surprised.  This was no ordinary fish and chips!

Veal Schnitzel

For my main course, I quickly opted for the Veal Schnitzel .  Let me just say that this is with out a doubt, the best veal schnitzel I have encountered.  Many times veal schnitzel is heavy, and might even be called a comfort food.  This dish was light, but yet featured all the qualities that I love about a good schnitzel.  Absolutely divine!

Note:  please click on the photographs to see a much larger version.

With our bread, a bottle of Pinot Noir, our appetizers, and our main courses, we were both beginning to feel like we had better call it quits.  We had a most delightful meal, and were ready to head back to our hotel, kick off our shoes, and start to go over our itinerary for the next day.

However, our waiter would have none of that.  He insisted that we at least sample the chef’s Double Chocolate Sour Cream Pound Cake (with warm kahlua chocolate sauce).  Fully understanding that we were guests of the house, and here to sample Chef Alan best, we decided that we  had better take the full epicurean journey.

Carol ordered her typical decaf coffee, while I in turn went for my usual decaf double espresso, and away we launched into the most decadent chocolate experience that recent memory affords.  Oh my heavens…that was GOOD!

To Chef Alan and Brenda McClean we say well, well done!  We had a most wonderful dining experience, and your food deserves to be honored by all of the best cuisine rating services.

Furthermore, you should know that as we told folks around Sedona where we were dining, we received consistent, and hearty praise from the locals.

Congratulations, and thank you for a wonderful dining experience.

Oof, now let me loosen my belt! 

Disclosure:  this wonderful dining experience was provided by Fork in the Road American Bistro.

It was sunny, 50º, 9:00 in the morning, and we were staying at the fabulous Enchantment Resort in Sedona, Arizona.

When we planned our trip to Sedona, Arizona we planned to bring our hiking gear, and get out on the trails.  Little did we know that the Boynton Canyon Trail lay right outside our door at the resort.

The Boynton Canyon Trail is a fairly easy, 2.5 mile trail, that will give you a nice 5 mile hike out and back.

We joined the trail out the back door of the Mii Amo Spa, and were quickly rewarded with canyon views of the entire resort.

As we meandered in and out of the morning shadows, we found ourselves on the sandy floor of the canyon heading northwesterly back into the depths of the canyon.   As we continued, the sounds of modernity faded into the distance, and we began to enjoy the sounds of the songbirds, the rustling of small lizards in the leaves, the solitude of the early morning, the sounds of the wind singing through the tops of the pine trees, the growing number of oak trees the farther we journeyed, and the incredible vistas that were available in absolutely every direction.

As we were making our way down the trail, a young gal came zipping along the trail and passed us on her own trek on the glorious trail.  Another 10 minutes down the trail I noticed fresh human barefoot tracks on the trail.  We later smiled when we caught the same young gal hiking back, shoes in hand.

Because of our particular time constraints, we were unable to complete the entire journey, and were forced to turn back before we reached the trails end.

As we made our way back, we noticed that the trail was now becoming fairly busy with others who had likely put away their late breakfasts, and were now out enjoying this canyon trail as well.

We were no longer enjoying solitude as folks were busily chatting their way down the trail.  We got many questions like:  “how much farther is the trail?”

As we were approaching the resort entrance we heard a noisy Japanese couple making their way along the trail.  When they approached us the woman inquired, in very broken English, “Can you feel the vortex?  Oh, the vortex is making me very happy today”, as she gleefully pranced her way along the trail.

As she passed, we looked at each other, gave each other a knowing smile, and finished off the last leg of our morning hike.

The Boynton Canyon Trail should be an easy hike for any baby boomer, and is one that in our book shouldn’t be missed when coming to Sedona.

Big thumbs up!

As this photograph shows, the AAA Four-Diamond Yavapai Restaurant offers remarkable red-rock views, and serves up cuisine that is capable of adding to the remarkable visual experience.

Watching the varying hues of red on these sandstone cliffs, as the sun began to set, was nothing short of extraordinary.

We didn’t experience it, but evidently at certain times of the month, the subsequent full moon rise is equally stunning at it rises to the view of those dining in the restaurant.  Can you imagine?

As we were seated at our red-rock view table, we ordered a nice bottle of Pinot Noir, and set about to explore Yavapai’s offerings.

Carol started her meal with Squash Blossoms (Crispy Almond Crusted Blossoms, Cypress Grove Purple Haze Goat Cheese Mâche, Grape & Radish Salad, Blood Orange-Agave Nectar).  Wow!  Words fail to describe how good this was.

For my starter, I opted for Pan-Seared Hudson-Valley Foie Gras (Braised Moulard Duck Crêpe, Blueberry Champagne Glaze, Wilted Blueberries & Pistachio Studded Fromage Sorbet).  What?  Cheese Ice Cream?  Let me just say, I have sampled Foie Gras all over the country, and this stacked up at the very top.  And, what a wonderful surprise in the Fromage Sorbet!  Absolutely delightful.  I wanted seconds!

Buffalo Tenderloin w/ Quail Sausage

For our main course Carol went with a wonderful piece of Sea Bass, while I opted for the restaurants signature Cold Smoked Buffalo Tenderloin (House-made Quail Sausage, Sweet Potato Risotto, all topped with a Blackberry-Chipolte Demi-Glaze).  YUM!

You can always count on me to go for the unusual proteins, and this Buffalo Tenderloin was out of this world.  Especially surprising, and a wonderful accompaniment, was the Quail Sausage.  I want to go back.  Tonight!

What a great thing to enjoy a great meal, with a stunning view, my bride beside me, the staff offering remarkable service, Executive Chef Steven Bernstein preparing remarkable dishes, and a nice espresso to top it all off.

My senses enjoyed a remarkable journey at the Yavapai Restaurant, and I highly recommend you follow along.

Disclosure:  this dining experience was provided by the nice folks at Enchantment Resort.

I found myself completely mute as we drove into Boynton Canyon where the perennial award winning Enchantment Resort finds its home.

This amazing resort is tucked into a canyon with breathtaking red rock splendor closely surrounding it on three sides.

This particular canyon is in fact so beautiful that many have come to believe that this place has special spiritual vortexes:

“The energy from these vortexes saturates the whole area in and around Sedona, and can be noticed in a subtle but general way anywhere around town. If you actually go to one of the vortex sites, which is where the energy is strongest, it can be a very uplifting experience. The energy you take in at one of these energy centers can stay with you and affect you positively for days afterwards.

Now, we are not personally persuaded to believe such things.  Nonetheless, the place is so stunningly beautiful it is easy to see why some would desire to press spiritual beliefs upon the place.

If you have become a reader of this travel website, you will know that in my view a spectacular resort must offer more than beautiful surroundings.  A resort might have incredible features, but if the experience with the resort’s team members are not equal to, or greater than their surroundings, then discontent is quick to follow.

Clearly, the Enchantment Resort shares this very important conviction as we found at every turn service that exceeded our expectations.

From the moment we drove up to the valet stand, to the moment where we sadly checked out at the front desk, we found every single team member united in a single mission to make our experience remarkable.

Thanks Enchantment Resort, we noticed and we salute you!

I hesitate to make this article so long that you won’t read the whole thing, but I simply must share a few highlights of our stay:

• Our Junior Suite sat under the shade of the canyon’s cottonwood trees, was spacious, and very comfortable.  I suppose the most discriminating of travelers would be disappointed that our room didn’t feature today’s flat screen televisions, but I understand that there is a major remodel of the resort in the offing.
• I can’t begin to explain the beauty that surrounds the Mii Amo Spa.  As you can see in the photograph directly above, there is unfathomable beauty awaiting to engulf you in its majesty after your spa treatment.  When I walked out from my steam bath, a fairly strong wind blew through, and it looked to be snowing from the seedlings from the surrounding cottonwood trees.  It was surreal.
• I will tell you more in a separate post, but watching the sunset/moonrise from the resort’s Yavapai restaurant was awe-inspiring, highly romantic, and the cuisine was equal to its surroundings.
• Lastly, you simply must get out and hike the Boynton Canyon Trail.  This 5-mile trail is approachable from the Mii Amo Spa, and will take you back into the beauty, and solitude of this remarkable place.  In my opinion, it would be nearly criminal not to get out on this trail.  After a mile or so, the sounds of modernity will drift away, and the cool breeze sounding its way through towering pines, and the endless red rock vistas will simply take your breath away.

Well, I hope you get the idea.  Sedona’s Enchantment Resort is simply a place you must visit in your lifetime.  I promise that you will greatly enjoy your stay, and you will be blessed with fond memories that will constantly stir to be told to your family and friends.

Arizona Renaissance Festival

The Arizona Renaissance Festival is located in the town of Apache Junction, which is roughly an hour drive from east side Greater Phoenix locations.  Here are a few fun facts:

• this is the 22nd year for the festival, and is one of the largest events of its kind in the nation.
• there are nearly 2,000 costumed characters, 12 stages with non-stop entertainment, and a 4,500-seat arena to watch armored knights joust.
• this 30 acre festival includes over 200 rustic shops, studios and galleries filled with unique arts, crafts, plus kitchens, pubs, games, and people-powered rides.
• the festival is open Saturdays, Sundays, and Presidents Day, February 6th thru March 28th.
• each day’s events begin with a 9:45 pre-opening gate performance, a 10:00 cannon shot, and ends with a faire-thee-well medley at 6:00.

I was taken by surprise with the long line of cars to get into this event, the massive parking lot full of cars, and the immensity of this place.  You could easily spend an entire day here, and perhaps not see everything there is to see.

Overall, we had a wonderful time, enjoyed the spectacle of it all, and in particular I enjoyed seeing some of the small children all dressed up, wandering around with wide-eyed glee.   In some ways, it felt like a 16th century European Disneyland.

If you are looking for something totally different, and would enjoy a little raucous revelry, then the Arizona Renaissance Festival just might be your ticket.  The only caution I would through out to parents is that some of the offerings in this event are clearly PG-13.

Here are a few of my photographs from the event: