**Excessive amount of pictures ahead - and none of them are of my children***
Don't say I didn't warn you.
Last weekend we were fortunate enough to have a little get-away kid free! My gracious mother-in-law watched the girls for three whole days - thanks again, Nel!
We decided to go see an area of Arizona neither of us had ever been to before. We left home Friday morning and headed to downtown Tucson for lunch and a little meandering around. When we were first turning off the freeway we saw a Veteran's Day parade lining up. By the time we had parked it had already begun and we literally ran around downtown until we figured out a good spot to see the beginning (thank you Mr. iPhone).
It was nice to take a moment and truly recognize the holiday!
After the parade we had lunch at an Arizona original:
It was great, and I don't care for Mexican food really. So that is saying a lot! The inside was covered in history, and truly amazing.
Then we were back on the road. We stopped halfway from Tucson to Sonoita to take a little walk. I was afraid Justin was going to wear me out when he said, "just along that ridge and back up the other side" - it looked far and he is in much better shape than I am! But, it was fine... and the fresh air and scenery were very enjoyable. We also saw the biggest, fattest grasshoppers ever! All over the place and all different kinds!
Then we headed down to Sonoita and to our B&B. Another first for us!
Hacienda de Sonoita - it was amazing. A beautiful location, and our hosts were absolutely wonderful!
We drove back into town for dinner and some "local flavor" at "The Steak Out". It was... okay. Not the best $25 prime rib I've ever eaten. Let's just leave it at that.
Actually, the highlight of the whole meal was this:
A very talented pair of musicians were the live music for the evening!
Then we headed back to the B&B for a mean game of Skip-Bo. And by mean... I really mean the game that would just never end. Seriously.
The next morning at breakfast (an amazing one with more options than you could imagine!) we found out that a fellow guest of our B&B was the head winemaker at a winery having a festival that day. We decided to go there for the first part of the day, and I am so glad we did!
That guy there is Fran, the head winemaker - very knowledgable and interesting. Here he was discussing how they blend their wines before they gave tastes right from the barrel. Amazing flavor!
This is the contraption they use for barrel-tasting. This Cabernet was one of the best I've ever tasted, and I later found out that many must feel that way at $100 a bottle.
Then, these sweeties gave us a wagon-tour of the vineyards!
The vines are mostly bare this time of year, but it was still beautiful.
This gentleman is the founder of wine-making in Arizona. He was a professor at UofA and discovered that the Sonoita/Elgin area had the ideal climate for grape production. He was lots of fun to talk with on our tour! You can tell he just loves his vineyard.
I would love to see this place in the Spring!
Then there was the blessing of the new wine. The presiding Catholic Priest was the funniest I have ever heard! He had the best jokes about wine and Priests! =) We were stuck back in a corner as we came in late from our wagon tour, so this is all we saw.
After a bunch of tastings and wine/food pairings, we considered it a very successful get-away day so far!
So we headed to the neighboring town of Patagonia, which we had heard had cute little shops to walk around and see.
Not so much. There were a few galleries and shops, but on this chilly day this town looked fairly sparse. We did stop in to this cafe "Gathering Grounds" and had a delightful latte and the BEST pecan bar ever. Yum!
Then we headed to what was supposed to be an old ghost town up in the nearby mountains. What it was... one rock wall that used to be a house on what was labeled as private property and a small old cemetery.
Looking to give more purpose to the eight mile drive out there, we turned down a dirt road that the map feature on our phones said would lead us back to Patagonia where we planned to have dinner.
Never believe Mr. iPhone when he talks about dirt roads.
It looked harmless enough...
Pretty, even!
We were on an adventure! We enjoyed the scenery and made lots of jokes about the mining signs, and signs warning of illegal immigration activity. For a while...
Aw, he still looks happy!
The hillside grew very steep! Justin got out to roll a rock down the hill and see how long it crashed along.
Unfortunately, here is where our fun turned south and the road got REALLY rocky. Crazy steep and ragged, Justin managed to maneuver the 4Runner down the hill with nothing more than a little extra Arizona pin-striping along the side.
I did not take pictures during this adventure.
But, I took this one after we reached normal dirt road again and got out to survey the damage and catch our breath.
Then we drove back in the other side of Patagonia to our dinner destination. It was 4pm.
We weren't up for many more adventures that day. Dinner sounded safer.
Especially when the name of the restaurant is the Velvet Elvis!
I was hoping for a room filled with velvet paintings, reminiscent of Mr. Fredlake's classroom in High School. No such luck. One velvet... of Elvis, of course.
But the food was organic, local, and amazing!
Food like that makes me smile. I am sorry I didn't get pictures of pizza or dessert, truly! But believe me, they were amazing!
Gotta love the self-timer!
The next day we packed up, ate another amazing breakfast from the B&B and headed home. We took another way around through Nogales to stop at a few more sights along the way.
First, an old mission - Tumacacori.
It has not been restored, except to keep it standing. It was rather impressive!
The entrance was not particularly inviting...
But they had fresh, warm tortillas on a wood burning rock stove outside! It was quite tasty, especially in the cold drizzly weather we were having.
Once inside, the building is reminiscent of Indiana Jones. We were the first ones to be out there this day, and the silence allowed you to really take everything in.
I had to capture what my honey did much of the time we were sight-seeing:
Inside there is a museum of artifacts from the area, and this is their depiction of what the mission looked like while in use. Quite a difference!
Then we were back on the road. We stopped at Tubac where we ran in and out of shops in the rain and I took no pictures.
We were planning to go into the San Xavier Mission as well, for a look at the fully restored mission - but when we arrived it was quite crowded and we were pressed for time. So this was all we saw!
Then it was back through Tucson with a quick stop for some more "local flavor".
I had never been to an Eegee's before. Frankly, I don't see what all the fuss is about.
Then, we headed home to hug our kiddos! It was a great weekend, and truly refreshing! I am thankful for the time alone with my husband to recharge our batteries!
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