Our Vacation to Arizona

Hi everyone! We know it’s been awhile since we posted a new blog, so we’re back today with a recap of our 15th anniversary vacation to Arizona! You may have seen some Instagram stories over the last few weeks, but we’re sharing some more about our trip here. We left the day after Christmas and returned on December 30th to spend New Year’s Eve at home. It was a quick trip, but worth it for all the memories and new experiences we shared as a family!

Why Arizona?

When we got married, a family friend gifted us a one week vacation from their timeshare that they weren’t using. We heard about Scottsdale and thought it would be a fun and different part of the country to visit. At the time in our early 20’s, we were usually going on all-inclusive Caribbean vacations to relax on the beach! But we thought Arizona would be a great way to mix it up and try something different. We booked our 1st anniversary trip there in February 2010 and have wanted to go back ever since.

Since this was our 15th anniversary, it held extra special meaning to both of us. Especially now that our kids are learning about history and geography, we figured seeing the desert and Grand Canyon in person would be an educational experience for them too. A little different landscapes than they have grown accustomed to. Of course there were a few eye rolls about learning on vacation, but we think they ended up having fun!

We flew into Phoenix, rented a car and drove about 30 minutes to our hotel on the outskirts of town. Our hotel was right near TPC Scottsdale where Jay is happy he played on our first trip in 2010 since he wasn’t going to be so lucky to play again on our family vacation! We unpacked and explored Old Town Scottsdale which was beautifully decorated for Christmas. We all enjoyed wearing warm weather clothes while our East Coast friends were stuck in the middle of winter!

Our kids enjoyed walking around all of the little shops and spotted the famous Sugar Bowl ice cream store that we would visit later in the week. After buying some souvenirs and trying on our fair share of cowboy hats, we returned to our hotel for some much needed sleep. Our plan was an early wake up on day two to visit the Grand Canyon.

Grand Canyon

Presumably still on EST time, we woke up around 6 AM and hopped in the car for our 3.5 hour journey up north to see the Grand Canyon. Exactly how we always pictured spending our 15th anniversary! Jay visited when he was a kid and we both explored it on our trip together 14 years ago. We prepped our kids that it would be bigger and deeper than they could conceivably imagine. Jay would incessantly blurt out his favorite Home Alone 2 quote – “WOW, what a hole!” It seems as if all that preparation worked because they were still shocked at how massive and incredible it is! For miles in all directions, the most beautiful red and orange stone anyone has ever seen. Certainly nothing like our kids have ever experienced in the New York area!

We weren’t courageous enough to take any real hikes and Jay’s idea of a helicopter ride through the Canyon was quickly squashed by the rest of the family. But we explored the South Rim to take in the sites and plenty of pictures from various angles.

After leaving the Grand Canyon, we stopped at an authentic Mexican restaurant for some delicious southwestern food and shopped at a few local souvenir stores. We then headed down to Flagstaff where we bunked for the night ahead of our next day trip to Sedona in the morning. Although it was a pain to book another hotel room, it definitely reduced the amount of driving we had to do that day and let us explore a new part of Arizona we hadn’t seen before. Thankfully we had enough Marriott points from Jay’s business travels to make it even more worth it.

Sedona

The next day was spent exploring the breathtaking red rocks of Sedona. We drove to a couple lookout points throughout the area to see different vistas and formations before heading downtown for more shopping and lunch. We made our 14-year return back to our favorite Sedona restaurant called Oaxaca for a delicious meal with the kids.

Scottsdale

We had one more day to spend in Scottsdale before heading home. The morning was spent at the hotel- playing foosball and ping pong, and hanging out at the playground. At night, we headed over to the Fairmont Scottsdale to experience Christmas at the Princess. It’s a lovely Christmas village they set up on their property! There are light displays and beautiful decorations, fire pits and igloos to enjoy yummy food and drinks, and rides for the kids including a Ferris wheel, mini golf and “snow” tubing. It was such a fun way to spend our last night in Arizona!

Even though it was a quick trip with a lot of driving, we made so many new memories with our kids. It also gave them a chance to see a new side of our country they haven’t been exposed to yet. We have a tradition of buying Christmas ornaments from our travels each year so thankfully we found a few handcrafted pieces from each of the places we visited on this trip. Someday when our kids have moved out and taken their childhood ornaments with them, we will still have our tree filled with memories of vacations together over the years.

If you haven’t been to Arizona yet, we highly recommend it! So many beautiful sites to see and explore. Send us a DM or email if you have any special memories from a trip to Arizona. And we’re always on the lookout for our next vacation, so drop us some ideas!