Grand Canyon State

Over Labor Day weekend, my husband and I decided to go on a double date in Arizona with our friends.  We knew we wanted to visit Sedona and Antelope Canyon (in Page), but what we didn't realize at the time we made the decision to go, was how spread out these destinations are.  But don't worry, we still managed to fit all of our must-sees into our four-day trip!

Day 1:

We flew into Phoenix, had a quick bite at In-N-Out (of course), and then made our way to Sedona (about a 2-hour drive).  Knowing this would be a long travel day, we opted to get a first glimpse of Sedona via Pink Jeep Tours instead of on our own two legs, which was a good call...it was very hot.  Our friends recommended the Pink Jeep Broken Arrow Tour, so we followed in suit.  It was definitely the bumpiest car (jeep) ride I've ever experienced, but it was fun -- the guide was friendly and knowledgeable, and we got some great views of Red Rock Country.

  

To finish out the day, we made our way to Page (about a 3-hour drive from Sedona) in preparation for an early-ish morning start at Antelope Canyon the next day.  En route to Page, we learned that relying on technology is not always a good thing.  Besides long stretches of poor (or nonexistent) cell phone service, as we approached Page, our phones started picking up different cell signals claiming different times (MST doesn't do daylight savings), which resulted in an embarrassing phone call to Big John's Texas BBQ, our selected dinner spot, that went something like this: 

"Hi, what are your hours today?  Oh, you're open until 10pm?  Great.  Uh...can you confirm what time it is right now?  We're just driving in from...Phoenix...and we're not sure what time it is."  😂

Not sure why our friend thought justifying our confusion by saying we're coming from Phoenix, which is in the same time zone, was a good idea, instead of just explaining that our phones were in disagreement, or the car clock was different from our phones.  Anyway, glad to get a quotable out of the situation.

Day 2:

Picturesque day.  Since we made the trip all the way out to Page to see Antelope Canyon, we decided to visit both Upper and Lower Canyons.  (Note: these canyons are on Navajo land and the only way to see them is by booking a guided tour.)  

Upper Canyon is the more popular destination, made famous by the light beams that shine through.  However, despite booking a month in advance, we were not able to secure a prime time slot for the light beams (around 10:30am - 1:00pm) for any of the tour operators, so we went to Upper Canyon at 8:30am instead.  Even though we didn't get to see the oh-so-famous light beams shining through, we got a good sense and appreciated the beauty nevertheless.  

Lower Canyon, however, blew our minds.  It felt like more of an adventure with all its twists and turns, and just when you think you've seen the coolest, most stunning formations, you turn the corner and are greeted with something even better.  People also get very creative (in both canyons); we saw everything form hearts to sharks to Indian chiefs.  If I could only pick one to visit, though, I would definitely pick Lower Canyon.  (And it's about half the price of an Upper Canyon tour.)

    

Following a heavy meal at El Tapatio, a casual Mexican restaurant, we drove to nearby Horseshoe Bend in Glen Canyon, where we were once again surprised on the upside by how breathtakingly beautiful the views were.  It was a bit daunting that there were no guardrails -- seems like an accident waiting to happen for the klutz, or a suicidal (or homicidal) person -- but that's also what makes it so memorable.  No pictures can quite capture the feeling you get from being out in the open, on the edge of the precipice, and surrounded by such views.

We briefly considered making a detour to the Lower Rim of Grand Canyon before going back to Sedona, but it was too much of a detour, so we stuck to the original plan and went straight back to Sedona, and enjoyed a nice steak dinner at Mariposa Latin Inspired Grill.  The food was pretty good, although it wasn't anyone's favorite steak (we're spoiled).

Day 3:

As much as I would've liked to cram in a couple of hikes and see more of the amazing red rocks while here, as a group, we decided it would be best to just do one hike in the morning and take the rest of the day easy since it was our last day.

We opted to do the Devil's Bridge Trail.  Devil's Bridge is a bit of a thrill, as it's only about 5 feet wide (and 45 feet long); it's quite something to be perched on top of the world on this narrow bridge with nothing else around you.  The bridge actually doesn't feel as narrow as it looks from afar, although my acrophobic husband might disagree with that statement.  People line up to cross the bridge, which makes sense for safety reasons, and it's also nice to have your own personal time on the bridge with no one else photobombing.

The actual trail to the bridge is about one mile (one way), including two scrambles/climbs on the way, but you need a 4x4 in order to actually drive to the trail head.  For those with normal cars, you can get to Devil's Bridge via Chuckwagon Trail (which would be 5.8 miles round trip), or via Mescal and then Chuckwagon Trail (which would be 4 miles round trip), which is what we did.    The extra mileage from Mescal - Chuckwagon was totally worth it.  We were rewarded with panoramic scenery throughout the Chuckwagon Trail.  In my opinion, there were fewer photogenic sights along Devil's Bridge until you reach the actual bridge, so I'm glad we tacked on Mescal - Chuckwagon.

   

Post-hike, we had a casual bite at Oak Creek Brewery & Grill, which wasn't all that good, but that's okay; not everything is about the food (I think...).  Then, we made a pit stop to see the Chapel of the Holy Cross, a Roman Catholic chapel built into the buttes in 1955-56.  The views from the chapel were nice, but it was much cooler to look on from a distance and see this man-made structure growing out of the red rocks.

After relaxing pool-side at the resort (we stayed at the Hilton), we enjoyed our last meal at The Hudson.  Most memorable from the meal were the corn chowder, the deconstructed banana cream pie, and the beautiful plating of each dish.

Day 4:

Drive back to Phoenix and catch flight home.  😢  But overall, an amazing and fruitful vacation!

Little Tong Noodle Shop

I was excited that Yunnan rice noodles finally made it to NYC, but while these were good, I don't feel in a hurry to return.  

 For starters, we tried the current special, an open-faced szechuan bagel (collaboration with Black Seed Bagel) topped with their ghost chicken and cheese.  It was pretty tasty, although the cheese was not necessary.  The ghost chicken flavor is so strong that you almost don't taste the cheese, and the texture of the cheese was a detractor (it was a slab of melted cheese that was no longer hot, so it had that chewy, rubbery texture).

We of course had to get the little pot mixian to try something more classic.  I liked the complexity of flavors, and the pickled vegetables and leeks were a welcome change.  The broth was a bit on the tart side, but overall it was good.  We also got the mala dan dan mixian, which was less impressive.  It was pretty much just like a bolognese with a lot of meat sauce and not much else, and the meat sauce wasn't all that spicy as the name suggested.  The tea eggs were cooked well but a bit salty, and I also got the pork chao shou (wontons) with the dan dan noodle and didn't find them that special -- not much filling and sort of dry; maybe it's better ordered as a separate appetizer with sauce.

  

Maison Pickle

We came for brunch with a large group, and there were some items that were really amazing, and others that were a bit of a let down.  Overall enjoyable, although service was on the slow side (but I won't count it against them since we were a big party).

Things that really stood out were the poutine tater tots and brunch mac and cheese with fried egg.  Definitely on the heavy side (lots and lots of cheese), but both were delicious.  The croque madame and classic French Dip were also very well done.
      


On the less good side, the loaded hash browns dish was pretty disappointing.  I wasn't sure what to expect, but the hash browns were mushy, and they were "loaded" with sauce but not goods (tried the pork, and it was just a few pieces of small pork belly).  Someone else in our party ordered the Lumberjack, and the sausage was still raw and pink inside.  By chance, we also saw and overheard the table next to us send back their fried chicken and pancakes because it was still cold.  Bad kitchen day?

Marta

I really wanted to love Marta, but while it had great potential, it was a bit disappointing.  

We tried a number of starters (nebrodini arrostiti -- mushroom salad with kale; insalata di anguria -- watermelon salad; and polpettine di pollo -- chicken meatballs), which were all pretty good.  

    

For pizza, we tried the stracciatella and the testa (pig head terrine, mozzarella, fontina, arugula, red onion).  The flavor of both pizzas were actually great, and the straciatella had such potential to be amazing...except the pizza was cold.  It would've been one thing for the stracciatella to be cold since the topping was placed after the dough came out of the oven, but the dough was cold.  I'm not sure how long it was sitting there before it was served.  The testa had great flavor overall, and while not cold, it was lukewarm and nowhere near piping hot, fresh from the oven.  Too bad.

  

The Tang - Take II

I finally came back to try some of the soup noodles, and while enjoyable overall, I'm not sure I would care to return anytime soon.  The service was also extremely slow, especially for a place where you order at the counter.  It was relatively empty when we arrived, but we waited an entire 30 minutes before getting our appetizer, and then close to another 10 minutes to get our noodles.  

Today we tried the fried turnip cake, which was nicely pan fried, but it was much denser than I'm accustomed to.  The mala beef noodle soup was pretty good, although the broth is on the herbal side (I didn't mind, but my husband thought it was too herbal).  The beef shanks were flavorful and tender though.  We also got the drunk noodles, which was saucier than expected for a soup noodle.  There was a bolognese-like sauce, and thinly sliced beef shank, which was also very tender and flavorful.  I think I would've preferred to just have this one as a dry noodle given the sauce.

See original review here.
     

Flip Sigi

So glad Flip Sigi opened up on the UES!  I really enjoyed the original 2nd City, and now I can walk to this location for all of the greats.

Luckily for everyone, the F.U.C. Me (Filipino Underground Crunch) is no longer on the secret menu, and it's amazing.  I recently also tried their current special, a Chicken Adobo Pambazo sandwich, and that was also terrific.  My only criticism is for being a taqueria, their tacos are the weakest link, in my opinion; they're not bad, but really don't stand out compared to the other items (or other good taquerias in the city).