Sunning in Scottsdale

It has been a busy few weeks for me between research, many call nights, and planning our upcoming party - The Marvelous Martini Mingle, 3rd Time's a Charm (invitations will be sent on Friday). But, I was able to sneak away this weekend to beautiful Scottsdale Arizona for a short medical conference at the Scottsdale Resort and a lot of time for rest and relaxation. Upon arrival, it was about 70 degrees and absolutely gorgeous, and I promptly made my way to the spa to book "treatments" during the weekend to de-stressify (is that a word?).

The conference was actually one of the best medical conference I have gone to this year. Not only was the information good, but we had each afternoon and evening for our leisure. The people at medical conferences are always an interesting sort. I mean, we are all kind of geeky in our own ways. I did meet a guy from New York, who had rented a car and had already toured half the city while we were still unpacking. All he could talk about is how he would be driving to Jerome, AZ the next day to meet with the mayor who was a friend of his. All of us kept asking, "Where the hell is Jerome?" and "How do YOU know the mayor?" After we finished our morning session on Thursday, several of us decided to leave the resort and venture out to the north to Sedona, AZ, a 2 hour drive. Within about 10 min of making the decision to go to Sedona, we had rented a car and were off. We did inquire from the concierge what a good driving route would be. His answer was, "Go to Jerome first and then make your way to Sedona." Again, we were left perplexed with the question, "What the hell is Jerome?" I guess we would soon figure it out.

Of course I was the navigator on our spur-of-the moment trip. The weather was a bit overcast and we met rainstorms along the way. Finally, after driving 85mph in our rental, we made it to the Jerome turnoff. We had no idea what we were in for, but our first sign of the town read "Psychedelic Mariachi". Now I know what psychedelic means and I know what a mariachi is, but what the heck if a psychedelic mariachi??? We made our way up the mountain, driving through thick fog, and never really knowing how far we were actually going up.

Jerome, for those of you that don't know, is described as "America's Most Vertical City" and the "Largest Ghost Town in America" in the tour guides but really it is a hippy community full of galleries and bars. What is also interesting about it is its colorful past, filled with mine wealth and many famous brothels. We were able to meet up with our New York friend and set out on foot around the city. I suspect we were all suffering from some degree of altitude sickness as the four of us kept laughing as we made our way along the streets. Maybe it was the fact that we were 4 strangers in an unknown ghost town or that we were spending our sunny vacation in the snowy mountains.....all I know is that we were having fun and couldn't find the psychedelic mariachi to save our lives!

After touring Jerome, we then set out for Sedona to see the red rocks. What might have been breathtaking sites on a perfect day in our Pink Jeep Tour we were all set to take, was quite lackluster on our cold, dreary, overcast day. So, in our depression of missing out on the red rocks, we found a table at one of the city's best restaurants, Bistro Bella Terra, ordered some wine, and enjoyed a delectable dinner surrounded by the beautiful scenery. Here are some random pictures of us in Jerome:


The remainder of the weekend was spent back at the resort laying out by the pool, walking the many paths, enjoying the spa, and drinking with my new friends. Thank goodness the sun returned and that we were finally able to enjoy sunny Arizona. My next adventure....Palm Springs on Thursday.