In November, Colton had a work conference to attend in Arizona. I tagged along for some shopping and pool time, and it was totally worth it.
This was the first trip we’d taken together on an plane, thus the obligatory plane-selfie.
We were staying at the Westin Kierland Resort and Spa. Definitely one of the poshier places I’ve ever stayed. When we left Salt Lake that morning, it was snowing on the mountains. Arriving in Arizona and seeing flowers still in bloom and palm trees swaying was a little unexpected. The resort itself had a sprawling green golf course, and the air was scented with some unidentifiable plant I spent days trying to find. (I literally walked around the hotel and smelled every leaf I could and couldn’t figure it out.)
The little patio outside our room.
The back lobby doors opened up during the day.
A view from the top floor of the hotel.
There were paths and walkways around the hotel which led to the pools, gym, and different food places on the property. There was a ‘kid pool’ with a lazy river and an adult’s only pool which offered lap swimming. There were also fireplaces lit up at night, and every evening around sundown there was a bagpiper who would walk across the course and play for us, honoring the history of the original Scottish settlers of the area.
From one of the restaurants on the property. How do you even eat this!
The hotel lobby was decorated beautifully and had water features and tables everywhere. There were also a few terrariums with rattlesnakes and other native desert animals for people to look at.
Within a ten-minute walking distance from the hotel were the two strip malls, Kierland Commons and Scottsdale Quarter. This was nice to be able to walk to, since we didn’t want to rent a car. (Being under 25 has some disadvantages.) While Colton was at his conference during the day, I shopped around and tried the different restaurants offered, sometimes meeting Colton for lunch.
All of Scottsdale had a very high-end feel to it. It was like the Park City of Arizona. Many people who weren’t there for the conference were just on relaxing vacations. They had nice clothes, nice accessories, and fancy hair cuts. It was nice to pretend I was one of them for a few days. The stores at the mall were also high-end, although I still managed to find a Forever 21 (which had just opened and had SO many good deals. Jeans for $7, anyone??) and Charlotte Russe, which helped me get some Christmas shopping done.
One of our favorite places we ate was Bobby’s Restaurant and Lounge, a Jazz-style diner which we had all to ourselves.
We also tried Chloe’s Corner, Zinburger Wine and Burger Bar, and one night when Colton ate with his coworkers, I ordered a crap ton of Cheesecake Factory for myself. Like I literally ordered enough food to feed four people and I had no idea. I was going to die I was so full, because for some reason I thought I had to eat it all.
I spent a lot of time relaxing. 🙂
The property was beautifully landscaped with plaques about each plant.
We were even able to meet up with my cousins, Bailie and Carter, who live in the area, at Brio Tuscan Grille. Be forewarned, when you order a chicken, you may just get the whole chicken.
So we asked our waitress to take a photo for us, and I handed her a camera. Not my phone, a real-life digital camera. And she looked a little older than us, so I was surprised when she didn’t know how to use my camera haha. She was struggling and saying how she hasn’t used a real camera in a long time and finally pushed the button and handed the camera back, walked away, and she didn’t even end up taking a picture!! I mean come on lady, it’s not that hard! We had a good laugh though, and asked someone else to take one before we left.
It was an amazing few days, and we were sad to leave the warmest Autumn we’d ever experienced, with citrus trees that were full of fruit and not yet ripened.
The flight home was a bit exciting because the pilot told us when we were flying over the Grand Canyon. The plane was pretty empty, so Colton and I were able to jump back and forth across the aisles (along with like ten other passengers, we weren’t the only ones acting like five-year-olds) to try and get the best view. We also had a fun time trying to point out all the Utah cities we passed along the way.
It was pretttty empty.
Grand Canyon
Grand Canyon
Back to northern Utah!
If you ever make it to Scottsdale, I would definitely make a stop at the shopping centers!
There are also plenty of other things to do in the area, I just didn’t want to pay for a $100 taxi ride to go to the zoo. There were also several different historical and art museums, and a botanical garden that would have been fun to visit. I guess I’ll have to hit those next time!
