My husband and I have a little tradition that we try to pick a place to go right after the holidays since my company shuts down and his is fairly quiet. Last year we decided to check out the Phoenix, Scottsdale, and Sedona areas. Below are some of the highlights from our trip.

Highlights from Phoenix

During the holiday season Phoenix’s beautiful botanical garden is lit up with hundreds of Lumeria lights. Las Noches de las Luminarias as it is know has been running during the holiday season since 1978. It started as a way for the executive director of the garden at the time, Rodney Engard to create a holiday event that properly represented the Southwest, compliments the beauty of the garden, and gave back to the community. Back then all 700 luminaries were created with a paper bag, sand, and a candle lit by hand. In 2018 the garden 8,000 handlit lumeria bags and thousands of twinkling lights strung as well. For the cost of admission you can stroll the garden on 21 select evenings during the holiday season and listen to local music groups like Simply Three and my personal favorite “Run Boy Run.” Japanese artist Jun Kaneko had various art installations in the garden as well. For a additional cost you can choose to dine in the garden. My husband and I really enjoyed wandering the garden and enjoying the music. It was a truly magical evening.

A unique restaurant with a varied menu. They handcraft Japanese cold brew iced coffee! The restaurant has been open since 2012, Vovomeena is named for owner DJ Fernandes’ grandmother — vovó means grandma in Portuguese. He also owns central Phoenix restaurants Tuck Shop and Astor House with his wife, Jessica Ruiz. Fernandes went to Tulane in New Orleans so there are a few dishes on his menu like biscuits and gravy or if you prefer something sweet, Pain Perdu, a New Orleans version of French toast meaning “lost bread” in French. It’s two chunks of banana bread topped with a whiskey caramel sauce, sliced bananas and a sprinkling of powdered sugar. Yum!

Picture a hidden tiki bar and the Pirates of the Caribbean ride at Disneyland together then you would get a good feel of what Undertow is like in Phoenix. Hidden under some stairs at a coffee bar with a cute tiki at the entrance leads to the hill of their ship. There are portholes that lead out to the ocean and during your excursion you can enjoy views from the sea as you enjoy some tiki drinks. You really must get reservation and try to go during the week as this bar is extremely small but it’s well worth the effort. You can make reservations online about a week in advance. The menu is extensive and actually written like a novel! I got a “Lei Lani Volcano,” which was based on a 1970’s recipe from one of my favorite places, the Polynesia hotel in Walt Disney World. It was a blend rum infused with coconut and shaken with pineapple, lime and guava. I of course upgraded the to a souvenir coconut mug which was super cute. Drinks are strong here and we only needed one  to full enjoy our time there.

Highlights from Sedona

Another highlight was the Pink Jeep Tour we booked in Sedona the morning after we arrived. The tour was early next morning so we had a light but filling breakfast as recommended by Christine as to not get car sick and were on our way by 8am for the two hour drive from Scottsdale. Our tour was at 11am and the pink jeep tour folks required we checked in early. I think the earlier the jeep tour the better as the route is not as congested and it allows time to explore Sedona later on your own. We choose the popular broken arrow tour which is about two hours. I’m glad we were one of the first jeeps to make is it out to one of the vistas because we had the spot all to ourselves. Our tour guide was amazing popping in some educational info during the drive. We learned that the pink jeep tour came about from the company’s founder who was a realtor in Sedona and drove a jeep. Everyone wanted him to drive them around town but they weren’t interested in buying a house. After a vacation at the Royal Hawaiian Hotel in Honolulu and loving the pink palace on the beach the idea for the pink jeep tours was born. Being so close and in the middle of the red rocks was completely inspiring. I probably said “beautiful” a million times during the tour. The tour is well worth the price tag and the slight bumpy but fun ride.

Not a stop that takes a ton of time but well worth the visit. You’ll need some patience and quick maneuvering to grab a parking spot as it’s narrow and busy. The chapel was literally built into the buttes Of Sedona and is run by the Roman Catholic dioceses of Phoenix.

Highlights From Scottsdale

We almost missed this museum, but I’m really glad we made it. Here you’ll see amazing Native american jewelry and art.

Not a ton of shopping on Fifth avenue but absolutely loved the Giving Bracelets shop! 10% of their proceeds are donated to CASA for abused or neglected children. They sell beautiful handmade leather bracelets and I had to check out their giant crystal as their display.

When my husband and I went on our honeymoon to Oahu and the Big Island a few years ago I had many things on my list to explore and one was in the north shore and permanent lemonade stand called wow wow lemonade. My husband was like all this fuss over a lemonade shop? We stopped in the shop and we immediately overwhelmed with the flavor selections, all fresh, organic, and most importantly locally sourced. I settled on berry lemonade which was sweet and refreshing plus bought the mason jar glass with plastic straw so I can use at home. Now I have even more chances for refills with wow wow lemonade now available in the east bay.

Similar to the Hawaiian stands they source most of their ingredients from local Norcal farms and stores. They use the strawberries from local farmers market in Alamo. The pop-up rotate flavors and every weekend depending on what is in season. The Sunday I visited they had coconut limeade and Mango Colada. If they had a storefront we would offer more flavors but because they  are at a pop up location they can only offer a few flavors at a time because everything is fresh and handcrafted. The most popular flavors are Yee’s mango pineapple and for children under 10 the classic and strawberry are a big hit. Wow wow’s goal is to eventually secured a storefront and then they will offer their famous Acai bowls and smoothies. Honestly I can’t wait for that to happen!

Back in Hawaii the founders of wow wow wanted to create a company that was family focused and gave back to the community. That also applies to the Danville stand where  This past year wow wow Danville given back 10% of sale profits made at Sycamore Valley Park to Tassajara Little League and to the Jake Javier Foundation. Wow wow also participates in our children’s school events (the Neri’s have three kids in Danville schools) by giving back in school auctions. All of their employees are local high school or college students.

As you can imagine not all lemonade stand business is sweet, after all you can’t have lemonade without the lemons. The Neri’s have been trying to get into their own Danville Farmers market for over a year. The Pacific coast farmers market association that runs the market denied Wow Wow stating that they “don’t allow franchises”. It is something  they are currently fighting against since Danville owned small business that gives 10% of their profits to help the community.

So if you are in the market for a delicious fresh lemonade please visit Wow Wow Lemonade at their stand in Alamo on Sundays from 9am-1pm.

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