I happily stumbled into the opportunity to take Dave to Garland’s Oak Creek Lodge for his birthday weekend.

A friend, whom I have yet to meet in person, offered it and I snagged it up the second I saw it.

Betsy is a follower and frequent commenter. I did a little research and found that  Betsy has left 50 comments here. Betsy, you are awesome!

Anyhow, Betsy and I are Facebook friends too. On August 20th, Betsy posted that she would not be able to use her reserved weekend at Garland’s and asked if anyone would like to take it. I jumped at the opportunity!

Garland’s has a long history of being difficult to get into. Guests hold on to their treasured reservations from year to year. And since Betsy’s weekend happened to fall on Dave’s birthday, I just had to have it. I sent Betsy a check, she made the arrangements with Garland’s and we were set.

Dave had no idea where we were going. I just told him what to pack a bag and then I drove north.

He was surprised and thrilled when I pulled off beautiful State Route 89A, crossed Oak Creek, and into Garland’s 10-acre/16 cabin property.

Garland’s is an American-plan lodge; it includes a full breakfast, afternoon tea, and gourmet dinner.

The food is a big part of the experience. We enjoyed Roast Pork Loin with Port Plum Reduction on Friday night and Pan Seared Halibut with Romesco Sauce and Saturday.

Oh, and the warm Orange-Cranberry muffins we scarfed down on Saturday morning…. to die for!

On Saturday night, I had a quick look into the kitchen and met Chef Brian Widmer. Chef Widmer could not have been more gracious, warm, and welcoming. Thank you Chef for taking a few minutes during your crunch time to talk with me!

It’s hard to tear yourself away from the property, but Dave and I did venture out on Saturday afternoon to visit Slide Rock State Park, which just reopened on Wednesday of last week, after the Slide Fire of this past May.  It was packed!

We also drove into downtown Sedona to buy some fresh Sandia Chili Pepper Ristras.

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