I have seen the Grand Canyon, and I will never be the same. I have also eaten ribs from the Singing Pig in Williams, Arizona and feel similarly about that experience.

We’re a bit behind again today because we left Williams aka the Gateway to the Grand Canyon around 6am so we could make it to our final destination, the Parker in Palm Springs, with plenty of time to do absolutely nothing but stare at very attractive people and drink Parker Cooladas today. More on that tomorrow. Right now it’s all about the first natural wonder of the world that I’ve ever seen.

• 8:30am breakfast at Spencer’s Coffee Shop on the Grand Canyon Railway Hotel property
•  9:00am “Western Show” also on property

the best part of the show was when this audience “volunteer” brought his Vera Bradley tote on “stage” with him

• 9:30am train to the Canyon!!
• 12:00pm, 4 mile “Rim Hike” from El Tovar hotel to Mojave Point
• 2:00pm courtesy bus back to El Tovar Hotel
• 2:30pm drink + snack at El Tovar Hotel
• 3:30pm train ride back to Williams complete with free snacks and free champagne (and a not free drink called the “Woo Woo” which we couldn’t resist because it’s called the “Woo Woo” (shout out to Jack and Teddy Rosen who can’t read but if their Momma is, she’ll tell them we had a drink ON A TRAIN called the Woo Woo. Magic.)
• 8:00pm dinner at The Singing Pig inside The Sultana Bar (way more on that in a second)
• 10pm drink at The Canyon Club (because I insisted, less on that in a second…)

• I cannot say enough good things about the Grand Canyon Railroad experience. It’s clean, efficient, beautiful, fun, informative, kitchy in the best way and gets you up to the canyon without requiring you to spend another hour in your rented Kia Optima. Also the employees are Disney-level excited about the whole thing but with a collective edge of Dad humor that makes the whole thing a real treat. Also – and then I’m almost done, I promise – you can sit in a car with a glass dome so you can see all the sights along the gorgeous route and men dressed up as cowboys come around to the cars and sing to you!!!   AND FINALLY, at Christmas time they run antique trains along the same route that are decked out like The Polar Express and they read the book and serve cookies and coco and stop at a site decorated like The North Pole AND SANTA IS THERE!!!! R and I had yet to have the talk about when to start having kids, but after I saw that we had it right quick! 

she’ll be comin’ round the mountain!

• The Grand Canyon is breathtaking. I know everyone says that, but it really truly is, and I don’t think you should live in this country without seeing it at least once in that life time. I remain in awe.

• If you find yourself in Williams, AZ there is one and only one place that you should eat – The Singing Pig. Kathi and Kevin are newlyweds (September to be exact) who serve and cook all the food they serve and cook out of a tiny kitchen in the back of a giant dive bar. The bar handles the liquor, they handle the food and a perfect union results. Kathi is the sweetest woman you’ve ever met who calls everyone “my darlings” and announced to the entire “restaurant” that we were newlyweds. Kevin has a dyed blue goatee for “the Fourth of July” (I guess in honor, always?) and told us he was retired for a few weeks but then got bored and started cooking. We ate the following: Pig Balls (fried pork and beef meatballs), Pulled Pork Fries (homemade fried smothered in 17-hour smoked pulled pork and homemade tomatillo sauce), BBQ chicken wings, and a half rack of ribs that gave the rack in Memphis some serious competition. Do. not. miss. this. spot. 

I kept in the mirror photobomb from the random photo taker

• If you find yourself in Williams, AZ there is one and only one bar you should probably avoid. It’s called the Canyon Club and despite it’s ’70s era Vegas-style light-up sign, it’s a really dirty dive where the locals sing karaoke and kids hang out playing Picture Finder. We did enjoy the people watching and R made friends with a Dutch family who are probably going to report really awful things about America back to their country, but I still maintain that it was a worthwhile stop because I enjoy the local flavor. 

• And finally – you guys – this has been So. So. Fun. I’m writing from Palm Springs so I’m already filled with end-of-trip sadness. Tomorrow we’ll close this chapter with reflections on what made the trip a success (aka how we’re still married), and where we go from here (literally, LA but figuratively, MORE ROAD TRIPS!)

one more for good measure. I call this Little r, GRAND Canyon

I cheated. We’re already here 😉