Road Trip Day 5 - The Unexpected

I finally slept in! We didnt have anywhere to go today, so our plan was to just explore Sedona. However, the traffic was so bad going into town (there’s a big film festival going on that we didn’t know about), so we decided to head west and go into Jerome. If you haven’t heard of Jerome, it’s this cool old copper mining town built on the side of a mountain, and it’s known as the worlds largest ghost town. We headed up to the Asylum Restaurant, which is inside the Jerome Grand Hotel, which used to be an old hospital but was made into a hotel in the 90s. It has a really cool vibe and an incredible view of the valley below. They say it’s haunted but we didn’t have any encounters (although my friend stayed there years ago and Ghost Hunters was there filming an episode). After walking around the shops in town for a while, and doing a little wine tasting (Maynard from the band Tool has Cadeuceus Cellars there), we headed back to the truck. At the edge of the parking lot we saw a little sign for the Gold King Mine, which is a little ghost town a mile up the road that we had never heard of. So that’s where we headed, and that’s where we spent the rest of our day! The coolest collection of old trucks, old buildings and antiques I’ve ever come across. And super cute donkeys. Who would have thought we would see so many donkeys on this trip! We eventually left Gold King and had dinner at The Belfry Brewery in Cottonwood and then headed back into Sedona, watching the sun set as we pulled into town. It was a great day, filled with the unexpected!! :)