Between house hunting, preparing for baby and work, Luke and I weren’t planning on a major trip before baby. A few weeks ago after a jam packed few days, we realized our free weekends until baby were numbered, so we started looking into vacation spots. With the house search in full force, we knew we didn’t want to spend too much and a few places like Florida and Mexico were out because of Zika.

After some research and finding some great flight deals, we landed on Phoenix, Arizona. Luke’s cousin who lives in the area, recommended the Westin Kierland in Scottsdale, as her parents frequently stay there when they visit. We ended up finding a good deal through Travelzoo and booked our 4-night stay!

The resort was very well-kept and all the staff we encountered were extremely hospitable. We were very impressed with our stay and would definitely stay there again in the future.

Large fire-pit overlooking the golf course

Since the intent of this trip was to get some relaxation and quality time together, we didn’t really have an agenda or list of things we wanted to do or see. We’re usually go-go-go on our vacations, so it was a breath of fresh air just to relax and not worry about getting somewhere.

With the 2-hour time difference, we woke up around 6AM each day, so we started each day with a nice workout in the resort gym. This is not our typical vacation behavior, but it felt great to get moving right away in the morning.

After our daily workout, we would head to one of the restaurants on the property, Nellie Cashman’s, for breakfast. They had a ballin’ spread every morning at the breakfast buffet as well as an omelette station and fresh waffles or pancakes. The staff was super friendly and very attentive.  We had dinner here as well on our last night and it was amazing! We both had steak, which was cooked perfectly with a nice salty crisp on the outside and tender on the inside.

My Diet Coke and Luke’s Manhattan 🙂

Most days, except for Monday, we spent the rest of the day poolside soaking up the sun. The weather was in the 80’s-90’s everyday with no humidity, so it was perfect lounging weather. We had never been to Arizona before, so wasn’t sure what the “dry heat” would be like, but I can definitely say we LOVED it. The heat never felt uncomfortable, and when it did, we just dipped in the pool 🙂 There were servers walking around all day handing out ice waters and taking orders, so we ended up having lunch out by the pool everyday. Again, the pool staff was always super friendly and helpful!

Home for a few days

The resort was situated next to two really nice outdoor shopping areas, Kierland Commons and Scottsdale Quarter. It was nice having the shops so close to walk around at night if we needed to get out of the hotel for a bit.

We weren’t sure if we would leave the resort area during our stay, but there was an Enterprise car rental office on site, so we decided to rent a car for a day and explore the area on Monday. Since I was getting a massage the next day, our compromise was that Luke could have his pick of rental car choice. He ended up choosing a Ford Mustang convertible, which was super fun to drive up into the mountains.

Luke and his stang

We drove to the Apache Junction area, which was about 45 minutes away. As a side note, we’re huge nerds and are avid watchers of the Travel Channel show, Ghost Adventures. The Ghost Adventures team did an investigation at one of the ghost towns in the area called Goldfield, so we knew we had to pay a visit 🙂 It was next to the Superstition Mountains, which are said to be home to the Lost Dutchman’s gold mine.

The town of Goldfield was mostly reconstructed in the late 80’s, but still felt pretty authentic while walking around, especially with the mountains in the background. We did the “mine tour” which takes you through a mine shaft and teaches you about what life was like back in the day during Goldfield’s peak. Our tour guide told us a few different times that there were an unusually high amount of rattlesnake sightings on the premises, so we didn’t hang around too long after the tour and walking around the rest of the town.

Entrance to the “mine”

Goldfield Church

After Goldfield, we took a little drive through the mountains and drove by Canyon Lake. I wasn’t expecting to see many bodies of water out in the dessert, so it was quite the site amongst the surroundings.

Canyon Lake

We were feeling pretty tired and hungry after a while, so we headed back to town and drove into Old Town Scottsdale for lunch and more sightseeing. We ate at The Mission per a recommendation from a friend and it was delicious – especially the tableside guac!

We walked off our lunch and checked out a few local shops before heading back to the hotel, where we spent a couple more hours by the pool.

Since we had the car until the next morning, we took a little ride to the local In N Out Burger to get our fix for dinner 🙂 It had been a couple years since either of us had it. Still really good, but no Gordy’s Hi-Hat!

The next day after breakfast, I headed to the Agave Spa on the resort property, while Luke staked out some lounge chairs at the pool. I had my first prenatal massage and am upset I have not had one sooner! It was extremely relaxing and helped with some of the lower back pain I have been experiencing. After my massage, I hung around a little bit and took advantage of the shower in the spa facilities. They did have a jacuzzi tub and some steam rooms, which I did not partake in, but the showers were nice 🙂

The rest of our last day was spent relaxing by the pool while Luke sipped on beer and I finished my book!

We thoroughly enjoyed our little babymoon vacation and are SO glad we decided to go, as it will be our last vacation sans kiddo for a while 🙂