I accepted a new job at the end of November and chose a start date in early January. So that meant I could exit my then-current job just before Christmas and take a couple of weeks off before starting the new one. We’d already planned to use that time for family and vacation in Mexico, so that worked out great.
However… my new job’s laptop wouldn’t arrive before we left and it was still 2021, so the risk of being stranded somewhere outside the USA on my start date was real. Much to Virginia‘s dismay, I really wanted to cancel Mexico and stay domestic. It gave her the opportunity to try out the Miraval resort in Tucson, AZ, instead, and we later made the trip to San Jose del Cabo.
Friday – Saturday (8 days)
We spent Christmas Eve with my family (our tradition for the past several years). We went directly from their home to O’Hare for a late-ish flight to Los Angeles. We were meeting up with everyone in Virginia’s family starting Christmas Day. Virginia had arranged for an Airbnb in Anaheim that could house us as well as her brother, his partner, and their daughter.
We spent a week there in total. Each day was pretty low-key — family visits at the Airbnb or Virginia’s aunt’s home, mostly cooking in with the occasional meal out. Virginia’s brother, partner, and daughter left a couple of days before New Year’s, so we had the Airbnb to ourselves at that point.
On New Year’s Day, we said goodbye to Virginia’s aunt and father, returned the rental care and took a late flight to Tucson, landing a little after midnight.
Sunday
We woke up the next day and drove out to Miraval for a two day stay (thanks to points!). Miraval is a high-end wellness retreat, with an impressively rich set of activities going on all day, from exercise to outdoor fun to mindfulness to spiritualism. It’s also all-inclusive except for alcoholic beverages, and we were intent on making the stay worth our while.
After checking in, we were told we could start participating in activities immediately, which was very much welcome. We both attended a stretching class called Shoulders Be Free, which was 45 minutes of upper body stretching inspired by yoga. Feeling more relaxed, we went to have lunch, which was Arctic char with vegetables.
After lunch I wanted more exercise, so I went for a water fitness class. It was strenuous! Think about your standard HIIT class. Now do it in the water with all the resistance that implies. I was definitely feeling it afterwards (in addition to the brisk desert air in January).
We finished the day with cocktails and snacks at the Cactus Moon bar, followed by a dinner of smoked duck, paired with a Maison Leroy Gamay 2019.
Monday
We’d intended to wake up early and do a morning hike, but… we just didn’t. Instead, we started with breakfast — huevos rancheros — to gear up for the day.
We split up for the morning. I had signed up for mountain biking basics, having wanted to go mountain biking and having not done so in any sense for at least 30 years. It was so much fun! First, bike technology had progressed so much, including the ability to lower your seat and then raise it back to its original position with a button push. We practiced going over rocks, going through gravel, turning in tight places, etc. before taking a ride through the resort and on a trail.
We reconnected for lunch — branzino fillet with vegetables — before doing a Happy Hips stretching course (much needed after the mountain biking). We also went on a sunset hike of about 3-4 miles, which was both physically active and mentally relaxing.
We finished the day with dinner – pork tenderloin, hanger steak, with a La Sirena La Barrettage 2012. (I can’t quite remember, but this bottle likely inspired us to visit La Sirena when we went to Napa a couple of months later.)
Tuesday
Though we were checking out that day, we were intent on making the most of what we could do. I went for an early Ride & Release spin class before packing up and having breakfast. We then split up again so I could do the Mountain Biking Techniques course after having so much fun the previous day. There were only two participants including me, and the same instructors as the previous day. They quickly saw that I was good to go, so Justin (one of the instructors) and I took off on a private trail run while Kayla (the other instructor) stayed with the other participant. This was the most exhilarating ride I’d been on in a long time! I love Chicago but we’re not known for our topology 🙂
I rejoined Virginia for a quick lunch and then we did our last activity — a honey tasting with Noel Patterson. Noel leads their beekeeping and also maintains his own swarm in Tucson. We went through a variety of local honeys and Noel talked at length about the importance of environment to honey production.
We reluctantly waved goodbye to Miraval, but not to Tucson. Instead, we drove to the Ritz-Carlton Dove Mountain resort, where we were going to stay for the next three nights. The Ritz-Carlton was very, very nice, though more traditional as a hotel after being at Miraval the past two days.
I will say the Ritz-Carlton had a great restaurant and wine cellar. We had dinner there that night – lamb shank, beef tenderloin, with a Linne Calodo Perfectionist 2013. We also noticed a Warre’s vintage port 2000 on the list and made sure to enjoy that.
Wednesday
We started with breakfast in the hotel restaurant, which was huge! We ordered chilaquiles and a chorizo omelet, and could have easily shared one of those.
After relaxing for a bit, we drove into Tucson for the afternoon, starting with lunch at El Rustico for quesabirria, tacos el pastor, and tacos carnitas, along with a horchata and water. After that, we parked the car on historic 4th Avenue and found coffee at Cafe Passe. Suitably rejuvenated, we walked up and down 4th Avenue before heading to the University of Arizona campus to wander through it.
We then moved the car down to near our dinner destination and relaxed for a while at Cartel Coffee Lab. Dinner that night was at Charro Steak & Del Rey, which struck the right note of good food and relaxed atmosphere. We had prickly pear glazed albondigas, strip steak, carne asada, and a Union by Flying Leap red blend, enjoying everything. We drove back to the resort, ready to crash.
Thursday
One more full day of vacation, which we wanted to spend outside as much as possible before heading back to true winter. We ate breakfast outside, again ordering too much (huevos rancheros, breakfast burrito, health smoothie), and then moved to another part of the resort to sit outside and read. In the afternoon, we hiked the Lower Javelina loop, which is about 3 miles with some decent elevation up and down.
We cleaned up after getting back and had dinner at the hotel. The sommelier remembered us and not only did we finish again with the Warre’s 2000 but he also gave us a taste of the Warre’s 1994 that he had found (he was new to the restaurant and was still learning the cellar he was now stewarding).
Friday
Time to head home. We had breakfast, finally sharing a single huevos rancheros, before packing up, checking out, and heading to the airport.
record of m. 