Ever Heard of Jerome, Arizona?

‘Cause if you haven’t you are missing out!

It’s the cutest little town, that has a reputation of being haunted. That’s right, I said haunted. Along with that they have the greatest Mexican restaurant there and a few wineries. Normally, I wouldn’t think a few wineries was a big deal, but one of them is owned by Maynard! And for all you rock-n-roll folks, yes, that is the lead singer of Tool and A Perfect Circle and Puscifer. We completely stumbled upon that place and I can’t even describe how shocked I was. More to come on that later.

When you come upon Jerome it looks a bit like an Italian town, because it’s nestled on the side of a mountain so you see all the houses and buildings stacked on top of one another. By the time you make it into town you have passed though some awesome views of the red rocks in the distance and tons of old shacks, houses, hotels, buildings, anything that looks like it was built 100 years ago and could definitely be haunted. However, during the day it’s just quaint. I was so excited as we drove in.

Our first stop was the welcome station, which wasn’t really anything and the lady really seemed happy to be doing nothing. Next we went into a shop that is two stories, with two entrances, but still the same place. With a glass studio behind it, sharing the outstanding view. The studio was build within a ruin, so it makes it even cooler.

After walking the two – three streets that make up Jerome we decided on lunch. The Mexican place was recommended, as was the hamburger joint. We decided on Mexican, since we had been on a search for it the first night and ended up with bbq. Which ended up being a good thing, ’cause the Haunted Hamburger was closed for renovations. I don’t think I would have enjoyed another food letdown! Quince Grill & Cantina was the best food decision, I think, we made the entire trip! The hubs got a burrito and I got the fish tacos (Drunken’ Fish Tacos). It was way too much food, but we inhaled it anyway. L.L. also enjoyed some green rice and black beans, she couldn’t get enough of them, which made me very proud. Anyone who knows me or Gil knows of our affinity for bean and cheese burritos.

Then, we went back to traipsing the streets of Jerome. The shops are cute and we even found our first gift from the trip, a little bracelet for Gil’s niece (and one for me from the first store). I was elated since I had been on the hunt for Christmas presents the whole trip!

After that, I just had to do a wine tasting. Not sure why I was so set on it, but it ended up being completely worth it! (As I mentioned before we got a little surprise.) We decided on Caduceus Cellars and the lady serving the wine offered us a tasting or coffee, so the hubs got a coffee (which he loved) and I ordered a tasting of their Arizona wines. As she was telling us about the grapes and the wine, she says something about the Kitsune wine name and Maynard’s body guard. I totally thought I was hearing things incorrectly and blew it off. Bodyguard? Maynard? There’s no way she just said that, right? Is she talking about the musician????  Then another story came about how her boss was telling her to say something snarky to the customer, which she explained would work for him because he’s esoteric, however, coming from her just sounds rude. (The second clue, that made me quirk my head.) Awhile later, she’s telling another story and she actually says, because Maynard, my boss, is the lead singer of Tool and I froze — WHAT!?!?!?!? I screamed in my head. I TOTALLY HEARD HER CORRECTLY AND I’M A DUD FOR NOT SAYING ANYTHING! Those are the conversations in your head, where you are hitting your head off the table, kinda like Charlie Brown.

So, there you have it. Not only is the coffee good, but so is the wine (I liked them all, surprise!). The service is great, it’s owned by someone I used to think walked on water, and it’s just plain cool. On a side note, I have to say that we picked this particular winery, out of the 4 that were there, because it had the best printed and designed brochure. Just like all the Tool albums, super cool design and liner notes. I should have known. Also, we learned that the nice lady serving us is the wife of the wine maker that works there and is in the movie, Blood To Wine. Really? How insanely cool for a stumble upon!

If you ever visit Sedona, check out Jerome, too. It’s worth it. Believe me.