June 30, 2021: Ironic that the last post I blogged about and this one are both about the Grand Canyon, almost three years apart. These ground squirrels (Otospermophilus beecheyi) are persistent but I didn't feed him despite his cute, friendly shakedown. So what happens here is that the train rolls up to the Flagstaff platform at 5 am, a little bit late, it was scheduled for 4:20. We quickly moved our luggage up the street to the haunted Hotel Monte Vista, where they offered to keep our bags until we could check in later.
Back at the station, we hop on an Amtrak Thruway bus to go to the Grand Canyon. Amtrak contracts with local shuttle bus services to get their train passengers to places that Amtrak does not service. We got a lift up to the Grand Canyon and were scheduled to have anniversary lunch at El Tovar, the fabled hotel of Teddy Roosevelt. Jane tore her calf muscle while we were at the San Bernardino Station and though she hobbled around gamely enough, she was in a lot of pain. So we moved our lunch reservation up and it was - meh. Really disappointing. It's just mediocre tourist-trap food with diffident service. This will be a recurrent theme because we were doing a mix of cheap and extravagant on this trip. Obviously if something's cheap, it's a pleasant surprise if it is also good - enjoying a stunning view of the Grand Canyon with a squirrel on your lap, for example. But if something is hyped-up and pricey, you expect more bang for your buck. So if you find yourself at the Grand Canyon, buy an ice cream and hang out on the El Tovar porch and consider yourself fortunate indeed.
Back in Flagstaff, we stayed in the Gene Tierney room which is haunted by the mauve decorating ghost of the '80s. Gene had a somewhat crappy life, but did not die in the hotel and if she's haunting anything it probably ain't that room. A guy can dream, though.
One thing that was a pleasant surprise is that the hotel restaurant, The Lotus Lounge, is excellent. The service is good, the food is great and the vibe is funky and overall, its a great value. Gene ought to go get an orange chicken, wash it down with a couple mai tais and enjoy the afterlife in Flagstaff.
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