Due South: A G&G Guide to New Orleans

What to eat, drink, see, and do in the Crescent City

PHOTOS: CEDRIC ANGELES

A cocktail at Jewel of the South; Creole gumbo at Dooky Chase; second-lining down Royal Street.

Whether you go for the beignets, beads, antiques, art, jazz, Sazeracs, or this year’s Super Bowl, the Big Easy and its spirit of bons temps offers something for everyone. New Orleans local and longtime G&G contributing editor Wayne Curtis offers insight into the best places to tap into the city’s welcoming energy: strollable galleries and gardens, historic hotels, and of course prime spots to sample its iconic cuisine and legendary libations.

Sedona, Arizona. I’m a lover of landscapes, and the sandstone spires and landforms of Sedona, a ceremonial destination for the Anasazi (“ancient ones” in Navajo), engender in me a giddy state of being. Or perhaps my glee came from the fabled red rock vortexes, distinct spots where energy spirals outward from the earth to cast positive vibes all around.

Slowing down. We centered our stay beneath the shadow of Kachina Woman, an eighty-foot natural tower, at Enchantment Resort. Located deep in Boynton Canyon and surrounded by Coconino National Forest, Enchantment is a “toss your keys” accommodation. Why would you ever depart the vicinity after landing in your casita? Contemplate your steps on the soft, rust-colored trails, let your heartbeat echo against the raven’s croak, and observe how the setting sun alights on Kachina Woman.
Revving up. Outdoor adventure centers are springing up like Blackfoot daisies across luxury resorts, thrilling those of us who’d rather pedal our way through a canyon than paddle our way ’round the pool. Enchantment’s Trail House offers guided Grand Canyon hikes, trail running clinics, and rock-climbing expeditions, among other options. We booked a photography workshop and sped off to Cathedral Rock to capture the monolith framed by gilded cottonwood leaves at sunset. My favorite shot captured the crepuscular rays shooting up from the mesa—like on the Arizona state flag. The next morning we returned to Trail House, consulted with an Adventure Advisor, and set off on a self-guided Boynton Canyon hike.
Putting into the vortex. My golf game perpetually needs a mental reset. Thus I linked my Sedona Golf Resort and Oakcreek C.C. rounds with an educational hike on the Airport Mesa Vortex. After several calming meditations, Pete Sanders, my vortex energy guide and a weekly lecturer about town, advised me to “focus on feeling like you’re on level ground with a standard swing.” Words to drive by.