I was there in May. Here’s a few of my own pointers.

By David Haerle Grays Harbor News Group • June 29, 2019 1:30 am
Pizza from Fat Olives: The pie on the right, the Belgio Dolce, features a white sauce base, mozzarella, pecorino romano, oregano, shaved fire-roasted brussel sprouts, calabrian chili oil, Molinari soppressata, local honey and crushed pistachios. One of the best pizzas ever and featured on the Food Network’s “Diners, Drive-ins and Dives.”
Pizza from Fat Olives: The pie on the right, the Belgio Dolce, features a white sauce base, mozzarella, pecorino romano, oregano, shaved fire-roasted brussel sprouts, calabrian chili oil, Molinari soppressata, local honey and crushed pistachios. One of the best pizzas ever and featured on the Food Network’s “Diners, Drive-ins and Dives.”

Having been a lover of the national parks since childhood, a trip to the Grand Canyon has long been on my bucket list.

At age 60, I finally made that trip in May, coupled with a visit to Las Vegas, also my first — and last — trip to Sin City.

Final conclusion: The Grand Canyon makes you believe in God; Vegas makes you believe in the devil.

But I digress. Here are a few things I learned from my first trip to Grand Canyon National Park.

1. Stay in Flagstaff — For our visit to the park, I originally booked a room in Williams, Ariz., about a four-hour drive from the Vegas airport and an hour from the south entrance to the park. But a friend recommended we stay in Flagstaff, Ariz., instead — adding a bit of drive time — but it was well worth it. Rooms are cheaper in Flagstaff and its location allowed us to go in the south entrance and out the east entrance (more on that in a moment) for an excellent daylong loop trip. Flagstaff is a cool town, both literally and figuratively. Perched at about 7,000 feet in elevation, we experienced a few inches of snow there in mid-May, including a few flurries while in the national park. While in Flagstaff, there are two can’t-miss restaurants, owned by the same chef and located just a block from each other. Salsa Brava serves amazing and authentic Mexican fare, while its sister eatery — Fat Olives — is a genuine Neapolitan pizza joint that dished out one of the top 10 dining experiences — complete with outstanding service and cocktails — I’ve ever had. A great stop after a long day in the park.

2. Make sure to use the east entrance to the park at some point — While the southern entrance to the park is the most popular, the drive to or from the eastern entrance offers some of the most spectacular viewpoints of the canyon either on the way or coming from the South Rim, which can be crowded with tourists and a tough place to find parking. The 25-mile drive from the South Rim to the east entrance and into Navajo tribal land is truly awe-inspiring.

3. Rent a car in Vegas, but prepare to drive fast — It’s a 41/2 hour drive from Vegas to Flagstaff. Oh, yeah, your GPS might say five hours, but most of the route has a 75 mph speed limit and you better do that in the right lane as 85 seems to be the speed of choice for many Arizona drivers across a lot of the rural and flat desert terrain.

4. Visit Historic Route 66 — Once the main route between the Midwest and Southern California, there are still remnants throughout the Southwest. There are cool Route 66 spots in Flagstaff — both of the aforementioned restaurants, for example — and Williams, but the best place may be Seligman, Ariz., home of the famed Road Kill Cafe and many other funky shops and diners. Seligman is just off U.S. Highway 40 — which bypassed Route 66 decades ago — about 180 miles east of Vegas. It was amazing how many foreign tourists we ran into in this little town now off the beaten track.