Gay-Friendly Sedona
Not every popular gay resort destination out there has a pulsing nightlife and a wide selection of gay-exclusive guest houses.Sedona, Arizona – about two hours north of Phoenix and two hours south of the Grand Canyon – has developed an ardent LGBT following in recent years as much for its spiritual, New Age-y energy as for its increasingly swish bistros, cushy contemporary inns, and high-end art galleries. It’s a classic couples getaway, oozing romance and packed with photo ops. And just across the Verde Valley, you can switch your car’s transmission into a low gear and climb high up a mountainside to the quirky former mining town of Jerome, where a funkier, rowdier retro-cool selection of still-more galleries, taverns, and restaurants await. But what truly draws weekenders – and even a fair share of week-longers – to Sedona and Jerome are the oddball red-rock formations soaring above a high-desert carpet of pinon, juniper, ponderosa pine, and cacti. If you don’t find this landscape genuinely stirring, you might want to have that contact lens prescription updated.
To see some of the accommodations, restaurants, and vistas for which these gay-friendly communities are known, visit my Jerome and Sedona gay photo gallery. There are a handful of pictures in there now, and more to follow over the coming weeks.
An update as of February 2011: Although Sedona has no gay bars per se, the historic Relics Restaurant and Nightclub has long been a favorite with the town’s GLBT community. I stopped by this past week to check out this rambling and festive establishment, which has served plenty of movies stars over the years, back when the area was a popular setting for classic Westerns. In fact, scenes from the 1965 Henry Fonda movie Rounders were shot right inside the bar.
Accidental Bear 