Let me count the ways!! Zion National Park is nothing short of breathtaking. The Virgin River running through it, the greenery and the majestic canyons were enough to make me want to pack up my city life and move to a ranch just outside the gates; ) The Zha Zha of Zion!
We arrived fairly late in the day so we decided to stay the night and tackle some hikes the following morning. We got so lucky by getting the last room at the cutest hotel ever, The Pioneer Motel. Not only was it convenient, it was hands down adorable. At the foot of the hill, we enjoyed a jacuzzi and a cabin style room with the whole kit and caboodle, mini kitchen, etc. The lobby boasted a gift and coffee shop that carried soy for my morning fix. Next door to the hotel was a great deli that made fresh sandwiches for hikers.
We had dinner at Pizza & Noodle, a great place in a converted church that shared space with a cool outdoor sport shop. They made me a cheeseless veggie lovers pizza and I noticed they had some nice pastas and big salads (good for people staying away from carbs or glutten).
During our day long adventure through Zion, we hiked into the cafe inside the Zion Lodge. I was afraid I’d be out of luck here as it was a very theme parky, order-from-our-limited-menu-at-the-counter scenario. But no! Zion surprises yet again! They had fresh salads, juices, veggie sandwiches and veggie burgers!!
Reluctantly, we had to leave that evening but made one more grub stop at the Bit & Spur. We each had a huge and delicious salad and the staff went out of their way to make sure my salad was vegan. A+
So a HUGE thumbs up for the beauty that is Zion and the small town of Springdale for making our stay awesome!!
(Art work by my one and only, Dan Hamilton. It’s an on site watercolor sketch of Angel’s Landing in Zion)
