A couple of weeks back it was my girlfriends birthday and I wanted to do something special. As you know, special is in the eye of the beholder, so I set out to do something truly unique. The morning of her birthday I showed up at her place in a stretch limousine and we began our journey. Since I had picked her up so early the first thing on the agenda was to take her to breakfast with panache. I had done some research and I had found a quaint little café called Crackers Café in Tempe, Az. We arrived a little after 8 AM and were seated immediately.

The atmosphere was quite quaint with a European rural Tuscan look and feel and a “made from scratch” menu that has so many appealing selections it was a chore just to pick the perfect breakfast. After sipping coffee for awhile and letting our breakfast settle we got back in the limousine and began the main thrust of our journey. I had prearranged with the driver to take the most scenic route to our ultimate destination.

Since this was a day trip, I wanted each part of the day to be its own unique experience. I had decided to take her on a wine tour in Sedona. If you have never been, you have truly missed some of the most beautiful sights in the world. Sedona has it all. With its red rock vistas and surrounding desert landscapes that sweep up from the surrounding area into Oak Creek Canyon, a drive that has so many incredible sights that it is breathtaking. You are taken from the lovely red clay desert floor into huge deep forest vistas that emerge from the desert and peak at the top of the canyon with view that stretches forever.

My ultimate destination in order to make this a truly wondrous day was to take her on a Sedona wine tour. Sedona offers not only many fantastic sights, glorious little shops and exquisite dining opportunities, but also some very exclusive wineries spread throughout the landscape. I had selected three of them to tour. The chauffeur was very experienced and gave us tons of information about the wineries we visited. The wineries themselves were quite exquisite and provided my girl and I with tons of information and many unique tasting experiences. All three wineries had tastings that were presented with cheese and crackers. It was quite fun. Here are some things you may not know about wines that I thought I would share. Wine gets its color from the skins of the grape, if they are left for a short period of time it creates a blush color, if they are left for longer it creates a red or burgundy color. All wine is pale, even wines created from red or purple grapes, it is the skin that gives all wine its color.

After we finished the wine tour and a light lunch we took in a little shopping in Sedona. There are lots of little curio shops as well as many shops that carry arts and crafts created by the local Indian communities in the area. The people in Sedona are quite friendly and the shopping experience was really fun. Though shopping was a blast it was time to end the evening on a high note so I took my girl to L’Auberge de Sedona’s, a five star restaurant nestled in the pines on the banks of the Oak Creek. The L’Auberge de Sedona’s has an extensive menu and an award winning wine list. The atmosphere was both chic and romantic.

It is about a two hour drive back to Phoenix from Sedona by limo, so we left around nine, headed back to the valley. During our ride home we conversed about all of the different sights and experiences of the day and she thanked me for a great birthday and was very grateful for such a unique experience. If you are looking for something that you can do to wow your special lady, I would recommend a similar investment in your girl for any special occasion.