The Breakfast Club
An Affiliate of the Arizona Pilots Assn

The Knife & Fork

Breakfast Club Visits Old Favorite, Sedona



14 July 2007
by Warren McIlvoy

The July Breakfast Club event returned the vast majority of us to a place often referred to as a true "paradise in the desert". Sedona is quite often the first place that a newly minted private pilot goes to with their favorite "squeeze", or best friend, or maybe a family member. The shear scenic beauty of the area is all the more alluring from the air and the airport restaurant is a "hundred dollar hamburger" favorite amongst the pilot community. The flight is only about 30-40 minutes depending on whether you are flying your Cherokee or the proverbial "belchfire". Another nice thing is that you do not have to get up at "O dark thirty" to get there by our usual rendevous time of 0900 and the short ride is dearly appreciated for the late morning return trip back to the valley.

For the folks who may not have had the pleasure of visiting Sedona (can't imagine who that might be), I have included the following information regarding Sedona:

"Politically, Uptown Sedona (the part in Coconino County) and West Sedona (the Yavapai County portion) form the City of Sedona. Originally founded in 1902, the town was incorporated into a city in January 1988. The Village of Oak Creek, despite its location seven miles to the south and outside Sedona city limits, is a significant part of the community.

Sedona is named after Sedona Miller Schnebly (1877-1950), the wife of the city's first postmaster, who was celebrated for her hospitality and industriousness.

Sedona's main attraction is its stunning array of red sandstone formations, the Red Rocks of Sedona. The formations appear to glow in brilliant orange and red when illuminated by the rising or setting sun. The Red Rocks form a breathtaking backdrop for everything from spiritual pursuits to the hundreds of hiking and mountain biking trails. Among the rock formations is one that closely resembles the character "Snoopy" (from the popularPeanuts cartoon) lying on top of his doghouse. Another nearby rock is said to resemble "Lucy", also from Peanuts. Other landmark rock formations include Coffeepot Rock, Bell Rock, Cathedral Rock, the Mittens, the Cow Pies, and the Rabbit Ears. The famous red rocks of Sedona are formed by a layer of rock known as the Schnebly Hill Formation. The Schnebly Hill Formation is a thick layer of red to orange-colored sandstone found only in the Sedona vicinity. The sandstone is thought to have been deposited during the Permian period.

 The McDonald's in Sedona, Arizona is the only one in the world with turquoise arches. They are not yellow because the city thought they would mesh poorly with the surrounding red rocks. The first color McDonalds offered was turquoise which the city accepted.

The city is known regionally for its unique subculture of artists, musicians, transients and locally-known minor celebrities, some of whom display odd behavior, such as "the Samurai," Benito, who was often seen standing along the highway posing with a katana; "The Waver," who formerly waved at traffic from early morning until sunset; and last but not least, Mary, "the Flipper", who walked the streets and gave the one fingered salute - or flipped the bird to passers-by; Max Ernst (1881-1976), the German Dadaist and surrealist artist, lived in Sedona from 1948 to 1953 with his fourth wife, the artist Dorothea Tanning. Israel Regardie, former secretary and friend of Aleister Crowley and member of the Hermetic Order of the Golden Dawn died in Sedona in 1985.

There is a specialized New Age tourist industry in Sedona, where the "Harmonic Convergence" was organized by Jose Arguelles in 1987. Some purported "spiritual vortices" are said to be concentrated in the Sedona area at Bell Rock, Airport Mesa, Cathedral Rock, Boynton Canyon, and Schnebly Hill".


After every one of the Breakfast Club folks had arrived, I was able to get some group photos before we reconvened our get-together at the Sedona Airport Restaurant. We were fortunate enough to get the majority of the patio seating that is sprawled under two large pine trees. The weather and setting was just perfect and most of us just lolled around talking and just enjoying the scene following a delightful breakfast.

About a year ago, the City of Sedona was planning on expanding the terminal building that would include a second floor restaurant that would replace the existing restaurant. The problem was that the esisting restaurant would be closed and the new structure would not be open for the better part of a year later. That prompted a wide spread outrage by the pilot community and the City of Sedona relented by extending the current lease for another 3-years. For some reason, the planned expansion of the terminal was "put on hold" for "re-bidding".

My return trip was slightly indirect as I was going to Wickenburg to get some of their cheaper fuel. Fuel there was .75 cheaper than at Deer Valley and it is not much out of the way. The only down side was that we had to tolerate the "bumps" for just a tad bit longer.

The Sedona Crew


What's Next?

The August Breakfast Club event will see us return to an old favorite and close by, Payson, Arizona and the Cross Winds Restaurant. The September fly-in and overnight event has changed a little bit. Our original intention was to fly to Mesquite, Nevada, have breakfast there and then, for those staying the night at the Grand Canyon north rim, we were flying to Kanab, Utah to rent cars for the drive to the North Rim Lodge. When the 2007 event calendar as assembled, that was doable. The problem now is that there are no longer rental cars available in Kanab. The result is that our fly-in has been changed to Page, Arizona. There are rental cars at the airport though the drive is twice as long. It is, for the most part, scenic so the time will pass. Besides we can't check-in at the lodge until 1500 so even with the longer drive (with a stop at Jacob's Lake) we will still have some time to make dinner reservations at the rim lodge.  That's all for now but remember, fly safe.


Click on the Sedona link to view the photos of this fly-in.