Restaurant Guide

Sept. 16-18        Moab, UT

Restaurants visited in Moab area included:

• ☻Desert Bistro: The first night we were there, we decided to splurge and went to the Desert Bistro, after checking with Keith about our choice (he raved about it). It was booked in the main dining room, so we ended up in the “wine cellar,” which was more our style to begin with, esp. when were soon joined by other diners. The menu featured local meats and produce and the food and wine were fabulous. Pricey, but worth it.
• Moab Brewery: This was close to our B&B, so we gave this a whirl. It was packed and for good reason. The service, prices and food were good, but the waits for seating and food were almost too long, However, a large glass or so of Dead Horse Ale helped. “You can’t beat a Dead Horse.” Recommended.
• Sunset Grill: A Moab tradition, this “historic” restaurant is up a high hill overlooking the red cliffs, at the end of a curvy pothole-filled driveway. The history is interesting but the décor and menu are a bit tired, and over-priced. The view is good, but the sunset was not that impressive, with the sun just dropping behind the hills with no fanfare or color show. The food was unimpressive. The service was pleasant. Not particularly recommended.

I had found the ☻Adobe Abode Bed & Breakfast on the Internet months earlier and it was a great choice. It is run by Keith, who is still mourning the death about three years ago of his wife. The two had built this unusual home on the edge of Moab as a bed and breakfast and she died within a year or two of an unexpected health problem. He is trying to sell the place, so who knows where that will lead, hopefully to people who can appreciate and care for it almost as much as he has. He will move to Texas to be nearer his daughter and grand-children, but will obviously leave a piece of his heart behind. 

We loved the quiet setting on the edge of town, next to Nature Conservancy land, and the hummingbird and other feeders. The comfortable décor is definitely “southwest” and those who object to animal skins and skulls (no heads that I recall), may find it off-putting. Keith fixes fabulous, hearty breakfasts in the open kitchen-dining area while chatting  non-stop, sharing lots of local color.  

The guest rooms are not huge, but each has its own theme and the bathrooms are big and beautiful. Guests have the free run of the rambling, comfortable living-dining areas, including a refrigerator stocked with wine, beer and soft drinks. 

In spite of (or maybe because of) our early booking, we arrived to find he had us on the wrong day. I had the email, but he readily admitted it was his mistake. Luckily it was early enough in the day that he wasn’t full. Even though it was a shoulder season, he was pretty fully booked.  As a result, we stayed in the Asian room, which is separate from the others and requires going across a hallway to the bathroom. He offered to change after the first night, but it was fine and better than moving.  

Our main destination in Moab was Arches National Park. Being a Sunday, it was quite crowded, but the majesty of the red rock outcroppings was undaunted.

After a rest back at the Abode, we, at Keith’s suggestion, drive a short way down the road to Scott M. Matheson Wetlands Preserve. It was nearing dusk, but we decided to take a quick walk and saw a couple mule deer crossing a clearing.  We went back the next morning, hoping for some good birdwatching. It was sparse, but we met a Welsh couple from England, who were raving about a river trip among the canyons of the Colorado and its guide.  

So, we raced off to the riverside company, I think it was Canyonlands by Night, on U.S. 70, just north of SR 128. The ride on the large jet boat was a highlight of the trip. Being in-between the steep canyons on either side of the river is such a different perspective.

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The beautiful, comfortable and quiet Adobe Abode on the edge of Moab.

Balance Rock and Delicate Arch are two of the spectacular rock formations and other views at Arches National Park.

A mule deer at dusk in the nearby nature preserve.

The view was great on the boat trip down the Colorado River.

Deadhorse Point

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Sept. 19-20 Four Corners

• Café at the Twin Rocks Trading Post, Bluff, Utah: I got my first taste of “Navajo Fried Bread” here, in a “Navajo Taco,” which was delicious. This is a nice friendly place to stop for lunch along the long road through the rugged desert. This is where we saw the nicest selection of Native American art on the trip. It was pricey but beautiful.

On the way out of Moab, we stopped to visit one of those olde tyme tourist stops, Hole ‘n the Rock, which is a 5,000-square-foot home and gift shop carved out of huge red rock in the early 1900s by one man, Albert Christensen, with some help from his wife. If you like kitsch this is a must-see. There are also a petting zoo and additional gift shops and convenience store. 

We  had a long drive from Moab since we decided to go to Four Corners, which is basically the monument, a flat platform marked with the crossing state lines, and a number of stalls selling Native American crafts and souvenirs. It marks the only spot in the U.S. were four states (Colorado, Utah, New Mexico and Arizona) meet.

The drive through the stark desert landscape added another dimension to our trip, esp. since I’d become a Tony Hillerman fan on this trip, thanks to Ruth Marie leaving a couple of his books by our bedside.

The flags of the adjoining states at Four Corners

Christensen was obviously a big fan of FDR

Why this trading post is called "Twin Rocks."

More photos below

More scenes from Arches National Park

More scenes from the Colorado River near Moab

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