Last week, I was reading the events section of the newspaper and came across this article which talked about the Chocolate Walk in Cottonwood, AZ, one of the many tiny, old, mining towns in rural Arizona. This quote from a shop owner in the Old Town area of Cottonwood made me decide that we MUST do this:
"It is by far my favorite night of the year in Cottonwood, with everybody strolling and the lights on and the smell of mint and chocolate. You just meander in and out of the shops, which are all decorated, and pick up your chocolate."
So, on Saturday afternoon, I sat down to buy tickets online, about an hour before Ben, Marilyn and I left. I was crushed to discover that, according to the town website, it sold out quite early. However, I kept reading and saw that a few local shop owners still had tickets, so I started calling them. The 3rd one answered, and the woman said she had 3 tickets left. I said we were from Phoenix and would she possibly hold them for us? Thank goodness for small town kindness, because she said she would :-)
As per usual, it took us forever to get out of the house and on the road, but when we finally got there, I was more than a little concerned that the shop would be closed up tight, and we'd be stuck. However, by asking a few people, we found our way to her shop and were good to go.
The event itself was fantastic, and totally worth the one hour/40 minute drive. Essentially, it was trick-or-treating for adults, minus the costume. At the Civic Center, we received a map of Old Town, and a decorated paper bag (decorated by the local glitter merchant!) From there, we walked up and down the Old Town area, where each merchant checked off their name on the map, and then we each received a hand-decorated something or other from the merchant (none of whom were actually chocolate shops). The treats included everything from chocolate-dipped pretzels, to many variations of brownies, to fudge, to truffles, to brittle, to rum-soaked chocolate cake balls.
As we meandered through town, many merchants had hot chocolate or cider, some had live music, and many were decorated marvelously. We were highly impressed with the quality of stores, including a gelato store, a cute coffee shop, a fantastic retro diner in an old gas station (Bing's Burger Station - see photo) where we had supper after we'd collected our bags of treats. For an added bonus, it was a beautiful night, as we're in the middle of a warm snap, with highs in the 70s and lows in the mid 40s. One of my favorite stops was an olive oil and vinegar store, where I bought an AMAZING fresh peach white balsamic vinegar :-) Finally, in a chocolate-glazed fog, we headed for home, down the mountain. What a lovely time!
Needless to say, this is something I'll definitely try to attend next year! What a great way to get in the Christmas spirit!
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