What a great day in Bryce Canyon National Park.
Maybe it’s because it’s Sunday, or maybe it’s because it’s July, or maybe it’s because of the economy … but the park was, with just a few exceptions, ours today. When we drove out to Rainbow Point, we spent several minutes just listening to the silence. Later, during our afternoon hike on the Navajo Loop, there were long stretches where we were the only humans we could see or hear. I’ll never forget the watery, rushing sound of the wind coursing through the tortured canyon walls.
We’re staying at the Best Western Bryce Canyon Grand — the number one hotel in the area, according to crowd wisdom over at Trip Advisor. In this case, the crowds are right: the hotel is new, clean, and flooded with fast, free WiFi. It’s a much brighter, happier place than Ruby’s Best Western, right across the highway, which looks dingy and worn around the edges by comparison.
Of course, Ruby’s isn’t just a restaurant or a hotel — it’s a tiny Bryce Canyon empire, built on the last strip of private land before the National Park begins. In addition to the restaurant and hotel, the Ruby’s folks have erected a cowboy-themed dinner and show theatre, a western town-themed strip mall packed with tacky tourist-trap merchandise, a rodeo, and a fast-food joint.
We wound up at Ruby’s buffet restaurant last night, after a long drive down from Salt Lake. The buffet chicken was dry as paper, and the ribs were edible only because they had been immersed in sugary barbecue sauce. Let’s be clear about this: Ruby’s isn’t just bland food — it’s bad food … but thanks to the shop’s location right next to the park, hundreds of people scarf down her fare every day.
Today, at lunch, unable to bear the thought of lining Ruby’s pockets further, we ate inside the park at the Bryce Canyon Lodge, where the friendly staff served up a pretty good cheese burger and sweet potato fries. But the real foodie destination here in Bryce — make no mistake about it — is the restaurant at Bryce Canyon Pines Hotel. It’s just five miles or so down Highway 12, and, given how bad things are at Ruby’s, the drive is well worth it.
I had the t-bone steak, cooked precisely to order, with a side of homemade, lightly-battered fries. Clyde had local trout caught from Fish Lake. Both were exceptionally tasty — but didn’t prepare us at all for the item the restaurant is known for: succulent pies. My chocolate pie was richer and thicker than the one at the Colonnade back in Atlanta … and Clyde’s coconut cream pie (also made on site) was equally delightful.
Down the road, thousands flock to pound down Ruby’s nasty buffet food … never knowing just how good dinner can be just five miles away.
Enjoyed our two days here in Bryce Canyon; tomorrow, we’re off to Moab.
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