Scenic Train Ride to the Grand Canyon: An Unforgettable Arizona Adventure

I made my second trip of the year during spring break. One of my girlfriends, whom I met at salsa dance class, moved to Arizona, and she also loves to travel, so I reached out. I was like, “Hey girl, wanna go on a trip?” She, “Bet, where?” I was like, “Let's go to the Grand Canyon.”

So, I hopped on a flight from Chicago to Phoenix. When I came out of Sky Harbor Airport, I was shocked by how massive it was. The airport was a bit confusing. When I came outside the baggage area, I noticed that you could exit either from the north or the south, so there were even numbers and odd numbers.

My friend Mia picked me up. I spent the night at her place, and the next day, we headed out on a three-hour-plus drive to Williams, Arizona. I saw some of the most stunning rock formations and mountains on the drive, just look at these...

Where we stayed

Mia found us an all-inclusive package at the Grand Canyon Railway and Hotel. We spent two nights and three there; we had buffet breakfast and dinner included and tickets to ride a scenic train from Williams to the Grand Canyon back and forth, which cost us about nine hundred dollars in total. It was pretty affordable. We arrived at the visitor's lodge at about six-ish. The lady who checked us in was incredible, warm, and wonderful, so that was a perfect first experience, and the beautiful lobby was grand. She handed us a bunch of tickets for our food and train ride. The hotel was nice. I don't know what expectations I had, but our room was lovely, and the beds were so comfortable I slept so well. Our room had two queen beds. We had fresh towels—a TV with multiple stations, a mini-fridge, and a shower with fantastic water pressure.

After settling in, we headed to a different building to eat dinner, the Fred Harvey Restaurant. It was a buffet dinner, and because we got there late, our food selection wasn't as amazing. But to the corner of the buffet was a pasta bar. You can choose what kind of pasta you want, and sauce to go with it, and the chef whipped it up right there. So I had that, and they had a bunch of dessert options, but unfortunately, they didn't have any ice cream, so I passed on dessert. 

Phoenix is nice and warm, but driving up north to William, I was entirely unprepared for that. It was cold up there, and I brought hiking gear and sleepless tops. My bad. I just assumed it would be warm because that's what I hear about Phoenix compared to Chicago. I should have done better research about Williams.

Yo, it was really, really cold. It was like minus two degrees centigrade, so I ended up having to layer up a lot. I stopped by the gift store to grab gloves, an extra hoodie, and a T-shirt. 

Grand Canyon Train

There was a chance of snow, so I layered up! I had a full breakfast because I needed to be powered up for the day. And then, at 9:15, we boarded the Grand Canyon train. We had our seats in Coach B. We low-key wished we had tickets in the first-class section just because there were fewer kids and a nicer view. We sat on our seats and just enjoyed*** the ride. 

But I say enjoy it with a big, big, big, big asterisk. 

First of all, the train was really slow. I didn't think it would take two hours. I feel like if we had driven or taken the Amtrak train from Flagstaff, we would've reached the Grand Canyon much earlier. Even the kids on the train were whining about how long the ride was. It was supposed to be a scenic ride, but it took a minute. 

Anyway, while I was on the train, I had an unfortunate experience of racism on the train. 

So my friend and I boarded the Grand Canyon train and had to show our tickets to be let on board. We started moving, and this older man dressed as a Marshall, in cowboy gear, and carrying a gun in the holster with a spare bullet came over to us ( the only  Black people on the coach). 

I honestly thought he was about to say something funny because he had just said something funny about cowboy hats to a Latino kid in front of us. He walked up to us; I didn’t even notice he was trying to get my attention until my friend tapped me, so I looked up and asked for my ticket. I felt a type of way: why are you asking the ONLY Black people for their tickets when we couldn’t have gotten in without tickets? I got up and tried to get our tickets from my bag. He can see me reaching for my bag and asks again, “Where are your tickets?” At this point, I was very aggravated, and I said in an irritated tone that I was getting it; at this point, I thought he’d break his straight face and laugh and say he was kidding and move on, but he was standing on business and not letting it to. 

I hand them to him, and he sits before us and inspects them. My friend made the reservation, so her name is on them. He asks for both our names, trying to figure out whose name is on the ticket. We tell him, and he says we can’t do that, that there’s some policy about each passenger having their name on the ticket. I’m like, okay… He gets up and says I’ll have to get off the train. He’s like, he’ll have to Deboard me. As the only Black people on the coach, OF COURSE, everyone was watching us. It was soooo uncomfortable. He proceeded to ask me if I knew what deboarding was. 

I’m like, this man thinks joking about throwing me off the train is funny??? What in the racism??? I started to smile and chuckle to diffuse the issue because I wanted the whole situation to be over. He asked me if I planned on riding the train back home, he asked me if I could nod, and he asked me to nod if I understood what he was saying to me. When he said he would have to de-board me, I chuckled and said, “No, you’re not.” This man didn’t laugh once! Straight face the entire time. 

He eventually gave the tickets back and said he’d be watching me. NOW WHAT THE FUCK????? That shit was not funny, this is how police treat Black people in America. 

You single the only Black people, ask them to prove that they have the right to be on the train, threaten to deboard one of them, and throw her off a moving train???? I don’t get it. I had to make a split-second decision as to if I was going to take it there with him because it was so wrong and fueled by nothing but racism or if I was going to chuckle and try to diffuse the situation. I hate that Black people have to make compromises like this. I resented the whole situation. I wanted to enjoy a train ride to the Grand Canyon. After we got back to the hotel, I reported to the train conductor, and he gave me an email address to send my complaints to; sigh* 

And I tried, really, really hard not to allow it to affect my trip. 

After departing at about 9:30 -ish when he got to the Grand Canyon at about 11:45, yes, it took 84 years to get there. 

And I was pretty bummed out because we got there at just about 12, and we had to be back on the train around 3:15. I'm like, damn, only three hours. But I hoped to enjoy the trip as much as we could. 

So we came down and went into one of these lodges. We tried to eat, but all the restaurant tables were packed and had insane wait times. There was no sense in waiting 40 minutes when we barely had three hours, so we just grabbed a quick snack at a grab-and-go shop.

Bruh, it was cold! It was cold like we needed gloves, like we needed to put on our hoodies, like my friend Mia had on a winter jacket.But when I eventually calmed down and looked over the horizon, I couldn't believe it. I kept saying to myself, “How is this even real?” I couldn't believe that the Grand Canyon existed. I’m not a conspiracy theorist; I'm not. I was just more amazed by its beauty and science. And the entire time, I'm thinking, “damn, we do live on a spinning rock.”It was magnificent. We were in complete awe the entire time. After walking around a bit, we went to the lookout edge for an incredibly fantastic view. Oh, my goodness. 

We wanted to see if we had time to hike or attempt some of the South Rim Trail. But honestly, we only had a little time. So we ended up getting on one of the Grand Canyon buses so we could see significant areas. We came down to Hopi Point, hoping to see the Native American art village, but that didn't happen. After walking for a while, taking photos, and just marveling at this beast of beauty, that's honestly the best way I’d describe it; it was a beast of beauty. 

We realized we only had a little time. Someone went back and waited. We went back and waited for the bus to take us back to the Grand Canyon Village, where we came from. Then we headed back to the train. 

Exactly, it was short. 

This trip needed a do-over because there was so much I didn't see, but what I saw was incredibly beautiful. I hope to return to the Grand Canyon and hike the trails. I'm explicitly hoping I can return when it's a bit warmer, so I’m not wearing 51 shirts and two socks just to keep warm. You know what I mean? 

It was another two-hour ride back to our hotel, and we napped! When we arrived at the hotel, it was just about dinner time. I had some chicken and mashed potatoes, and I was drinking a lot of apple juice for dinner. I don't know what they put in theirs, but it was exceptionally delicious. 

On our last day, we enjoyed a long breakfast. We were damn near the only ones in the cafeteria where we were done with eating and bonding, We stopped in to get some souvenirs and then checked out.

In terms of hospitality, everyone who worked at the Grand Canyon Railway Hotel was lovely. Everyone was wonderful, from the lady who checked us in our ragers to the staff. So, in terms of hospitality, ten over ten. 

I’ve made it easy for ya’ll by hyperlinking all the important spots. If you want some more juicy deets on my trip to the Grand Canyon, click here. Until I book another flight somewhere… who knows where, follow me on Instagram and TikTok for more travel stories, tips, itineraries and gist. 

xxx
- Summer