I succumbed to such a spell during a summer weekend I spent with my spouse and his parents in the comely community of Sedona. I'm not the only one of the town's 4 million visitors a year who, at trip's end, reluctantly return to life in a lackluster suburb.
Some tourists actually act on their feelings and spend their days house-hunting.
That is one of the problems of doing this type of business in Sedona. One woman became a regular guest only while overseeing the construction of her new house. For some, Sedona's charms spring from its scenic vistas, a grace apparent on our initial drive through the tall red rocks that clasp the town like the setting around a jewel. I could see why movie producers filmed more than 60 Westerns there, beginning with an adaptation of Zane Grey's novel Call of the Canyon in 1923. Sedona's muse is insistent.