Colorful Colorado!

WARNING: This one is going to be VERY long…

I grew up in Colorado. So I’m sort of passionate about it. I just wanted to share with anyone traveling to this wonderful state, some of the little things that I love to see and visit while I’m in town.

Boulder, Colorado:

I love Boulder year round. I could write a book about everything great about this city. I also probably could write about how weird the city is too. But all you have to do is Google it and you will find out all about the “People’s Republic of Boulder” otherwise known as the Boulder bubble. The city of Boulder is an odd place, not like a lot of the country. I think its quirks are what makes it kind of fun though. To make this not too terribly long though, I will try to tell you only about some of my favorite places and things that are in Boulder.

First off, my favorite weekend in Boulder has to be Memorial Day weekend. On this weekend, there is the Boulder Creek Festival going on in downtown Boulder, where you can buy all kinds of crazy things, get some great food and do some great people watching.

However the real attraction for me on this weekend and for many others is the annual Bolder Boulder 10-kilometer (6.2miles) race on Memorial Day. This is the largest race in the nation where participants are timed and the fifth largest road race in the world. Hello crazy! It can boast having more than 50,000 runners, walkers and wheelchair racers. Everyone from elite athletes, to kids, to elderly citizens to the person that doesn’t usually walk more than a mile every once in awhile, all participate in the fun. As a participant, you walk, jog or run through the streets of Boulder with bands, belly dancers and more entertainment cheering you on the whole way. The race culminates in a stadium finish at the University of Colorado at Boulder’s Folsom Field (CU Buffs’ football stadium-GO BUFFS!). After the race is over you can enjoy a great healthy meal and a beer/coke/water provided by the race. Then you can watch a skydiving and military music tribute to the men and women of the United States Armed Forces. They also dedicate three waves of the race to our current and veteran military men and women that want to participate.

The organizers must be doing something right because I know some Ironman and marathon athletes who say this is their favorite race of the year and they always look forward to it. I personally have been doing it since I was nine years old. Sometimes jogging, but more often walking. Either way it is a blast. It is a must do for anybody that lives in Boulder or the surrounding area. I introduced Tom to his first Bolder Boulder 10k the first year we met. He didn’t think he could do it, but he did and he loved it. We fly back just for the event sometimes.

I have friends that start their children out super young and carry them in packs as babies/toddlers and then the kiddos actually participate when they get old enough to walk it themselves. The kids have a blast. I mean what kid doesn’t love running/dancing in the street with a bunch of crazy happy racers listening to music and running under the sprinklers that homeowners on the race route point at the street for the participants. I wouldn’t be surprised if this is something I do with our future kids some day. (In the attached picture of the Bolder Boulder start line, I’m the little person at the very front of the starting line on the left side in a turquoise shirt. Can you see me?)

Anyways…so whether you live in the area and want to try something awesome, or you love races and are looking for a great one to participate in. This is the one to do. Enjoy Boulder while you are at it. There is so much to see and do.

Another great holiday in Boulder is Halloween. For adults on Halloween night (or the nearby weekend it falls around) the place to be is downtown Boulder on Pearl Street. There are hundreds if not thousands of people dressed up to the max hitting up all the bars on this street or just wondering around hoping to get a glimpse at the Naked Pumpkin Run that usually starts around 10pm. Some times it doesn’t happen because the police try to stop it, but at least when I used to live there the police were pretty okay with it and just let them do it. I’m not sure now. But either way it is still fun to hangout on Pearl Street with all the crazies.

While you are in town also stop by The Buff (all kinds of breakfast foods/coffees) or Lucile’s (creole/southern cooking) for some amazing breakfast. Try Illegal Pete’s for the best burrito you’ve ever had, or get some amazing sushi at Hapa Sushi Grill & Sake Bar (orgasm roll if they have it). Most importantly though is to get a margarita at the Rio (Rio Grande Mexican Restaurant). My favorite is the strawberry frozen margarita. I don’t think I have ever visited Boulder and not stopped and made time to go by the Rio for this margarita. IT IS THE BEST! If it is summer try sitting on the roof top deck (amazing view of the Flatiron mountains).

While you are visiting a few of the above listed establishments, take a stroll down Pearl Street (where they are located). Pearl Street is an outdoor walking mall that is one of the coolest places you will see while in Boulder. All kinds of different people, entertainers, shops, restaurants, bars and little historic details await on this street.

For a little bit of hiking in Boulder, my top two favorites are Mt. Sanitas Trail (gorgeous overlook of Boulder) and Royal Arch (such cool rock formations). Neither take more than a couple hours and you don’t have to be an avid hiker to try them (maybe just in semi-healthy shape). Dogs on leashes are welcome too. Some dogs (who are voice and sight trained with licenses) are off leash on some of these trails.

Tom absolutely loves fishing (usually fly fishing) in the hundreds of places around Boulder. So he can give you tips on good places to go if you want to look into that. He also knows some good places to get good fishing tips from fishing shops in Boulder. So hit him up for advise.

If you want to know more information about Boulder in general, just let me know and I can give more specifics depending on what you like to do.

Denver/Cherry Creek:

Sorry ahead of time…I don’t know too much about Denver because I didn’t frequent the area a lot, except for the occasional concert or for what follows here.

There is the 16th Street Mall (another great outdoor mall) with lots of shops, restaurants and bars. They do a great fire works display on New Year’s Eve. However this is not my favorite place in CO for NYE. I’ll get to that below (see Vail).

Denver also has an establishment called Fado Irish Pub, which I love because it reminds me a bit of the United Kingdom (my favorite place on earth). They have the BEST St. Patrick’s Day party every year. I warn you though, it is always packed on this holiday. They are located next to Coors Field (the Colorado Rockies stadium). So while you are there catch a baseball game and cheer on the Rockies for me.

My favorite part of Denver or I should probably say Cherry Creek, is that they have a Canvas & Cocktails venue (there is also one in South Glenn). For those who don’t know this establishment, C&C do easy step-by-step painting classes in which you can drink wine &/or beer while you are painting, and they play great music while you work. It is great for dates, family outings, parties (example-birthdays or bridal showers), hanging out with friends or even doing it solo (I’ve done all of these variations). They have these type of painting places all over the country (often with names involving painting and drinking), and I have been to a couple different places in Colorado and Arizona, but this one is so far my favorite. If you want to find one near you just Google something involving painting and drinking. This is my number one favorite hobby/activity to do. The walls in our office at home are covered in these paintings. I love all of them. By the way, you don’t have to have any talent in order to make a fabulous work of art. They really do it step by step making it super easy.

Estes Park (or nearby):

Talk about gorgeous. The drive up to Estes Park is unbelievable. Try making it during a good time in fall when you hear about the aspen trees that are changing colors (depends on the weather and temperatures that Colorado is getting). Again I say GORGEOUS! Once you get to Estes, downtown on Elkhorn and Moraine avenues there are tons of little shops and restaurants to see. All kinds of different things. Highlights that I remember as a kid/teenager were the magic shop (which was next to a big water wheel in the river-I think it was on Elkhorn Avenue) and the sweet/fudge shop that was very nearby the magic shop (there are a lot of sweet shops on these roads though). All of them have amazing fudge. Hopefully the magic shop is still there, it has been a long time, but things don’t change a lot up in Estes. It is a quaint older town with so much to see and they are proud of their history and the fact that the businesses are independently owned and not chain stores.

Estes also has The Stanley Hotel (where the movie The Shining was inspired by). It is also a popular venue for weddings or haunted tours or just hotel stays.

All around Estes Park you can find great fishing. Again you would have to ask Tom about specifics on where to go. I never paid much attention in the car ride to where exactly we would go fishing. I just know he caught a lot and it was beautiful there.

Colorado Springs:

Sadly I hardly ever came down to Colorado Springs until I was a lot older. Even then I think I only went there a few times. I think I went to an Air Force football game once and I went to Garden of the Gods several years ago. I definitely recommend Garden of the Gods. They have the craziest rock formations that you can walk around.

However it was the last year Tom and I lived in Colorado (a couple years ago) when we were on a camping trip near Colorado Springs (Cripple Creek) that we finally made a trip to go see the Pikes Peak Cog Railway, which takes you to the top of Pikes Peak. This is a must if you ever go to Colorado Springs. It is amazing to stand on top of the mountain and look down at everything that looks so small below. It still blows my mind that there are people who climb up the mountain all the time. Talk about a hike! I wouldn’t even let Tom drive up (which you can do if you don’t want to take the Cog Railway) because I knew I would be scared to death going up and down that tiny road. Plus the Cog Railway is pretty neat. If I was an avid hiker in great shape I would definitely want to try this one though.

Some more moderate hiking we did when we were camping in Cripple Creek was near Horsethief Falls Trail (I don’t think that was actually the trail we took though). There is a ton of hiking trails around this area and we don’t really remember for sure what trail we were on, but they all seemed good to us. So I recommend trying some out if you like hiking and you are in the area.

Great Sand Dunes National Park – Mosca, CO:

The Great Sand Dunes is absolutely magical and so worth a trip down to southern Colorado. Especially if you love camping. You can camp right next to the dunes and climb them whenever you want. I recommend the Pinon Flats Campground. The dunes are a super interesting place to see. Make sure if you are going to want to camp there, that you reserve a camping spot because this place can fill up. I also recommend bringing a sled to slide down the dunes.

Vail & Other mountain resorts on I-70 around Vail:

Vail and Keystone have been my two favorite Rocky Mountain resorts for New Years Eve celebrations. However those are the only two I have actually gone to on NYE. I have gone multiple times to both of these places on NYEs of the past because they are always a guaranteed great time. I highly recommend being in the mountains for NYE, no matter what resort you may find yourself at. There is something about people being cold, drinking, and everyone being in a cheery mood that makes every encounter with new people in these resorts a great time.

For just regular skiing/snowboarding any old time during the winter, my absolute favorite resort to ski/snowboard at or stay for the weekend is Copper Mountain. It is a fun resort, where you get good bang for your buck, and they have easy enough courses for those of us who aren’t great skiers and a bunch of hard courses/”bowls” for the very skilled skiers/snowboarders, and something for everyone in between. My grandmother (Nana) skied for the first time in her life at Copper when she was in her 80s. So pretty much anybody, of any age, with any ability can ski at Copper. Copper can be a great day trip from Boulder/Denver area, however they also have a lot of really nice accommodations if you plan on staying more than the day.

I hate to put down any place in Colorado, but I just need to note that I think Aspen, CO is not worth the money you spend to go there or the long drive to get there for their skiing/snowboarding. Plus the restaurants, shops and bars in town seemed way overpriced to me and unless you have a ton of money to just spend, good luck doing anything there. Don’t get me wrong, it is beautiful there for sure. It is just not my cup of tea. I don’t like wasting money when I can get more for my money. But cheers to all those that can afford it and love Aspen.

So anyways, there is a lot more to see and do then I have listed above, and if you want any tips for any specific areas, let me know and I will try to help as much as I can. I hope you love Colorado as much as I do! Feel free to let me know about your favorites in Colorado.

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