We decided to stay stateside for a bit as we have been traveling to Europe for some time now. When a friend of my grown children who happens to be a founding member and drummer for the band, The Elovaters, told us his band was going to headline at Red Rocks Amphitheater in Colorado, we decided we would start our US tour there.
We asked some friends to join us and they were happy to oblige. Our dates were picked for us as the band was playing on May 17th – not an ideal time to travel to Colorado as The Rocky Mountain spring weather is even more unpredictable than that of New England. We landed in 80-90°, flew out in snow and during the concert experienced torrential rain in the 40-50° range. The days in between were beautiful however and the mountainous scenery is truly breathtaking.
The six of us, all from high school friends and now in our sixties, planned our adventure so that each of us would see what we wanted. Another friend who had recently been to the Denver area along with another friend’s daughter who lives out that way gave us some helpful hints with locations for lodging and sightseeing. We are grateful for their input. The best advice we received was to stay in Golden, CO for its proximity to everything we wanted to see and to book our tour tickets early for any of our excursions.
We arrived at Denver International Airport by noon on Friday and were met with an hour and a half delay at the car rental agency. Once we made it through the long line, we found that our large passenger SUV wasn’t ready yet. Thrifty – you can do better! All the frustration was quickly dissolved once we got a glimpse of the beautiful, snow-capped Rocky Mountains.
Points
We decided to take this trip using credit card points, so we were able to transfer points from our cards through AMEX and Chase to their travel partners. This limited us to specific hotel groups, airlines and car rental agencies that offer the best points conversion deals.
The Hotel
Hilton is one of the best conversion rates, so we chose the Hampton by Hilton in Golden. The rooms were spacious and clean. The hotel offered a great serve-your-own breakfast that was one of the better ones we have had. Breakfast was held in the large lobby area with plenty of tables and seating and the variety of foods was great – eggs, meats, pastries, bagels, make your own waffles, cereal, yogurt, fruit, coffee, juices. There is no restaurant or bar here though.
There was a pool, hot tub and very small workout area. We didn’t use the pool or hot tub, but when Carol used the workout area, the treadmill was broken. Carol and John’s room had an issue with water pressure that they reported and was only partially resolved. Deb and Steve complained of noise disturbances in a room adjoining theirs that kept them up one night. The front desk was very apologetic and gifted the back some Hilton points. All in all, we would stay here again.
Day 1
Coors Brewery
The car delay caused us to be 1 minute late arriving to our first stop at the Coors Brewery. We thought we gave ourselves plenty of time to make our tour, but Thrifty had other ideas. We missed our shuttle from the lot to the brewery but were quickly escorted onto the next one with a little scolding stating that they pride themselves on running on time. Normally punctuality is a virtue we appreciate, but this time we were a bit annoyed! Next time I wouldn’t book anything on the first travel day.
The brewery was a great tour that is worth the stop, even for those in the group who do not drink beer. We had a fabulous tour guide with a good sense of humor. Debbie is our Coors Light girl. We have been known to walk out of bars on different vacations if they don’t carry Coors Light for her. This stop was a highlight for her for sure.
It was fun to see the beer making process and sample the different types of beer. The rooms with the fermentation vessels were immaculate and to see the conveyers with the finished product going along their way to packaging was cool. We were told that they can brew 4400 cans of beer in one minute.
After the tour, we spent some time in their tasting room and played dress up in the gift shop. We may have purchased Debbie a conversation piece!
We ended the night with dinner at a small Thai restaurant in a strip mall near the hotel. The food was excellent and we were tired from our travels so made it an early night.
Day 2
Rocky Mountain National Park
After breakfast, we ventured to Rocky Mountain National Park. This was a 90-minute drive Northwest of Golden. The views along the way were spectacular. We were all surprised by the terrain. It was very flat with open plains leading to the mountains. We spend a lot of time in New Hampshire that is mountainous, but these mountains are much more majestic, almost magical.
Our timing was just before peak season, so we didn’t have to make reservations to travel into the park, but it is highly suggested. We went on a Saturday with good weather, and it was busy. We stopped at the visitor’s center to get a map and some guidance and were told that the line to get into Bear Lake was already very long. The ranger advised us to go up to Trail Ridge Road, that was only partially open due to snowfall, to Rainbow’s Curve. The views were amazing. I’m sure all the roads and lakes and vistas were as amazing as the next so we didn’t feel like we missed anything by not getting to Bear Lake. If that is something you want to see, especially during high season, you will have to plan ahead for a timed-entry reservation.
Jim did the driving, and he said it wasn’t as treacherous as driving up and down Mount Washington in NH as it was more spread out. I know I wouldn’t want to be the driver on either adventure.
Estes Park
Estes Park is a little town at the base of the Rocky Mountain National Park. We drove through on our way into the park and decided it was worth a stop when we were done. Downtown Estes Park was dotted with storefronts along a riverwalk, very picturesque. It is also home to The Stanley Hotel, the hotel in The Shining. We saw it from a distance but didn’t venture in. They do have ghost tours available.
We found a nice restaurant, Prospect Bistro, for some lunch al fresco overlooking the town. Our server, Athenx (pronounced Athene Ex), was wonderful at helping us make our selections. The boys had some smoked old fashioneds that were presented as a little bit of a show. The food was outstanding.
There were many shops in Estes Park. We found a leather shop that had some great deals on purses, back packs and belts.
Boulder
After leaving lunch, we headed for Boulder on our way home. We drove through the downtown area and came upon a pedestrian area that was set up with vendors and music. We wandered along the booths for an hour or so before heading back to the hotel to get ready for dinner. We wish we had a little more time to explore Boulder, but from what we saw, it looks like a fantastic city.
Meet and Greet with the Elovaters
Nick Asta, the amazing drummer from the Elovaters, gave me a call earlier in the day and asked if we would like to attend a private, meet and greet event for his band tonight. Of course we would as their concert was the reason for the trip. Since we’ve known Nick since he was a kid, we were happy to see him in his element as an adult who chased his dream and was doing so well. We got to see his parents who we have’nt seen in a few years and got to hear a preview of the concert taking place the next night. It was an unexpected event for us, but it was a great time. We really appreciated Nick reaching out and thinking of us.
The Fort
We booked a reservation at The Fort a few weeks prior to our trip based on the recommendations of an Instagram blog post. We thought it looked like a quintessential western experience with some great looking food. It did not disappoint. We sat outside on the covered patio with views of the plains, valleys and mountains. There were built in firepits all around and the other patio was set up with teepees for the full Indian experience. We saw some incredible rainbows and horse farms from here. They even had a man dressed in period clothing playing a sort of recorder that reminded me of an old western movie.
The Fort looks like an old fort. It is a replica of an original fur-trading post from the 1830’s. The food is touted as “New foods of the Old West”. They have lots of meat dishes but also offers other options for vegans and vegetarians. Jim wanted to try to Rocky Mountain Oysters, otherwise known as bison or buffalo balls. They came cut up and fried. It was the novelty of the name, because they didn’t seem to be anything special.
This turned out to be a very relaxing, almost magical night that instilled the history of the area and the feeling of the old west into our vacation. I recommend trying The Fort if you are around Morrison, CO to get you into the old Colorado vibe. We followed dinner with a drive through downtown Golden, CO which is a historic, old, gold-rush-era town. After driving through the arch stating, “Howdy Folks, Welcome to Golden”, we knew we wanted to come back and spend some time here on another day.
Day 3
Denver
After breakfast we drove into Denver. It was a Sunday, so the city was quiet. We didn’t have a solid aim, so we drove past Coors Field which was impressive. We parked by Union Station, the major train hub in Denver. We took a look inside and it was a very nicely kept place with table seating in the center surrounded by eateries and stores all along the outside and a large bar along one wall.\
We then walked through the city while a marathon was being run. Since Debbie is a marathoner, we had some fun cheering the runners along. I’m not sure how they could do it with the air being so thin here. Our plan had been to jump on the free bus that takes you around the city, but due to the marathon, it wasn’t running in the area we were in that day.
We drove over to Denver’s Central Market which was a cute spot to grab a variety of different fresh foods. Overall, what we saw of Denver was that it was a nice, clean city, but did have a lot of homeless. They had a hot meal station set up on a sidewalk and there was a line around the corner waiting to be served and many sitting around the area with a good-looking meal of hot foods along with fresh fruits and vegetables. It was refreshing to see the good that was being done for individuals who are in need.
Golden
We headed back to explore downtown Golden. We went into some shops, walked around the main street and checked out the river before settling on where to have lunch. We decided on The Old Capital Grill & Smokehouse where we had another delicious meal.
Red Rocks
Concert time! We drove to Red Rocks and tailgated prior to the concert rather than go to dinner. We picked up some cheeses, crackers, hummus and fruit along with some adult beverages. We met some nice people parked near us. Everyone was in such a festive mood.
We had no idea what to expect inside the Red Rocks Amphitheater other than what we saw on blogs. When they said you were going to have climb stairs, they were not kidding. This was made more difficult by the high altitude. We had to stop a few times to let our hearts stop racing and catch our breaths before continuing on. We loved the venue. There is bench seating that inclines from the stage and is surrounded by the most amazing red rocks. The view behind and on either side of the stage was spectacular. We saw numerous rainbows. At the top of the venue were vendors (there were some on the way up, but we weren’t going to head down to come back up) and the Red Rocks Visitors Center, museum and bathroom facilities that remains open during the concerts. We purchased general admission (GA) tickets which were inexpensive – $80ish a piece after taxes and fees. This meant we could pick our seats in the large GA area. I am not sure how the assigned seating area was, but we were happy with our spot. To see any one of these bands that often play in our hometown would be at least double if not quadruple that cost.
The concert started at 5pm with several opening acts – 4-5 performers – Donovan Frankenreiter, Protoje, The Hip Abduction, Collie Buddz, and some special guests – Scott Woodruff from Stick Figure and Paul Hitchings from 3rd Left. Collie Buddz pulled up a 12-13 yr old kid from the audience to wrap one of his songs. The kid did so good that her left Collie Buddz speechless for a second.
For a little while it seemed like the weather was going to cooperate for the entirety of the concert, but no. As soon as The Elovaters were ready to come out, the skies opened up. It was a cold, at times a wind-driven rain. We had ponchos that kept us fairly dry, but it was very cold. Even though we dressed in layers, it was cold.
The Elovaters put on a fantastic show. We have seen them several times at the Levitate Music Festival in our hometown (and Nick’s) of Marshfield, MA. Their reggae, surf rock style utilizes horn sections in some of their songs which makes it a unique sound. Our friend, Nick, who we have known since he was just a kid, is a talented drummer and entertainer. Jackson Weatherbee, the lead singer and other founding member, has such a distinctive voice and engages well with the audience. They use a laser show throughout the concert as well which is entertaining. They played some old favorites mixed with some of their new songs of the new album, Shark Belly Motel. It is nice to support hometown kids (Nick from Marshfield, MA where we live and Jackson from Duxbury, MA, the next town over) as they chase their dream and succeed. As someone from Golden told us – “If they are headlining Red Rocks, they have made it!”. The other people in our group beside Jim and me were not as familiar with The Elovaters, but they left as fans.
Leaving the stands was a bit treacherous and not just because we are in our 60’s. We were cold so our feet and hands weren’t functioning on all cylinders. The stairs and walkways to the parking lots were not well lit and not marked well. The rain and darkness didn’t help. We managed to get to our car with only one casualty falling into a rut, unharmed.
Day 4
Pike’s Peak
We drove to Manitou Springs to take the Cog Railway up the summit of Pikes Peak. The was a 90-minute drive. The weather was a little iffy on this day so we weren’t sure what we would be able to see, but it was all great. Parking was easy and right across from the Cog entrance. We had pre-booked and selected our seats that were all together. The train car wasn’t jammed as it was pre-season and a gloomy day. The tour guide gave the lay of the land and a little history of the area. As we ascended, the scenery grew more impressive – we saw mountains, valleys, plains, streams, lakes and lots of boulders amongst the trees. There were a few old buildings dotted throughout the landscape, each with it’s own story.
The 14,115 ft summit was very cold, snowy and windy. The air was increasingly thin. The walk from the cog to the visitor’s center at the peak seemed more difficult than it actually was due to the elevation. Luckily, I had brought some oxygen in a can (for sale all over Colorado) for $9.99 before coming as they were selling it at the summit for $25. Some of us felt a little lightheaded or experienced a subtle headache from the elevation, which would be considered mild altitude sickness. Jim was most affected by the altitude where he began feeling very lightheaded and began having fits of laughter. We weren’t surprised that Jim was the one affected since he had some issues with his lungs recently. He improved after using some of the canned oxygen a few times.
Town of Manitou Springs
We wandered around the cute town of Manitou Springs and hit some of the gift shops where I found some turquoise jewelry for my 16-year-old granddaughter. We were intrigued by a cute, cozy restaurant as we were wandering by. Swirl Restaurant and Wine Bar did not disappoint. The restaurant was busy, so they sat the 6 of us in their private dining room which was great. The owner, the waitstaff, the food, the drinks and the prices were fantastic. We loved our entire experience here.
Colorado Springs
We didn’t stop in the Colorado Springs Center, rather drove to specific sites we wanted to see. We went to Garden of the Gods and the National Fallen Firefighter Memorial.
Garden of the Gods
We drove through Colorado Springs to go see Garden of the Gods, an drive-through area with beautiful rock outcroppings made of ancient red sandstone. This was a fun adventure with many opportunities to get out and see the beautiful vistas and for phot ops with the rock formations.
National Fallen Firefighter Memorial
Jim is a retired firefighter and wanted to make sure we stopped by the National Fallen Firefighter Memorial while we were in Colorado Springs. It was a moving tribute to those who lost their lives for this important cause. We found the name of one of his colleagues on the wall and took some pictures of Jim at the memorial. It was a very nice but solemn tribute to those who gave everything.
After a long day in the car seeing sights, and still being full from our great lunch, we opted to chill at the hotel for the evening. We used hotel lobby to relax, watch some playoff hockey and eat the remainder of our tailgating charcuterie along with other treats and beverages for dinner. It was a nice way to top of the day.
Day 5
It was our last day with a flight leaving at 4 pm. We opted to do some sightseeing between the hotel and the airport. Of course, it started to snow, because why not.
Buffalo Bill Museum and Grave Site
This historical museum was right in Golden. For a minimal fee we did a self-guided tour of the museum that was truly informational. I had no idea what a great man Buffalo Bill was. There were all kinds of artifacts, historical photographs and exhibits showing his time as soldier and as a showman. His gravesite is at the top of the hill where he asked to be buried. As usual, Jim provided us with the comic relief playing dress-up.
Rocky Mountain Arsenal National Wildlife Refuge
We still had some time to kill before our flight home, so I asked a worker at Buffalo Bill’s if he could recommend a site between there and the airport. Without hesitation he replied to drive through the Rocky Mountain Arsenal. This site is a 17,000 acre cleaned-up contaminated weapons site where animals were seen to be thriving despite it’s history. Now it is a free drive-through preserve where the public can get great views of bison, prairie dogs, coyotes, deer and birds, such as bald eagles. It was a relaxing nice way to end out Colorado stay. We all enjoyed looking for the animals and watching them in their natural (sort of) environment.
Home
We still had a little time to spare after dropping our car off, so we found an excellent airport restaurant – Elway’s – in Terminal A. We grabbed a late lunch here which was fantastic, just like the rest of the food we experienced on our trip. We all commented that we didn’t have a bad bite during our vacation. Our flights were unremarkable, even took off early and were shorter than stated. United Airlines employees were very professional. I look forward to our next flight with them.
Bottom line regarding our own country is no matter what political stance you take, our country is beautiful. We highly suggest spending some time exploring it and seeing what it has to offer. We have spent numerous vacations seeking pleasure afar. Now we are finding joy closer to home and couldn’t be happier.
Signing off until our next adventure,
Patti and Jim
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