Enjoy art, inspiration and free admission at the Leanin’ Tree Museum & Sculpture Garden of Western Art, considered by many to be the best western and wildlife art museum in Colorado. The museum sits nestled like a jewel before views of Long’s Peak and the Flatiron mountains of Boulder. Located 15 minutes from downtown Boulder and only two blocks from Celestial Seasonings, the relaxed setting is home to the…
My wife grew up in Nebraska where the word “garden” is a verb and crops are produced in neat and tidy rows. Her mother had a backyard garden and the neighbors did, too, and they traded seasonal fruits and vegetables among themselves, much like folks have done since woman first sat down and gnawed on an ear of corn. To my utmost bewilderment, my wife continued to “garden” after…
Ludwig van Beethoven once said that “Music is a higher revelation than all wisdom and philosophy. Music is the electrical soil in which the soul lives, thinks, and invents.” If we take Beethoven’s words to be true, then one could say there is plenty of soil for fans of music to plant their roots in while on their Colorado vacation in Denver. Fans of every genre will find something…
Casa Bonita, a Mexican restaurant in Lakewood, Colorado, has been offering live entertainment, Acapulco-style divers and a performing gorilla (don’t worry, it’s a guy in a suit) since the 1970s. Dubbed the second-largest indoor restaurant in the world back in the ‘90s, it can seat up to 1,100 people within its various rooms. A former department store, Casa Bonita is designed to look like “Old Mexico” with black ceilings…
Central City, 35 miles west of Denver, may be known best to outsiders as a gambling town, but the casinos aren’t the only attractions. The Central City Opera House, built in 1878, offers a historic and cultural experience. Welsh and Cornish miners, who brought cultural heritages to the gold-mining town from their homelands, built the opera house through volunteer efforts and fund-raising drives. Denver architect Robert S. Roeschlaub drew…
Remember sleep-away camp? Roasting marshmallows by the fire, bunking in log cabins, crafting leather belts, laughing in the dining hall with new-found friends… Picture your adult self at camp with your kids. Now add snow. That’s the scene at the YMCA of the Rockies’ Snow Mountain Ranch, just outside Winter Park. At this high-altitude hideout, families with children of all ages can enjoy favorite outdoor winter activities — cross-country…
It can be expensive for a family to go skiing, especially in resort-rich Colorado. Kim and Ben Amiot know that all too well. Every winter the Columbia, Mo., couple journeys to the Colorado Rockies for a week of slopes and snow. Along with their two school-age daughters, they invite parents, step-parents, siblings, nieces, nephews and cousins – everyone but the backyard dog. Their ski junkets look like Osmond family…
If you want to tuck into a hearty breakfast to fuel a full day of skiing, look for the lines outside local restaurants in your favorite ski towns. They’re usually a good barometer of the food inside.Or ask a ski instructor – who also needs a good breakfast under his or her belt before beginning the day. Or hit up the clerk in the ski shop, who probably knows…
Leadville, Colorado, celebrates winter during the annual Crystal Carnival March 1-3, 2013, highlighted by the town’s time-honored tradition of ski joring, a unique winter sport combining horses and skiing. Since 1949, Leadville’s streets have been converted to winter racetracks for the annual ski joring competition. Horses and their riders pull skiers along the snow-packed roadways and over jumps while the skier spears rings in a timed competition. The sport…
Over the Super Bowl’s 47-year history, I’ve viewed the game from all the usual TV venues. I’ve watched it from bars, dorms, homes, motels, hotels, airports and cruise ships. I’ve seen it at a church with fans cheering the team bearing the Christian-most quarterback. I’ve endured parties where women cackled during plays and men wolf-whistled through commercials, especially those featuring Cindy Crawford. In Ixtapa, I missed Janet Jackson’s wardrobe…