HEP Travels: Denver + Breckenridge, Colorado | February 2019
If you know one thing about me it’s that I hate cold weather. I thrive in a warm, balmy environment & when we travel, it’s always ALWAYS to a warm-weather destination. (Yes, Nathan feels the same but isn’t as dramatic.)
Enter this trip.
Last February (2019) we were itching for a last minute getaway when we saw we had an open weekend. Checked flights to the Caribbean first & per usual, last minute flights to a sandy, sunny destination were through the roof. Bummer.
Nathan proposed the idea of a ski trip out west & I actually didn’t hate the idea. Although we aren’t cold weather people, we both grew up skiing & hadn’t been in a couple of years, plus we realllllly wanted to get out of Atlanta for few days. After some research, we landed on spending a couple of days in Denver (& spending some time with our Greece friends!) & then heading to Breckenridge (about an hour away) for some skiing. Flights booked! And I immediately started google-ing things like “how many layers is too many layers to ski in” & “can you die from shivering”.
A couple of weeks later we hopped on the plane in ATL & within a few hours were were touching down in Denver…..in the middle of a blizzard. Yep.
We left the airport & took the train to downtown Denver & when we stepped out of the station to walk the one block to our hotel, it was like nothing I had seen before. The biggest flakes coming down as fast as they could. It was gorgeous! (And I couldn’t stop laughing watching Nathan drag our suitcases through a foot of snow while I frolicked around taking pictures.) We finally made it to the Hotel Indigo Downtown Denver (highly recommend!) & got some sleep.
The next morning I woke up early & rushed to our window to see if snow was still falling. It wasn’t & I was super surprised at how much the roads had been cleared already & how many cars were on the road. Honey, we aren’t in the south anymore.
We were excited to spend some time that day with our friends we met in Greece, Kyle & Laura. They picked us up for brunch (like it was a completely normal day & they wasn’t a blizzard twelve hours prior) at Linger. It was the coolest spot (once a mortuary that held the remains of Buffalo Bill!) with great views of the city, delicious fare + bottomless mimosas. Definitely recommend!
From there they took us to a couple of their favorite spots in the city:
Little Man Ice Cream: didn’t matter that there was a foot of snow on the ground & we had literally just walked out of brunch, this spot is a must! (even had delicious dairy-free options)
Avanti Food & Beverage: multiple (rotating) restaurant stalls on the bottom floor, bar + rooftop on the top floor, views for days
The Source Hotel + Market Hall: (similar to Krog Street Market in Atlanta) they took us here specifically because one of the vendors in the market hall is a brewery with mostly sour beers — Crooked Stave — bingo!
We had the best time catching up & getting a local’s perspective of Denver. Thanks, Kyle + Laura!
For the remainder of the evening, Nate and I were on our own! To be honest we were quite a few beers deep at this point & as the sun was going down it was getting COLD (even with my three layers on) so we were kind of just looking for somewhere to pop into for some drinks + snacks before dinner. We headed towards Larimer square (the pretty, iconic street with the string lights hung above!) to check it out in hopes of finding somewhere for drinks & while the street was so cute, most of the restaurants were kitschy chains of some sort but I was 911-EMERGENCY-COLD at that point so Nathan quickly pulled us into some dark basement bar that just so happened to be a piano bar. We spent the next couple of hours here doing who knows what but it was WARM. Praise the Lord.
From there we were even more beers deep & while we had big plans for a fantastic dinner at a recommended spot across town, we ended up going to a sushi spot we just so happened to walk by as we were scurrying through the cold. I have no clue of the name or location but it was GOOD. After dinner, we actually weren't far from our hotel so we headed back & were lights out by 10pm. Such a fun day.
The next morning we woke up, walked across the street to Union Station & had breakfast at Snooze. If you haven’t been before it is delish & I’m not even a big breakfast person. I think there’s likely always a wait (especially at that location) but luckily we had the station to explore. The renovated 1914 train station is home to 10 chef-owned restaurants and bars, boutique shops, and the Crawford Hotel & it is stunning. We spent most of our wait in the Grand Hall playing shuffleboard so no complaints!
After breaking it was on to Breckenridge & while our initial plan was to rent a car, we were nervous about driving in the snowy conditions (turns out we would have been completely fine — roads couldn’t have been more clear). Better safe than sorry! We researched the best alternative & found that they have Uber Ski that will take you from Denver to all of the various ski locations in the area. Perfecto! The drive was stunning & within about an hour we arrived in Breckenridge, the most quaint little mountain town that looks like it could be straight off of a post card. We checked into our hotel (took advantage of my IHG employee-rate, of course!), dropped our things off & then went out & about to explore downtown Breckenridge for the rest of the afternoon + evening.
We bought our ski passes + lift tickets, rented our gear for the next day (at Christy Sports right downtown near the lift) & then did some relaxing at Breckenridge Brewery before meeting up with one of my best friends Mackenzie who just so happened to be there at the exact same time with her husband Edward’s family. (We didn’t discover this until we were both in Colorado!) We met up at Breckenridge Tap House for a brew or two & then headed to The Canteen Tap House & Tavern before we went our separate ways for dinner. Nathan & I weren’t super hungry after having a late lunch, so we opted for sharing a bowl of ramen at a spot near our hotel before heading back to the hotel for an evening sauna session & some hot tub time before bed.
The next morning was an early one to hit the slopes by around 8 a.m. in order to take full advantage of our ski day & all of the fresh pow (had to say it). With five peaks + 187 trails, there was a lot to explore & the views from the top were like nothing I had seen before. We met up with Mackenzie + Edward & skied together (they snowboarded) for a couple of hours before we took a lunch break at T-Bar on Peak 8. After lunch we continued exploring other peaks + trails & before we knew it the sun was setting & we were heading down the mountain for the last time & heading back to T-Bar for apres ski. We survived (& thrived, tbh) & had the best day. (P.S. I never got cold — 3 full layers of clothing did the trick.)
After a couple of beers we took the gondola down to downtown Breckenridge, returned our ski equipment (I’d forgotten how hard it is to walk around in ski boots!) & spent the next couple of hours exploring downtown & popping into shops on Main Street — specifically Mountain Top Cookie Shop which was specifically recommended & it was one of the best peanut butter cookies I’ve ever tasted. For dinner we went to Giampietro Pizza & while it has good reviews, I wasn’t blown away. It was fine, but there are probably better options. And back to the hotel for an early bedtime (as always). Skiing is exhausting!
The next morning we said our goodbyes to Breckenridge & Uber’ed back to Denver, making a pit stop to see Red Rocks Amphitheater (awesome! and a great butt workout.), to meet up with Nathan’s cousin (who lives nearby) for lunch at Next Door American Eatery. After lunch we headed to the airport & it was time to get home to our Lady Bird! (Before I left 24-hours later for my bff Courtney’s bachelorette in Austin. Whew!)
Overall, Denver was awesome & Breckenridge was stunning. It was the best little getaway & so much fun spending time with friends & family throughout the trip. Still not a cold-weather convert (& never will be), but a few layers go a long way.
xo-
Heather
