Mile high majesty

A climber takes in the view after making it to the top at Garden of the Gods.

Don't worry - I'm not done blogging about France (there's still food and castles to cover!) No, this is just a short break to bring you this report from Colorado.

Colorado is beautiful. End of story.

OK, OK, Colorado deserves more that that. Here goes: We spent a long weekend in the Denver area for a wedding and it's the first time I've really fallen for the city. Well, not the city itself as much as the surrounding area and all the amazing sights it has to offer.

Coors Brewery in Golden

We stayed in Golden on the western edge of Denver. It's a quaint city that sits nestled in the foothills of the Rocky Mountains. Most people recognize it as the home of Coors Brewery, which sits on the same Clear Creek that runs through the historic downtown. Believe me, there isn't a bar or restaurant in the area that doesn't proudly offer Coors to its customers. I don't blame them. If you've got it, flaunt it.


Golden is beautiful this time of year. It may be named after a gold rush miner, but the city might just as well be named after the hue the trees take on in the fall. They are gorgeous.

Red Rocks Amphitheatre

One bonus to staying in Golden is the close proximity to Red Rocks Park. It takes about 15 minutes to drive there and it's totally worth it. Red Rocks is full of hiking trails with stunning vistas, but it's primarily known for its amphitheatre. The open air stadium is built right into the red rock. You can see downtown Denver in the distance. It's just cool. I'd love to see a concert there sometime. It just has to be the right artist. Counting Crows were playing the day we were there, but I'll get enough of a long December this winter in Minnesota...

We followed up our jaunt to Red Rocks with a drive to Colorado Springs (about an hour south) to check out the Garden of the Gods. This is one of those places I've seen in a million people's photos on Facebook so I wanted to see it with my own eyes.

Garden of the Gods and Pikes Peak

The Garden of the Gods seems to come out of nowhere. Suddenly there are these majestic red rocks reaching towards the sky and demanding your attention. We got there in the late afternoon which was awesome for photos. The sky was blue and the way the sun was hitting the rocks seemed to light them up.  Just awesome.


Garden of the Gods (which is FREE!) is a relatively small park so it's an easy walk or a quick drive around. We opted to park and hoof it around for an hour or so.

A climber at Garden of the Gods

The park is super popular with climbers. You can spend the whole time watching them risk their lives scaling the colorful rock face. Did it tempt me to strap on a harness and have a go at it? No. Not at all. Especially with ALL the signs telling me to stay on the sidewalk if I wasn't a professional with a permit. No problem there. I'm much happier with my feet on solid ground.

Garden of the Gods reminded me a lot of Arches National Park in Utah. The colors, the rocks, there are even a few mini arches at Garden of the Gods. The bottom line is, if you like one, you're bound to like the other.

The Denver Biscuit Company
in the Atomic Cowboy bar

My restaurant recommendation for this blog entry is the Denver Biscuit Company. This place (which is located in the Atomic Cowboy bar) has been in my Yelp bookmarks our last three trips to Denver, but this is the first time we actually made it there. It was definitely worth the wait for this southern comfort food. Big flaky biscuits are the main attraction here. Go hungry because this is gut busting food. Get the cinnamon roll - it's huge and delicious. Get something with the buttermilk fried chicken - it's pure peppery goodness. Get half of everything you order to go or you'll be miserably full for the rest of the day (lesson learned).

While we only had a few days in Colorado, I'm already making plans to go back. Pikes Peak (which is just west of Garden of the Gods) is at the top of my return trip to-do list. I'm taking that cog railway to the top! I'm also dying to check out the nearby Manitou Springs and Santa's Workshop among a million other things the Colorado Springs area has to offer.

North of Denver, I'm bound for Rocky Mountain National Park. Unfortunately, those monster rains Colorado got last month had closed some roads, making that side trip impossible this time around. Mesa Verde, with those cool Pueblo cliff dwellings in southwest Colorado, is also calling my name. So much Colorado to see, so little time to see it.

Garden of the Gods