Copper Mountain, recommend activities while the family skis
 

We will be spending Christmas week in Copper Mountain. While the family skis, I like to sightsee or shop. Any recommendations for good sightseeing in that vicinity, things to do or a shopping area with craft stores and galleries? Also any good (but not dressy) restaurants?<BR><BR>I will have a car but also don't mind using the local shuttles etc. Any advice on the area will be appreciated.

Since you'll have a car, you can go to the outlet mall at Silverthorn. Lot's of stores to keep you busy for an entire day. Or drive to Vail or Beaver Creek and shop the upscale boutiques and galleries. You can ride the gondola at Vail to the top for lunch at the restaurant and ride back down. Breckenridge is not to far to drive and has a great main street shopping area.

The previous poster had great ideas. Frisco also has a cute main street, but you could pretty much hit everything there in an afternoon. <BR><BR>While there are quite a few expensive restaurants in the mountains, none are dressy per se. I'm not sure about restaurants in Copper, but could recommend some in the Vail/BC area.<BR><BR>For family activities, there's an ice rink in Keystone, snowmobiling, snowshoeing, Adventure Ridge in Vail (tubing, ice skating, laser tag)

Thanks for the replies. I will definitely check out all those places. I'm looking forward to following up on your suggestions. Any other suggestions will also be appreciated.<BR><BR>What are the restaurants you would recommend in vail or BC?

What kind of food and atmosphere are you looking for? Something for lunch while shopping or a nice sit down dinner? Larkspur or Sweet Basils are both on the high end (what isn't) but very good food (the chef at Larkspur is from SBs) Red Lion has a fun apres - live music in the bar, singalong but rowdy. With kids probably best to sit in the restaurant in the back. Burgers, great nachos. If you go up to Adventure Ridge, theres a couple restaurants in the gondola building where you can grab a slice of pizza while kids are tubing. Nice little bar up there as well. <BR><BR>Went to a fondue/raclette restaurant at the top of Keystone a couple years ago. They turn the mid-mtn ski lodge into a Bavarian type restaurant at night. Dhirndls, lederhosen, oompah music and thick beer. Very fun.<BR><BR>I could keep naming restaurants, but these are easily accessible in Vail from Copper. b