Barbara_1947

We just did a long week-end in Boulder, Colorado. We were lucky that the weather was very warm since they had snow last week-end. We are two couples - no kids. We had so many favorites it is hard to choose. The Dushanbe Tea House is a must. The story of the building is amazing and the food was quite good as well. We got to sit at the corner table real Indian style, fun but hard to walk afterwards . We thought the prices were really fair - but we are from the California Wine Country so we are used to things being expensive. A walk up and down the lovely Pearl Street Mall was a pleasure. There are wonderful bronze statues everywhere, lots of flowers, and great shops and cafes. Of course our eyes were bigger than our tummys at the Rocky Mountain Chocolate Factory so the walk did us good.
The next day we drove and walked all around the Historic Neighborhoods of Mapleton Hill and University Hill. The tree lined streets and older homes are beautiful, our favorite street was Mapleton Avenue. I think you can get a walking tour map that tells about the history of some of the homes. We had a great dinner at Papa Jay's - yum. We got to sit outside and enjoy the great weather. My butternut squash ravioli was wonderful - but too much food for me.
The next day we took a drive up to Estes Park. We loved walking around The Stanley Hotel. This would be a lovely place to stay - especially if you are into ghosts! We also liked the Black Canyon Inn. It is rustic with amazing mountain views - really nice condo type lodging. Be sure to get out and walk behind the Big Boulders to the dance pavillion - fantastic! We took a long drive into Rocky Mountain National Park along the Trail Ridge Road - beautiful! We only saw one buffalo but I understand there are lots if you go early in the morning.
The next day we enjoyed walking around the university. It is a beautiful campus with wonderful old buildings. We got a Jamba Juice and walked along the bike path on Boulder Creek. We had two and a half hours left so we decided to drive to Nederland out Canyon Blvd on Highway 119. This was the most beautiful drive of all! The canyon, and mountains, and the colors of the trees was all breathtaking. Nederland sort of bills itself as a hippie town but since we are from the San Francisco area we had seen it all already. The drive was the best part for us. We continued on 119 toward Golden and the Denver Airport and was amazed when we suddenly came upon Black Hawk/Central City. This huge gambling casino out in the middle of no where was quite a shock. We didn't have time to check it out but the drive was so spectacular we were quite pleased with how we had spent our time before turning in our rental car and flying home.
Boulder is really a wonderful place to visit.

emalloy

Sounds like a very fun weekend. Thanks for the report.

Hez

I think you mean that you saw an elk, not a buffalo.

Barbara_1947

LOL you are right Hez, I saw one elk. I'm going in to get my glasses checked right now.

historytraveler

Glad you enjoyed Boulder and the vicinity. It's not only a great place to visit, it's a great place to live.

I did wonder about the buffalo. There are a number of them elsewhere in Colorado, but Estes Park is known for all the elk wandering around the town.