Day 1 - Crazy boring drive through Kansas...and yes, it is that flat! We did stop off in Goodland, KS to take in one of the largest Van Gogh replications. Pretty cool for Goodland.
We also made an unexpected detour off the beaten path to avoid a storm. I feel like we didn't see civilization for hours! Eastern Colorado is scarce! LOL! We did get a great shot though.
When we arrived in Fort Collins, we hit up The Mayor of Old Town, which kind of like a more modern (less exposed brick - more subway tiles) iTap. Found some of the best sour beer (Crooked Stave) on tap for $2!!!!! Score!
We came back from dinner & drinks to find a nice surprise in our room. What a great way to spend our first night! Happy Birthday to me...oh, ahem, I mean Chad. :-)
Day 2 - Fort Collins
We went straight for the breweries. With plans to hit up so many breweries, this meant pacing ourselves (i.e., sharing tasters & downing lots of food.) First stop - Odell! Great place & a relaxing patio. Calling all patio drinkers!
Between brewery stops we drove outside the "city" to check out the foothills. How beautiful is this?!?!?!
We also hit up Funkwerks and Jax Fish House. What a great day! Here's a pic of Chad at Jax with what? A beer!
Day 3 - More Fort Collins
We started the day with a "work thing" - a tour of CIRA. For those of you non-weather geeks, this is the Cooperative Institute for Research & Atmosphere. Chad met up with one of his colleagues, Dan, who gave us some awesome recommendations while we were in Fort Collins.
Next up...New Belgium! The only brewery that we actually toured - and what a tour it was! It was probably the best brewery tour that we've ever been on - even better that we received 5 snifter tasters throughout the tour! Yahoo! New Belgium is very into bicycles & sustainability. They actually produce a large amount of the electricity and methane that they use at the brewery. Very cool!
Check out Chad's reflection in this pic! Hilarious!!
We stopped in the barrel room for a taste of La Folie! Delish!
The "Church of Fermentology" as our tour guide called it! LOL!
A few cool hand made light fixtures.
The top off the tour - a tornado slide! Fun!!
We also hit up Equinox Brewery that afternoon - a much smaller, laid back brewery but definitely on the map with their beer.
Day 4 - Detox! We headed into Estes Park and up into Rocky Mountain National Park. We took a ton of pics! I'll try not to bore you too much. :-)
Our "Jeep commercial" - LOL!
We took a 10 mile drive UP the mountain on this one lane dirt road - no side rails. EEK!
We finally made it to the top - almost 12,000 feet up!
That night we stayed at The Stanley Hotel. This is the hotel that Stephen King actually stayed at (Room 217) that inspired his novel, The Shining!!! I'm a huge fan of The Shining! So we had to check out the entire hotel. We even stayed on the 4th floor - supposedly the most haunted floor - but no ghosts for us.
Sat on the front porch and had a relaxing glass of sparkles!
Creepy elevator & hallway...
Day 5 - Boulder & Longmont
We must have been pictured-out by this day. We managed to take one, very cool pick of the Oskar Blues Tasty Weasel Tap Room. We also hit up Avery and Left Hand this day too. At Left Hand, Chad got to catch up with Kate, a former SLU grad. Fun times!
The Tasty Weasel - Oskar Blues
Day 6 - Denver
We spent the day shopping for things we cannot get at home - good beer & Ikea must-haves! We did make a short stop at Crooked Stave - a true hidden gem for sour beers!
We capped off our day with dinner at Hops & Pie and beers at Hogshead Brewery with another SLU alum, Sam, and his family. Hops & Pie has been on DDD (Diners, Drive-Ins & Dives)! They had a limited beer list - but all were very good - and super yummy pizza! Hogshead was a super chill, neighborhood brewery. Very cool!
Hogshead
We headed back home the next day. Super fun times this trip! This week - detox! LOL!
Cheers!!
