Colorado Music & Dance Telluride: Colorado Music & Dance Telluride
by maribeth
Comments Off on Halloween in Telluride: Tricks & Treats
Halloween in Telluride: Tricks & Treats
Old Time-y Aviators: Huck Yeager and Amelia Airhead
Happy Halloween everyone! I’m celebrating by eating a Butterfinger and a Reese’s cup and washing it down with a Coke. Sometimes it’s really fun (and necessary!) to get a little crazy.
Actually I got very crazy Saturday night at the KOTO Halloween Party here in Telluride. (Ssssshh, don’t tell anyone.) The radio station’s party has to be one of the best in the country! It’s worth the trip to T-ride just to take it in. There are so many creative people in our little mountain town that the costumes astound and the whole evening becomes one big, psychedelic show. And whatever the band might be, the music never disappoints either. Mark your calendars now for next year’s bash. Most of the hotels have killer rates at that time of year, so it wouldn’t be a high-dollar stay. You can also take advantage of some pre ski season shopping while you’re here.
Have a fun and spooky rest of the day.
Art & Culture DC Music & Dance Restaurants Travel: Art & Cultrue DC Music & Dance Restaurants Travel
by maribeth
Comments Off on MLK, DC’s Black Heritage, Chuck Brown, Frankie and Me
MLK, DC’s Black Heritage, Chuck Brown, Frankie and Me
Martin Luther KIng Memorial
With all the press lately about the official opening of the Martin Luther King Memorial, I thought I’d share with you a spirited night in Washington, DC spent with my oldest brother, Frank. He’s a real doer and whether it’s work or personal, he knows how to select and orchestrate all the right elements to achieve maximum results. In this case, it was about showing his younger sister a good time.
He had reserved a late Sunday afternoon and evening for us in August. Chuck Brown, the Godfather of Go-Go, a style of music that incorporates jazz, funk, R & B, hip-hop and dancehall, was to be the main attraction. Frankie had secured the tickets at DC’s renowned 9:30 Club as soon as he knew I was headed his way, about a month before the show. I hadn’t heard anything about Chuck Brown, but trusted that my brother was lining up a fun night out. He’s a big planner—much like me—and that quality along with a nice dose of serendipity laid out an evening that bobbed along beautifully on a helluva cross cultural theme.
Without any discussion whatsoever, the car pointed in the direction of the freshly-opened MLK Memorial. It was the Sunday after Hurricane Irene blew through our nation’s capitol (along with most of the eastern seaboard), so the Memorial’s official opening—slated for that weekend—had been postponed. Frank and I thought we’d check it out anyway since although not properly christened, it was open. No luck. We drove along the Potomac on the roadway bordering the monument, creeping along with the hope that we’d find a car that would pull out and leave its parking space for us. No way. You couldn’t even shoehorn a moped in between the lineup of vehicles. Not surprisingly, most of the visitors headed to or from the MLK Memorial were African-American or at least of some kind of Negro heritage. They had waited long enough for the tribute to their esteemed leader—it was time to take a look. Frank and I gave up searching for a spot. I felt somewhat disappointed but bowed out gracefully with the sentiments that it would be best for us to leave any free parking to the people for whom Reverend Dr. Martin Luther King’s I’ve Been to the Mountaintop speech meant the most.
Art & Culture Colorado Fashion & Style Mountain Living Music & Dance Telluride The Rockies Travel: Art & Culture Fashion & Style Mountain Living Music & Dance Telluride The Rockies Travel
by maribeth
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Ferraris, Blues, Brews and the Rocky Mountains
Ferraris Flanked by the Rocky Mountains
Ferrari epitomizes design and style. The Rockies furnish some of the most dramatic and outstanding views in the world. Put the two together and you’ve got one helluva good-looking scene. Add a little blues, brews, and bountiful helpings of food and wine and you’ve got a number one formula for a spectacularly good time. That’s just what you’ll get throughout most of southwestern Colorado this weekend, especially in Telluride when the Ferrari Club of America Rocky Mountain Region is due to cruise into town on Saturday, one of the peak days of the Telluride Blues & Brews Festival. Yes, over thirty of these beauties will be lined up on the center lane of Telluride’s main street for all to admire.
“We’ll be there rain or shine,” says Fred Bishel, club member and tour coordinator. “Only a blizzard will stop us,” he adds. From a near-vintage 1988 model to a brand-new 2011, in a regalia of black, silver, yellow and the iconic Ferrari red, this cavalcade of some of the world’s most magnificent cars will be traveling through southwestern Colorado as part of their fall foliage tour. Their journey begins Friday on the Skyline Drive outside of Canon City where they’ve obtained special permission to drive in the opposite direction on this stunning route. From there, they go to Gunnison for lunch and then Grand Junction in the evening. It’s no surprise they’re making Gateway Canyons, home of the Gateway Auto Museum, showcase of the private collection of Discovery Channel’s founder John Hendricks. It’s a key stop at 9 a.m. Saturday before heading to Telluride for lunch. By Saturday evening, these fine Italian specimens (I’m talking about the cars not the drivers although I haven’t met any of them yet!) will be claiming forty parking spaces on Durango’s main drag—what a sight! Sunday they’re off to Pagosa Springs, then over Wolf Creek pass to end with a fundraiser in Saguache. Members of the club will be chatting with admirers and handing out schwag at every stop.
If you love beauty, don’t miss this happening. It’s rare to see so many Ferraris assembled together. The last time I saw such a showing of these magnificent works of art was over two decades ago at an exhibition entitled Hommage à Ferrari at the Fondation Cartier, located outside of Paris in Jouy-en-Josas at the time. Leave it to a world-renowned jeweler to recognize the splendor of this celebrated brand.
Yet to see these sparkling gems set within the stunning vistas of our majestic Rocky Mountains, it looks like we’ll likely out shine them.
The Official Ferrari Tour License Plate
Read Always on My Mind: Telluride Blues & Brews Festival and Willie Nelson to read my take on this year’s lineup. Check out Gateway Canyons: One Big Discovery to learn more about this gorgeous resort.
Art & Culture Colorado French Life Music & Dance Telluride Telluride Festivals: Art & Culture Colorado French Life Music & Dance Telluride Telluride Festivals
by maribeth
Comments Off on Silence is Golden on Telluride Film Festival’s Silver Screens
Silence is Golden on Telluride Film Festival’s Silver Screens
Buster Keaton in “The General,” a 1920s American Silent Comedy
Who said silent films are a thing of the past? “The Artist,” an ebullient silent film depicting Hollywood during the roaring Twenties, generated quite the buzz this year at both the Cannes and Telluride Film Festivals. I missed it since I was away for most of this year’s festival in T-ride but hope to catch it after its November 23 release in movie theaters (likely art houses) across America. Directed by Michel Hazanavicius and starring Cannes Best Actor winner Jean Dujardin, leave it to the French to create and produce a silent film in the year 2011.
I was, however, able to catch “From Morning to Midnight,” a German silent film from the Twenties the last night of this year’s Telluride Film Festival, a showing made memorable by the accompaniment of the Alloy Orchestra. The film itself was rather macabre (dare I say very German?). But I was highly entertained nonetheless by watching and listening to the Alloy Orchestra, a Telluride Film Festival favorite that has been gracing this world-renowned festival with their presence for about two decades. This three-man musical ensemble has played the world, bringing silent films magically to life in such distinguished cultural centers as The Louvre, Lincoln Center, The Academy of Motion Pictures, the National Gallery of Art and more. If you ever have a chance to see them, seize it! This year was my first in the eight years I’ve been attending the Telluride Film Festival and I’ve become a huge fan.
Art & Culture Colorado Four Corners Hotels & Lodging Music & Dance Restaurants The Rockies: Art & Culture Colorado Four Corners Hotels & Lodging Music & Dance Restaurants The Rockies
by maribeth
Comments Off on Strater Hotel: the Grande Dame of Durango, Colorado
Strater Hotel: the Grande Dame of Durango, Colorado
Strater Hotel in Durango Backdropped by a Quintessential Colorado Blue Sky
If you’ve read some of my posts on my blog and/or if you’re familiar with my books on France, you likely know by now that I love hotels. Historic hotels in particular move me. I’m a big fan of experiencing these bastions of history and tradition during one’s travels, whether it’s to pop in for a drink or to stay a few nights. No matter how you choose to discover these landmark properties, a visit to them allows you to soak up the spirit of the place for either a brief moment or a more luxurious stay. The world is peppered with such places of lodging, steeped in history, that folks have been enjoying in many cases for more than a century. I encourage my readers to seek them out at every turn because it’s often within their splendiferous interiors that we gain the true essence of the place we’re visiting; it’s here we’re able to peer into the past while embracing the present.
In most cases, these fine establishments serve as the cornerstones of the cities and towns we love to visit. Many were built during the golden era of that destination in an effort to express to the world all that the town had achieved, all that the community was becoming. Erecting a notable place of lodging for business and leisure travelers alike was a sure-bet way of putting a destination on the map in addition to providing the right conditions for welcoming visitors in a more dignified and glorious manner.
Nearly every town and city in Colorado boasts a fine hotel, most of which were built during the boomtown era of the mining days toward the latter part of the nineteenth century. It was one of the most significant ways of saying “we’ve arrived.” Finally an old cow town could receive its potential investors and other movers and shakers of the day in a proper manner. The Strater Hotel in Durango, Colorado stands out as one of the finest examples of this necessity to build a handsome place of lodging in emerging towns throughout the West.
Colorado Music & Dance Telluride Telluride Festivals: Colorado Music & Dance Telluride Telluride Festivals
by maribeth
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Always on My Mind: Telluride Blues & Brews Festival and Willie Nelson
My Guy Willie
O.K., maybe not always on my mind, but at least quite often. I’m crazy about Willie Nelson and I can’t imagine a better place on earth to see him for the first time but right here in my beautiful backyard of Telluride, Colorado. For the eighteenth year in a row, Telluride Blues & Brews is gracing our most golden season—late summer—with a festival that combines world-class music and tasty brews in an unparalleled setting. And this year, Willie is one of the headliners.
View from the Stage at the Telluride Blues & Brews Festival
This three-day celebration goes off all over town by day and night in Telluride’s strikingly scenic Town Park as well as in indoor and outdoor venues in town. By day, you can enjoy live blues, rock, funk, gospel and soul and then at night you take it to the juke joints and after-hours jams all around town. The whole festival experience is one big glorious goodbye to summer, hello autumnal glory. This year Telluride Blues & Brews takes place September 16th, 17th and 18th and although lodging sells out fast for this peak weekend, there’s still plenty to choose from for planning a memorable trip to Telluride.
Colorado Food & Wine Music & Dance The Rockies: Colorado Food & Wine Music & Dance The Rockies
by maribeth
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BBQ, Blues and Beauty at Gateway Canyons
The Perfect Setting: Gateway’s Outdoor Amphitheater
There’s nothing like great music in a spectacular place.
That’s exactly what we had this past weekend in Telluride during the thirty-fifth annual Telluride Jazz Celebration, a three-day celebration that puts our whole town in a silky mood every year during the first weekend of August. And after this year’s love fest, this eclectic event appears to be stronger than ever.
It’s even more enticing to have good food added to great music and ambiance. You can count on a trifecta of those ingredients to a good time at the third annual BBQ Blues event on Saturday, September 3 at Gateway Canyons Resort. This year’s lineup features Denver-based diva Hazel Miller and her band. Known for infusing her songs with a primal dose of genuine soul, whether she’s singing the blues, jazz, pop or gospel, Ms. Miller has been called a “force of nature.” Miller has opened for Mel Tormé, James Brown, the Temptations, Earl Klugh, Bob James and many more. I’ve seen her in Telluride and I can tell you she puts on a show bursting with heart and soul.
Other notable blues artists will also be appearing at this special Labor Day weekend event that kicks off at noon at one of the most stunning resorts of the West. (Read my story Gateway Canyons: One Big Discovery) A craft and food fair will also be set up on the resort’s resplendent grounds and as the name suggests, there will be heaps of delicious BBQ for all to enjoy.
Though lodging at Gateway Canyons is sold out, camping is still available in the nearby meadows for festival attendees. Or if you’re lucky enough to be in and around western Colorado at that time, you can just plan an excursion to this fun event that promises to be well worth the trip. Barbecue and blues amidst the red rocks—summer fun doesn’t get much more sultry than that!
Click to see the full program of activities for Gateway’s BBQ Blues Festival and to reserve. You may also call 970-931-2458 for more information.
Aspen Food & Wine Mountain Living Music & Dance Restaurants The Rockies: Aspen Food & Wine Mountain Living Music & Dance Restaurants The Rockies
by maribeth
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Snowmass Slated for Another Culinary Crescendo
Serving Up a Summertime Salad in Snowmass
I love our mountain towns, especially in the summer when the village squares open themselves to all sorts of food and wine and art and music festivals. I kicked off the summer early June at the Snowmass Chili Pepper & Brew Fest and was dazzled by the number of foodies and chili aficionados I met at that event. Boy, there’s some serious competition going on among those cookoff chefs, many of whom travel the country to serve up their prized dishes to fans like me. I’ll be reporting on that in more detail next spring in time for next year’s Chili Fest.
Snowmass is going off again this weekend with even more delectable eats and libations and most likely a more high-stepping crowd (especially now that all the second homeowners are in residence). The village of Aspen’s neighboring town provides an ideal setting for the Snowmass Culinary & Arts Festival that’s taking place Friday, July 22 through Saturday, July 23. Be sure to arrive by Thursday night in order to take in the free evening concert on Fanny Hill, a perfect outdoor venue created by the slope of the mountain on one of Snowmass’s renowned cruiser runs. Otis Taylor, an American blues musician legend, is playing at this year’s concert, so you’ll not want to miss it.
