Hotels & Lodging Restaurants Romance & Relationships Skiing & Snowboarding The Rockies Travel: Hotels & Lodging Restaurants Skiing & Snowboarding The Rockies Travel
by maribeth
Comments Off on Weekend Expectations
Weekend Expectations
It’s often recommended not to have any expectations. But how can you not when it comes to a weekend getaway? I’m sure even guys think (O.K., fantasize) about what they want out of a romantic weekend away. That’s part of the fun. Call it another form of travel planning.
I’m trying not to think too much about my plans for this weekend. Yet still little glimmers of mostly romantic moments keep popping into my mind. Let’s face it, even if it’s not fireworks it darn well had better be good. And how do I define good? Nothing short of blissful togetherness. Perfect harmony where the mere thought of it all coming to an end makes both of our hearts sink.
Vail is closing for the season this weekend and I thought it would be great to take in the festivities with Steve, my new love. Normally I wouldn’t question (even remotely!) if all would go well but there’s a big storm in the forecast and Saturday is looking like a powder day. There are no friends on powder days as the saying goes, and I found this out for real back in January when we took our first weekend away.
We both were incredibly psyched about discovering Crested Butte, a spectacular Colorado destination known for its rugged terrain, authentic spirit and quaint Victorian town. Neither of us had spent any real time there, so it was uncharted territory for us both. Truly though I think it was the idea of spending forty-eight hours together that appealed to us the most.
The Pearl Room at The Crested Butte Retreat
The drive there couldn’t have been more perfect since we talked nonstop, sharing thoughts, dreams and ideas that we hadn’t yet revealed in previous conversations. We tiptoed in to The Crested Butte Retreat, a high-end bed-and-breakfast that I had located on the Internet. Our meeting with our gracious hosts would wait until morning. We pushed open the door to the Pearl Room (also known as the Honeymoon Suite) and sauntered into an immense, milky-colored space, twice the size of my apartment back home. We savored a glass of red wine on the loveseat before falling into bed, totally smitten with each other and our surroundings.
We Could Ski Right Outside the Door of The Crested Butte Retreat
After an elegant breakfast together, we left practically hand in hand for the slopes the next day. It was a perfect day, punctuated by many fun runs together on Crested Butte’s craggy slopes and one long break at the Ice Bar, a popular gathering spot on the mountain where we gulped frosty beers and snuggled up to each other at a wraparound bar made entirely of blocks of ice. We cooed some more over an après-ski hot chocolate and then rushed back to the Retreat for a quick change for dinner. (We even endured a goof up with the public transportation which resulted in us missing a bus and having to wait a near eternity for another. We didn’t care much though; we were one with each other.)
We opted out of a romantic dinner à deux to dine with Ken and Kim Stone, two incredibly warm and enthusiastic people that both Steve and I knew from their time in Telluride. As the CEO of Crested Butte Mountain Resort, Ken provided us with the full rundown on this once rough-around-the-edges mountain town that is morphing into a more sophisticated destination for outdoor enthusiasts in the know. We chatted about this evolution over cheese fondue and juicy steaks in the uber sleek setting of the newly opened Prime in Elevation Hotel at Mt. Crested Butte. No one, of course, could have asked for a better introduction to the Butte.
We fell asleep in each others arms, professing our utter contentment with each other and openly stated that something had to bring us back to reality. It was almost dizzying to feel so high up in the clouds.
Be careful what you wish for—I’ve been warned of that many times, too. Our fluffy white haze turned into a big, dark thunderhead that rained upset and grief upon us by mid Sunday afternoon. The day started out excitedly: Steve was pumped about skiing powder with Ken and Kim and I felt proud of myself for giving him space to knock himself out since I knew I wouldn’t be able to keep up with them on Crested Butte’s renowned double diamonds. The plan was that I would go on a Meet the Mountain tour and meet him for lunch. All was well in honeymoon land.
By almost 2 p.m., however, I was a wreck. He never showed up for lunch. “What? How could you forget?” I cried in between sobs.
“I don’t know, I just spaced it. I’m sorry. I screwed up.”
High Drama Hot Tub
Our weekend was irretrievable. Even a late check out and a long soak in the Honeymoon hot tub, couldn’t take us back to the soft space we had created together the first 3/4 of our weekend away. It took more time than that for both of us to fully recover.
Now here we are on the eve of another ski weekend away, another powder day. It would be silly for me not to expect to have it go well. But if there is a glitch, maybe now I wouldn’t take it quite so personally. Travel, after all, always brings out the best and the worst in relationships.
The Crested Butte Retreat, 970-349-1701, www.crestedbutteretreat.com ; please note that since this story was posted, The Crested Butte Retreat is no longer operating as an inn. You may, however, rent out the entire property for special retreats.
Crested Butte Mountain Resort, 800-810-7669, www.skicb.com
Prime in the Elevation Hotel at Mt. Crested Butte, 970-251-3030, www.skicb.com/cbmr/things-to-do/dining-mtcrestedbutte
Crested Butte is known for its proliferation of wildflowers in the summer. I have never seen this spectacular display but hope to some day soon. Maybe it will provide me with the opportunity to rewrite our ending in the Honeymoon Suite.
Hillside of Flowers in Front of The Crested Butte Retreat
Restaurants Romance & Relationships Telluride: Music & Dance Restaurants Telluride
by maribeth
2 comments
Night Out in Telluride
I moved to Telluride almost six years ago largely for its scenery, sunshine and sophistication. I often say that the world comes to Telluride and am amazed by the number of renowned musicians, authors and movers and shakers from the film industry and other creative and scientific domains that consistently descend upon our little mountain town, often to perform or share their work in a small venue. These people are drawn to the beauty and mystique of Telluride as much as the average ski bum is in awe over our plunging slopes and lively bars.
Our world-class festivals bring in much of this talent, extraordinary happenings that take place for the most part from Memorial Day to Labor Day, attracting devotees and casual observers from near and far. Thankfully Telluride’s special attractions are not just reserved for the summer months. There’s plenty to take in here year-round, making it exceedingly difficult to remain idle in this remote mountain town, even in the dead of winter or the thick of off-season.
Grooving to Grupo Fantasma at the Sheridan Opera House
Many of the events are, in fact, hosted by the big festivals. Such was the case recently at the Sheridan Opera House, where the Telluride Jazz Festival put on their winter concert to a sell out crowd. Anything the Telluride Jazz Festival does is of the highest quality, so my interest was naturally piqued when I learned that Grupo Fantasma, a ten-piece latin band, would be showcased this year. Seeing such a sizzling ensemble of musicians jamming on the tiny stage of our historic opera house could not be missed. (As one of Telluride’s landmark sites, this jewel box of a theater has featured illustrious performers such as Lillian Gish, Sarah Bernhardt and Jackson Browne in its more than one-hundred-year-old existence.)
Sheridan Opera House: A Telluride Treasure
Plus the stakes were raised for this evening out. The truth is I had heard about this show from the folks at my salsa class. Salsa as in dancing, not sauce making. I hadn’t taken a dance class since I was seven years old but in recent years I became increasingly consumed with the idea of signing up for lessons with a most willing partner. (My days of dancing the alley cat in a fouffy party dress at the Country Club must have indeed marked me. Or was it the yummy ice cream sundae that followed each session that had me hooked?)
The Ah-haa School, one of Telluride’s fine assets, is a stronghold of learning and fun that offers a great variety of courses from silkscreening to yes, salsa dancing. Why I started out with one of the most challenging dances known to man I do not know. I had found my perfect partner in Steve (see Night Out in Telluride Mountain Village posting), so of course I thought if there’s a will there’s a way and surely we’d be dancing like two passionate latin lovers in no time. Come again? We moved clumsily through our various moves with about as much heat as two gringos doing the macarena at an Italian wedding reception. But still we persevered. This must be some kind of a test of our relationship, I thought to myself numerous times. Up until then we enjoyed an amazingly harmonious existence (excepting the times he’d blow me off on powder days). Now it seemed ridiculous to subject ourselves to consternation such as what step to take when.
Attending Grupo Fantasma was to be a coming out party of sorts for our salsa class. Sure our teacher, the lovely Debbie Reynolds (most aptly named!), was to be there but she would not be calling out quick, quick, slow, quick, quick, slow to us the way she lead us through each move in class.
The Vault Room at La Coçina de Luz
Many of us gathered at La Cocina de Luz, a favorite locals’ restaurant, for dinner before the show. We enjoyed our own special enclave within the Vault Room where we ate chips and salsa, sipped margaritas, savored mexican food lovingly prepared from the finest ingredients and swapped stories about who we really were beneath our dancing personas and where we hoped to go with our newly acquired hobby. (I liked the idea of some of us going on a latin dance cruise the best!)
We pulled ourselves away from this colorful and lively establishment and braved the short, brisk walk down the street to the Opera House. Grupo Fantasma did indeed turn the chilly night into a hot, sweaty happening fueled by a couple more drinks but most of all our earnest desire to dance the night away with real passion and minimal stepping on each other’s feet. Steve almost gave up on us, lamenting that we couldn’t follow the beat and that I kept attempting to lead.
Then suddenly we clicked. We were dancing the salsa. I looked around and realized that the only people that did anything other than hippie dancing were those from our little salsa class. We felt truly initiated into the exciting world of latin dancing (even though I’m sure we looked like total white folk). We signed up for another series of classes. We talked about taking a trip to Vegas where there’s no shortage of salsa. We dreamed about breaking out into a sensuous salsa some day in South America like two dark haired latin lovers on a spotlighted stage. I started tuning in to “Dancing with the Stars” to check out the moves on the salsa dances. We started to feel more and more latino with every class.
“Jazz Festival will be here soon enough,” I mentioned to Steve. “Maybe there will even be a latin act on the town park stage or at the opera house,” I added, hinting at the opportunity to dance more to some great live music.
“We better get practicing then,” he replied with a hint of a smile on his curled up mouth.
“I’ll check the salsa CDs out of the library. You’d better start polishing your shoes.”
Soup, Salad and Lots of Salsa in T-ride
Sheridan Opera House, 970-728-6363, www.sheridanoperahouse.com
Telluride Jazz Festival, 970-728-7009, www.telluridejazz.org
Ah-Haa School, 970-728-3886, www.ahhaa.org
La Coçina de Luz, 970-728-9355, www.lacocinatelluride.com
More Favorite Telluride Restaurants
New Sheridan Chop House, 800-200-1891 and 970-728-4351, www.newsheridan.com
Cosmo, 970-728-1292, www.cosmotelluride.com
Rustico, 970-728-4026, www.rusticoristorante.com
La Marmotte, 970-728-6263, www.lamarmotte.com
Thank you to Ron Semrod for the interior photo of the Sheridan Opera House.
Food & Wine Hotels & Lodging Restaurants Romance & Relationships Skiing & Snowboarding Telluride: Restaurants Romance & Relationships Skiing & Snowboarding Telluride
by maribeth
Comments Off on Night Out in Telluride Mountain Villlage
Night Out in Telluride Mountain Villlage
Great Room with a View on a Busier Night
I almost can’t wait for the ski season to end. The key word there is almost. I’d love for the skiing to go on and on but I’m also yearning to spend more time at my desk, something that is indeed a big challenge when the slopes lie right outside your door and you’re caught up in the ski fever that grips every mountain town from late November through a good part of April. Plus I’ve been working a lot on the hill teaching skiing, a very rewarding job that not surprisingly leaves little energy for writing at the end of the day.
Then there’s the near grueling pace of the social life that one must endure in such a happening mountain resort. No matter how much you try to stay in, there’s always a concert (often free!), a dinner, a party or an impromptu gathering to take in. Telluride is a culturally rich, increasingly sophisticated town, which consistently goes off at the close of the lifts. more »
Art & Culture Colorado Denver Hotels & Lodging Restaurants Travel: Art & Culture Colorado Denver Hotels & Lodging Restaurants Travel
by maribeth
1 comment
Viva Italia, Viva Italian Americans, Viva la Dolce Vita in Denver
The Sweet Life: Italian Style
Clemente. My name ends with a vowel, just like Delgato, Cardaluccio, pizza. When my grandparents emigrated from Italy our name was actually spelled Clementi. They Americanized it somewhat with an “e.” Even Frankie Valli once contemplated making his stage name Vally with a “y.” But he opted to be a good ‘ole Jersey Boy and settled on Valli and in so doing preserved more of his Italian heritage.
Jersey Boys: Italian American Guys
My dad is a Frankie, too. Not from Jersey but from Troy, New York. Close enough. Recently the music of the Jersey Boys helped him to reconnect with his roots. I spent a lot of time back east this past summer helping my father get through a difficult passage in his life and every step of the way we were serenaded by the melodious and memorable sounds of Frankie Valli and the Four Seasons. We became Jersey Boys addicts. My dad had seen this explosive Broadway show that recounts the story of four Italian American guys and their rise to fame last spring. Their hits from “Sherry” to “Oh, What a Night” to “My Eyes Adored You” to “Can’t Take My Eyes Off of You” and more buoyed him up to a place of joy he had not known in quite some time. Through this music, I could tell my dad was retracing part of his own story. And I was right there with him, rediscovering a sound and a slice of Italian American culture I had not paid much attention to in quite some time.
Hotels & Lodging Restaurants Travel: Hotels & Lodging Restaurants Travel
by maribeth
Comments Off on Prague: More Eastern European Splendor
Prague: More Eastern European Splendor
Terrace Dining At Allegro in Prague
Many people do the trifecta in this part of the world: a sybaritic journey that encompasses Budapest, Prague and Vienna. My friends, Denise and Alan, combined their September trip to Budapest with Prague, a sensible decision since prices in Vienna weigh in considerably more.
With only a five-hour drive or a one-hour flight between these two great Eastern European capitals, a visit to both seems like a must, especially if a rich cultural scene and outstanding Old World architecture figure among your requisites of a memorable vacation. Known as the Paris of the north, Prague also begs to be explored by foot, mostly since the majority of the main attractions are located within the city center. With three major opera houses and several other prominent cultural hubs, Prague also boasts a vibrant music scene, although expect to pay a bit more here to attend events than in neighboring Budapest.
According to my extremely well-traveled friend, Denise, this seemed to be the case across the board. She found Prague to be a notch or two up from Budapest—price-wise—although still significantly less than most other major European cities. A dinner for two with wine, for example, rang in about $80. to $100., noticeably more than the same in Budapest.
Czech cuisine, known for its large meat and potatoes emphasis, did not impress Denise nearly as much as the food and wine of Budapest, yet her entire gastronomic experience in Prague was certainly blown off the charts by her meal at Allegro, the only one-star Michelin restaurant in all of Central and Eastern Europe. It came as no surprise that it was housed within the elegant confines of the Four Seasons Hotel Prague, another outstanding property embellished with world-class artwork and situated on the banks of a historic river. As the name indicates, Allegro features an Italian cuisine, one that is especially refined and served in a stunning setting, itself worthy of five stars.
Italian Elegance in the Czech Republic
It seems as though the Four Seasons name is still more accessible in Eastern Europe than in other parts of the world. Eastern Europe has not yet adopted the euro, so one can only imagine how long it will stay that way. It might be a good time to start planning a trip to this part of the world soon. With travel deals the way they are now, you might even be able to swing Vienna.
Four Seasons Hotel Prague, 420-221-427-000; www.fourseasons.com/prague
For more Money Saving Travel Tips, go to my Tips page.
Art & Culture Food & Wine Hotels & Lodging Restaurants Spas Travel: Art & Culture Budapest Eastern Europe Food & Wine Hotels & Lodging Restaurants Spas Travel
by maribeth
Comments Off on Budapest: For Lovers Young and Not-So Young
Budapest: For Lovers Young and Not-So Young
A Glittering City
People often tell me they live vicariously through me. Generally they’re referring to my travel adventures and stories rather than the more tedious aspects of my single woman’s life, I imagine. (Although my romantic encounters can, I suppose, be sometimes viewed as out of the ordinary!) I rarely envy other peoples’ travels, mostly because I often see them as uniquely their own. But recently I arranged for my friend, Denise, and her husband, Alan, to go on a trip where I imagined myself every step of the way. It turned out to be a most romantic journey and I’m sure part of me not only coveted her travels but I also imagined myself experiencing this magical city—that always intrigued me—with my own special someone. Oh well, thankfully my life isn’t over yet!
Folk Dancers at the Wine Festival
The Hungarian capital of Budapest was her chosen destination, a selection made partly because of her husband’s Hungarian ancestry. Denise and Alan divided one week between Budapest and Prague; the another was passed in the Hungarian countryside where they found it to be quite easy to explore by car. As in France and other European countries, good signage in Hungary is more the norm than the exception.
Largely considered one of the most beautiful cities of Europe, Budapest is most typified by the Danube, the river made known probably first as a frontier of the Roman Empire and more recently (in 1867!) by a Viennese waltz that will forever evoke merriment and optimism. Classified as World Heritage sites, the two banks of the Danube, Buda and Pest, are punctuated by many great buildings and monuments, some of which house hotels that overlook the legendary blue swath of the Danube.
Art & Culture Four Corners Hotels & Lodging Restaurants Spas The Rockies Travel: Art & Culture Four Corners Hotels & Lodging Restaurants Spas The Rockies Travel
by maribeth
5 comments
Going to Gateway
Red Rock Grandeur
“Now why did you say you wanted to come here again?” I asked my friend, Paula, as we stopped in this middle-of-nowhere place called Paradox, squinting beneath the beating sun in search of a gas station, a store or some other significant sign of life. My head pounded fiercely by now and both our car and I were positively parched.
“I wanted to take some pictures of Paradox Valley, you know for that contest I told you about, the one to raise awareness about possible uranium mining in the area,” Paula replied as she drove across verdant plains framed by cliffs the color of buff, sandstone and ochre. This contrasting display of nature must be the paradox, I blithely thought to myself as my head throbbed and we rolled through this shadow of a town, Paula clicking her camera like a sniper in a passing S.U.V.
We realized by now that there was no easy way to cleave our way through these rocky walls to Gateway, our ultimate destination, normally just a two-hour plus drive northwest of Telluride. Our detour to Paradox had proved scenic enough, but now we needed to speed up our travels. We had no choice than to turn around and drive back to Bedrock, the little speck we passed through on our way to Paradox Valley.
Colorado Hotels & Lodging Restaurants The Rockies Travel: Colorado Hotels & Lodging Redstone Restaurants The Rockies Travel
by maribeth
2 comments
Redstone Rendez-Vous
Redstone Inn: One of Colorado’s Best-Kept Secrets
After having been away a month, I couldn’t wait to get back to Telluride. I just wanted to sleep in my own bed with my two kitties and bury myself into the quiet of my little mountain nest. The drive from Denver to T-ride is about seven hours and since I’m not much of a car person, I like to break it up with a stop at my brother David’s house. He and his wife, Geri, live in Redstone, Colorado, a charming little town very much at the halfway point of my Denver/Telluride journey. Normally I would stay overnight, giving us plenty of time to catch up; but the three of us were rather pressed for time, so they suggested we lunch at the Redstone Inn instead.
