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| Stanley Hotel Estes Park |
Rather than exchanging gifts for our birthdays we have a "rule" that we go away for a weekend to a place that is driving distance. This year we decided to spend the weekend in
Estes Park.
Keith had a meeting that lasted until 3pm so we did not get as early a jump on things as we had hoped. It was also a bit of a dreary weekend and there was a huge hail storm the weekend before so we opted to skip the soft top and instead took the 4Runner. There was a bit of traffic so the trip took an extra 30 minutes. The last time we had been to the area was in 2000 when we were looking for wedding locations. We had checked out the
Stanley but had never stayed there. Shawna had booked us in the more "modern" Lodge building at the Stanley - which was quite nice but not totally our style. After relaxing a bit, we headed out to dinner at
Twin Owls Steakhouse. The decor was a game lodge motif, and the food quite good. We started with the smoked salmon and trout as well as the cheese platter - which was well presented. The main course was the lamb chops which we really liked.
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| Hike in Estes Park |
We did not set the alarm clock for Saturday which was glorious. We had a relaxing continental breakfast in the dining room of our building - the fresh fruit was excellent and the lemon curd went well with just about everything. We then headed to
Rocky Mountain National Park for a walk. We left the car at the Bear Lake parking lot and did the hike to Nymph, Dream and Emerald Lakes. The last leg had a lot of snow but the lakes were gorgeous - we relaxed at Emerald Lake a bit before heading back to beat the afternoon rain.
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| Hike in Estes Park |
We grabbed lunch at deli near the movie theater - Shawna had a grilled cheese and Keith and burrito - both were sub-par. We got out of there in time to see the 1:30pm movie
Spy - it was pretty funny. We then headed back to the hotel for a pre-dinner massage - Shawna's was excellent while Keith's was average - but an average massage is still fantastic! We showered and then headed to dinner at
Cascades - the main restaurant in the hotel. We had the charcuterie and cheese plate for an appetizer and the oxtail pappardelle for an entree which was delicious. Following dinner, we joined the 9pm one hour
Ghost Tour. Keith thought this was a total loss and wanted to bail half way through, but Shawna wanted to persevere so we did. Neither of us are convinced there are ghosts there!
Sunday was another relaxing morning in the room followed by breakfast - where we chatted with a fun couple from St Louis - we exchanged time share stories. We decided to head home a bit early so we could get a nap and walk in before we needed to head out for the
U2 concert at the
Pepsi Center. That show was fantastic - it was on our bucket list and definitely well worth it.
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| Bono from U2 |
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