Beaver Creek - July 2015

Ritz Carlton Bachelor Gulch

For the July 4th weekend and our anniversary, we decided to enjoy the mountains in our backyard and spent the 3 day weekend in Beaver Creek.

Accommodation:
Ritz Carlton Bachelor Gulch - An amazing hotel with great restaurants and a really nice spa.  We got one night free on points.  The hotel is what you would expect of a mountain lodge with wood beams and stone decor.  We each got a free glass of champagne for our anniversary from one of the hotel bars. 

Activities:
We drove out late on Thursday and checked into the hotel.  We had a glass of wine at the bar before heading to bed.

After breakfast on Friday, we took the shuttle over to Beaver Creek to do some hiking.  We wanted to hike up to Beaver Lake but some of the trail was closed so we hiked up Overlook Trail instead.  This hike takes you to the top of the Centennial chair lift - it's fairly steep but shaded most of the way.  Shawna started to feel sick at the top so the last mile was slow going.  At the top, we had a beer and snack and then we took the gondola back down.  When we returned to the hotel, we had another beer on the outside deck and then took a nap before going to dinner.

Hike Up Overlook Trail

On Saturday, we decided to hike the trails right outside of the hotel since we had a spa appointment in the afternoon.  We intended to do a bigger loop but got lost and ended up hiking down a part of the mountain where there was no trail.  We finally got back on a trail and hiked the Bachelor Loop.  Back at the hotel, we had another beer on the deck and split a salad.  We then went to the spa where we each got 90 minute massages followed by a pedicure. Shawna's massage was pretty intense and thus she was sore the next day.  After the spa, we relaxed in the room and then had a drink at each of the hotel bars before having dinner at the hotel.

Beer on the Deck at the Hotel

On Sunday, we had breakfast and then checked out around 9 am to beat the traffic back home.  We had planned on doing our favorite hike near Keystone but the weather was iffy so we opted to head back to Denver instead.  The traffic was a bit slow at points (so much for getting an early start) so it took us an hour longer to get home.  Keith had some gift certificates for Tommy Bahama so we decided to grab a quick lunch at Whole Foods in Cherry Creek, bought Keith some shoes at Tommy Bahama and then saw Magic Mike XXL which was pretty funny but not as good as the first one.  Back at home, we unpacked and then went to the park to get some exercise.

Anniversary Celebration at Beano's Cabin

Restaurants:
Buffalo's - This restaurant is in the hotel.  We had breakfast here each morning and a drink at the bar one night. 

Beano's Cabin - Nestled in a valley on the mountain, you have to take a shuttle to get there.  The food was pretty good but it was much better years ago when we went there with Margaret and Kelly.  There is a 5 course tasting menu and we also got a wine pairing to go with it.  We started out with a glass of champagne and then had a soup course (corn soup for Shawna and gazpacho for Keith), a salad, an appetizer (salmon carpaccio for Shawna and wood grilled organic egg for Keith), entrees (lamb for Keith and venison flank for Shawna) and then dessert (lemon mousse for Shawna and honey glazed cornbread for Keith). 

Beano's Cabin

Spruce Saddle Lodge - Typical mountain top place, located at the top of Centennial chair lift.  We split a chicken sandwich for lunch.

Bachelor's Lounge - This is a bar in the hotel with cool fire pits and big screen TVs.  We had a cocktail here that took quite a long time to make.

Spago - This restaurant is in the hotel.  The food was very tasty.  We shared several dishes - corn and crab soup, heirloom tomato salad, prosciutto with smoked burrata and duck for our entree.  We also shared the lemon souffle for dessert and had a great bottle of viognier with our meal.