Colorado Part Three - Two Amazing Breakfasts and Garden of the Gods

Ok, last post about my trip to Colorado.  There was just too much to share in one post!

After our adventures on Saturday I was excited for more fun.  We started the day with a super delicious breakfast at Snooze, an AM Eatery.  It was about a mile from the hotel, so instead of driving we decided to walk down Larimer Street to get there.  We were there relatively early, but there was already a line and wait list started.  We waited about 15 minutes before we were seated and handed a menu full of yummy sounding food.  

The restaurant itself was very cute with cool round tables and booths, unique silverware and mugs, and a friendly staff.  We decided to share four different things at the table for breakfast.  The Breakfast Pot Pie which was a puff pastry topped with sausage gravy and an egg, Snooze Spuds Deluxe had hash browns with melted cheese, bacon, sausage gravy, and topped with eggs, Corned Beef Hash, a housemade biscuit, and the Pancake Flight with the OMG French Toast, PB Cup Pancake, and Buttermilk Pancake.

Everything was so darn good.  The puff pastry and sausage gravy were perfect together, I couldn't stop going back for that.  The Spuds Deluxe was really rich and full of flavor.  The corned beef was perfect.  That OMG French Toast did make me say "oh my gosh" after taking a bite.  It was brioche stuffed with mascarpone and topped with vanilla creme, salted caramel, and agave soaked strawberries and coconut.  OMG, right?!  I wish we had gotten a whole order of that instead of the flight. We all agreed it was one of the best breakfasts we had ever had. 

On the walk back to the hotel we decided to make a day trip to Colorado Springs to explore the Garden of the Gods.  Katie has blogged about hiking there and how beautiful it is, and I wanted to check it out myself.  It was about an hour ride to get there and we stopped by the visitor center to find out which trails we should explore.  I asked a guide and he directed us to one of his favorite trails which was around 3.5 miles long.  

This trail was definitely more of hike than our one the previous day.  We were actually hiking up the mountainside on uneven terrain.  The only downside about the trail is that it is shared with horses, so there was quite a lot of horse droppings on the trail, but that's nature, right?  Other than that it was really cool to walk amongst all the rocks.  The rock formations are so interesting and there were some spectacular views on our hike.  

Pikes Peak in the background

In front of the Siamese Twins

We were out there for awhile and quite hungry after our excursion.  We drove around Colorado Springs a bit and then headed back to Denver for some food.  Since it was Cinco de Mayo we found a small local Mexican restaurant and had dinner.  The food was kind of ok, but they had some amazing tortillas.  There was a window to see into the kitchen where an older woman was busy making them.  They were so fresh and the best tortillas I've ever had -that lady was making them right!

After dinner we headed back to the hotel and Mom and I hung out at the spa for a little while before settling in.  

Our last day we just had the morning left before our flights out of town and hit up another delicious breakfast spot in Denver.  This place was called Sassafras American Eatery.  

The restaurant was adorable.  It is in the historic William J Dunwoody House which was built in 1889.  There were wood tables and benches and cute knick-knacks all around.  Each table had a unique set of salt and pepper shakers and the silverware was wrapped in different printed cloths.  

Once again everything on the menu sounded good.  We got a few different things to try.  We started with the Elvis Beignets which were banana beignets filled with peanut butter mousse and served with bacon molasses jam.  It was an interesting combination.  I'm not really a bacon fan, but the jam was pretty tasty - sweet with just a hint of salty bacon flavor.  The peanut butter mousse inside the beignets was really good too.  We also had some of their fresh squeezed orange juice which was perfection.  

For our meals we got a Breakfast Slider, Biscuits and Gravies, and Southern Sunrise.  I know I keep saying this, but the food was so, so good.  

The Breakfast Slider was egg and cheese on their buttermilk biscuit.  The Biscuits and Gravies were the perfect combination.  Their biscuits were buttery, soft, and fresh.  The Southern Sunrise was a bowl of cheese grits with pulled pork, fried onions, pico de gallo, and an egg on top.  It had the right balance of spice and the pork and grits combo was a winner.  If this place wasn't halfway across the country I'd be there all the time!

After breakfast we stopped by Happy Cakes to grab some cupcakes for the trip home and then had to head back to the airport.

I agree!

I had such a wonderful time on my trip to Colorado.  I have wanted to visit for long time and I'm glad I made the plans to do just that.  It was fun exploring and spending time with my mom and step-dad for a long weekend.  The beauty of Colorado is hard to put into words.  The scenery, food, and people there are great!  I want to go back!

What is one of the best breakfasts you've ever had?  Have you ever been to Colorado?  What location is on your to visit list?   

Colorado Part Two - Zip Lining & Exploring the Red Rocks

In Part One I told you about our first afternoon in Denver so on to the next day! 

Saturday we started early with a 6:15am alarm.  We grabbed a quick breakfast at The Market in Larimer Square before hitting the road to make our way to Idaho Springs for a zip lining tour.  As we were riding down the highway more mountains came into view. It was beautiful.  

Mom and Andy had been zip lining before, but this was my first experience.  I suggested we go zip lining, but I was a bit nervous about the whole thing.  After checking in with the AVA Colorado Zip Line shop we got outfitted with a helmet, gloves, and harness with the other four people in our group and met our two guides Shane and Austin.  After a short demo about where to place our hands and what we would be doing we all piled into a van and took a short ride up to the side of nearby mountain.  

Once we reached the staring point the guides gave us some information about the area and pointed out to us a nearby gold mine and that the mountains we saw on our drive in were the Continental Divide - so cool!  


Being high up from the ground and knowing that I had to zip across to get down was a bit nerve racking.  I was the probably the fourth person to go across and as I got hooked up to the line my heart started to race a bit.  Shane gave me the go ahead and all of a sudden I was sliding off and zipping down the mountain.  It was exhilarating!  I was still a bit cautious and used my hand to break some so I wasn't going at full speed.  

We ended up zipping down six different lines to get to the bottom of the mountain.  I got more comfortable with each zip and ended up having a really good time.  Shane and Austin were really funny and joked around with us which made the experience even better.  The views zipping down the mountain were pretty too.  

Mom, me, & Andy

After our tour we headed to the downtown street of small Idaho Springs.  It was one road full of shops and small restaurants.  We walked down the street and stopped at the local Morning Gold Bakery and picked up some fresh doughnuts and a sausage breakfast pocket.  They were just made that morning and tasted so good.  
We moseyed down the street and checked out some other stores and spent some time looking around and chatting with the residents.  Everyone we met in this town were incredibly friendly and helpful.  Seriously, so, so nice.

I was interested in going for a hike so we decided to check out the nearby St. Mary's Mountain.  We slowly made our way up a winding mountain side road to reach 10,000 ft.  

So pretty!  Just behind us there is actually a frozen lake covered in snow.

It had snowed the day before so the hiking trail was covered in snow and since we weren't really prepared for that we stopped to enjoy the views at the mountain instead.  It was absolutely gorgeous!  

I got a few recommendation to check out the Red Rocks so we headed there next.  The Red Rocks are exactly what they sound like these huge red rocks just sticking out of the ground.  There is also a really awesome amphitheatre in the middle of the rocks were lots of famous people and bands have played.  There weren't any groups we were interested playing in town, but I bet it would be awesome to attend a concert there.  

We went midday and the park was pretty busy.  The amphitheatre was full of people exercising on the steps, in the stadium, and hiking the trails.  

At the top of the amphitheater.

We decided to take the Trading Post Trail to explore more of the rocks.  It was about a 1.4 mile hike through the rocks.  It may have only been a short distance but the combination of the terrain, steps, and altitude made for a pretty decent workout.  We had to climb the amphitheatre steps after the hike, which was a good challenge.  We even saw some Mule Deer up close and Magpie birds on our hike.  I loved hiking through such a pretty place.

After our exploring we were ready to eat some more good food and made our way back to the city and headed to Russell's Smokehouse for some barbecue.  We decided to split the baby back ribs, macaroni and cheese, spinach, and the combo plate of chicken, brisket, and pulled pork with dinner rolls.  All of their meat is slow roasted in the restaurant daily and the waitress informed us that they take pride in how flavorful their meat is.  

The combo plate was our favorite.  All three meats were perfectly cooked and very flavorful!  They didn't need any bbq sauce on them, but their house made sauces were too good, so I had a little bit with mine.  The ribs were ok, but could have been better.  

After our meal we stopped by the Tattered Cover Book Store in Historic LoDo.  This place is so wonderful.  It is in an historic two story brick building and full of books.  You could easily spend hours in this bookstore.  There were new books, used books, a coffee shop, nice kids section, and great book displays with recommendations from the staff.  

The place was pretty busy too.  Mom and I both wished there were more bookstores like this around. 

I love this Reader's Bill of Rights!

Our final stop for the evening was walk to Little Man Ice Cream.  

We had read some good reviews for this place online and knew we had to check it out.  It was a bit chilly outside, but we didn't care, and honestly neither did anyone else.  The shop is a giant milk can with little tables and chairs outside.  We sampled a few different flavors before each getting a small cup.  All of their ice cream is made in small batches and they source local ingredients to make their flavors.

Andy got Oatmeal Cookie and Chocolate, Mom got Salted Oreo and Chocolate, and I got Salted Oreo and Coconut Almond Fudge.  I loved all the flavors so it was really hard to choose.  The ice cream was nice and creamy.  It was a great way to end an awesome day!

Have you ever been zip lining?  Do you have a favorite local bookstore?  What's your favorite kind of ice cream?   

Colorado Part One - Food Tour & Osteria Marco

This past weekend I got to visit Denver, Colorado for a mini vacation.  Through work I get comp nights at other hotels in the company and decided to plan a trip to Denver and use some of them.  I invited my mom and step dad, Andy, to come along with me and we had a wonderful trip!  This was my first time to Colorado and I had been looking forward to this trip since I booked it.  We were there for about four days so I have a lot to share and decided to break up the posts.

We arrived to Denver late Friday morning and after a long wait for the rental car made it into the city just in time for our walking food tour with Denver Gourmet.  This tour was pretty different from other food tours I have done.  Usually the tour guide gives you some history or information about the city, area, food, etc.  For this tour however the guide just took us around to different food trucks and restaurants and only gave us information about the food.  I missed the history aspect of the tour, but we did get to try some pretty tasty food.  

First up was the Little India food truck.  I don't really eat a lot of Indian food and was pleasantly surprised with the food we were served.  I chose the Saag Paneer to try which was like creamed spinach with chunks of cheese and Indian spices.  It came with basmati rice and piece of naan.  This was only our first stop, but it was huge serving.  It didn't photograph very well, but I really enjoyed the food.  

Next we headed over to Caveman Cafeteria which serves Paleo style food.  It was 100% grass fed meat, organic, and gluten free.  We got small little cups filled with tastes of several items from their menu.  This included sauteed kale, sausage and peppers, zucchini salad, short ribs, and a beef slider.  Everything was delicious.  I loved the zucchini salad and the short ribs best.  The two guys who run the stand also do catering in the Denver area too.  They actually started their business using Kickstarter which is pretty amazing.  

After a short stroll down 16th Street we stopped at Biker Jim's Gourmet Dogs.  They don't serve your average hot dogs at this stand.  All of the dogs are served with cream cheese and onions that are sauteed with Coke.  They offer an all beef hot dog but also served Wild Boar, Alaska reindeer, Elk Jalapeno Cheddar, and Rattlesnake.  We got to try bites of all of those.  I think I tried all of them except the rattlesnake.  I just had no desire to try that.  I didn't really care for any of them.  I wouldn't mind trying an all beef dog with the cream cheese and onions, but I just couldn't get behind the other types.  

Then we made our way to Black Crow which was an outdoor taco stand.  The group grabbed seats while the owner and chef came out to tell us about the food.  Mom, Andy, and I tried the barbocoa, shrimp, and chicken tacos.  The barbocoa had a wine flavor to it that I didn't care for and the chicken was little too spicy.  The shrimp was the definitely the best one.  It was fried Gulf shrimp with pico de gallo, lettuce, and spicy chipotle cream sauce.  

Our final stop was EVOO Marketplace.  This shop was the first in Colorado to offer tastings of real olive oil and flavored vinegars.  The couple that owns and operates the shop described how the shop works and how you create your own oil and vinegar combinations to use on savory and sweet foods as marinades, dressings, or toppings.  We then got to walk around the shop creating and sampling our own combinations.  We tried raspberry, coconut and sesame, butter and lime, and a few others.  Mom and Andy ended up purchasing a few bottles to have shipped home.  I can't wait to see what they use them for!

After the tour we walked some more around the downtown area know as LoDo before making our way to the hotel to check in.  I got a free upgrade and we ended up in a lovely top floor room with a view of the city.  I also took the chance to check out the rest of the hotel including the spa and fitness center.  It's interesting to compare the hotel I work at and other hotels in the company!

Later we walked to Lamier Square and had dinner at Osteria Marco for some Italian food.  The dining area was in the basement and had brick walls and lots of dark wood.  There was a nice bar area, panini station, pizza making in the back kitchen and cheese coming from upstairs.  

Lots of things on the menu sounded good.  We ended up splitting the Chicken Parmesan Panini, Tomato Salad, and Bianco Pizza.  The restaurant makes all their cheese in house and it was so fresh and delicious!  The sandwich included focaccia, mozzarella, and fontina and was super rich and flavorful.  The pizza crust had slight crunch and had rich, buttery flavor.  It was comprised of garlic, sliced zucchini, robiola, pecornio, and ricotta.  I couldn't stop eating it!  

The tomato salad, which was their version of caprese, included mozzarella, micro basil, shaved asparagus, diced tomatoes, and a balsamic reduction, it was fabulous!   

Have you ever been on a food tour?  Is there some type of food you wouldn't try?  Do you have a favorite type of cuisine?  Ever been to an oil tasting store?  

17th Annual Ravenswood Run 5K: Race Recap

Yesterday I ran my first race of year and it was a good one!  After hearing lots of positive things about the race last year, I knew I wanted to run it.  This was the 17th Annual Ravenswood Run 5K which takes place in the pretty Chicago neighborhood of Ravenswood.  The proceeds go directly back to the community too and benefit the Ravenswood Community Services Food Pantry.  The neighborhood has a suburb kind of feel but you are still close to the city, so it's the best of both worlds; I love the neighborhood.  I live in the area, so I might be a bit biased, but I was excited to run it!  The course was new this year and it took us down the tree lined streets and through Lincoln Square.

Check out the cute Mizuno ladies race shirt!

I woke up around 6:50am, got dressed, had a fig bar, glass of water, and headed out the door.  The race start wasn't far from my apartment, so I decided to do an easy warm up run to the start area.  Once I arrived I made my way to the Fleet Feet tent to meet some fellow FF Cheer/RunChi members including, Sara, Lois, and Ashley.  After a quick chat and picture I checked my jacket and made my way to the start corrals.  

photo via @sburg07

My last 5K was on Thanksgiving and was surprise PR for me (35:16).  Leading up to this race I kept thinking about trying to get a new 5K PR.  I have been running smaller distances since coming back from a minor injury after the marathon, so I felt like this could be possible.  In my training I have also included a day of speed work.  After my warmup run to the race I felt like a PR could be possible.  I knew I needed to average an 11:15 pace for each mile so I lined up in between the 11 and 12 minute mile markers.  

My plan was to start off slower and pick up the pace as the race went along.  The race started before I knew it and we were off at 8am!  There were strollers and dogs and kids, but we had the whole road to share, so there was enough space for everyone.  I found a good pace and enjoyed the run, my music, and the course.  It was cloudy and cool and I was comfortable in my capris and long sleeve tech shirt.  It got a little warm near the end so I just rolled up my sleeves.  Several people cheered us on from the sidewalks in front of their houses which was nice.
My plan panned out pretty well.  I only took a small walk break halfway through mile two to grab some Gatorade and water at the aid station.   After mile two I knew I could get that PR and picked up my pace.  I crossed the finish line in 34:09!  Honestly, I was hoping for just under 35 minutes and was very happy when I realized I beat my previous PR by over a minute!  

Down the finish line chute I grabbed some water and made my way back to the Fleet Feet tent where I met up with more people, including Sonja, and chatted about the race.  I walked around the race area and found they were handing out samples of Ann Sather's cinnamon rolls.  These are some of the best cinnamon rolls in Chicago, so I snagged a sample from volunteer, and fellow FF Cheer member, Kate.  It sure was tasty!  

I really enjoyed the Ravenswood Run 5K!  It was well organized by the wonderful people at Fleet Feet Sports Chicago, with great volunteers as well.  I liked the race course through the neighborhood streets,  that it was smaller than most races in Chicago, and the wonderful community feel of the race.  I would definitely recommend the race and am thinking I'll probably do it again next year.

After the race I walked over to Danny's Egghead Diner to meet my friend, Kristin, for brunch.  The diner has a simple, kind of plain atmosphere, but they serve some tasty diner fare with lots of Mexican inspired meals.  I ordered the special Chihuahua Hash which included swiss chard, fire roasted squash, red potatoes, chicken carnitas, chihuahua cheese, chipotle roasted tomatillo sauce, two fried eggs with guacamole and sour cream.  It was as delicious as it sounded! 

 You can't beat a good run, new PR, and a yummy brunch on a Sunday morning! 

Did you run a race this weekend - how did it go?  What's your favorite thing to do after a race?