When a study abroad friend came to town for a conference, he admonished me for not writing anything about where I live on my site. When you live in a place long enough, you are living in it. You aren’t seeing it as a tourist might. And when he asked me, “Isn’t the 16th Street Mall the place you go in Denver?”, I shook my head and grabbed the nearest slither of paper. I needed to pen those spots in the city I would want a tourist to see, from the perspective of someone living Denver rather than traveling its limits. I don’t claim to be an expert on a city I have always called home. The local Continue Reading
Sweet December Travel
He stirs the mixture of hot sugar, just one point in the process to create a simple candy cane. A father lifts his son on his arms to see the silver saint as an entire island elbows in between. And a lighthouse watches over a Christmas tree composed solely of lobster traps. I don’t often travel in December, mostly due to family filled schedules and of course the chaotic airport scene. After boarding a flight on Monday, a boarding process that took far longer than it ever should, I watched as people jammed their holiday gifts and jackets in the overhead bins, ignoring all announcements to leave Continue Reading
A Year in Travel
It is the eve of the last month of the year. December is a month I seldom travel. It is a month designated for family time. Each weekend seems to spur an event or occasion. It is also the final chapter of the year, a time for reflection. And on the eve of the last month of 2011, I couldn’t help but think back on my travels for the year, as many of us do throughout this time of ending and beginning. What I have concluded about my travels this year is that I learned something about travel I didn’t realize before. The realization comes after travel, when you are home reflecting on experiences. Continue Reading
Mount Evans, Colorado Wishes You Were Here
In the harshest of environments, a gentle mountain goat poses for the clicks of a few cameras. He doesn’t care I am invading his mountain, a mountain of 14,130 feet. No, he will ham it up for someone who enjoys the camera just the same. I am on top of Mount Evans in Colorado where the Continental Divide is almost in full view. You can see storms up ahead signaling to me it’s time to head down the highest paved road in America. Opened in 1931, the road was originally intended to connect with Highway 285, an infeasible feat, as time would tell. Despite the impossibility, they kept this Continue Reading
Glenwood Canyon, Colorado Wishes You Were Here
Home is usually a place we tire of after a point. At the risk of sounding like an unappreciative Coloradoan, I don’t always stop and look at the Rocky Mountains from my window and think how lucky I am to live here. I should, but I don’t. This past weekend, I headed into those mountains perhaps to reawaken my love for this state, something I didn’t expect but I’m sure Colorado did. The state tends to win over travelers, locals and even skeptics whether they like it or not. Along Interstate-70 on the way to Glenwood Springs, a monster is standing guard. Even those with glazed over road trip Continue Reading
Colorado Wishes You Were Here
This week, I had the honor of guest posting for Anja of Ever The Nomad. I would greatly appreciate if you could read, comment and/or stumble that post, The Devil Made Me Do It. I ended up taking a hike, so to speak, for this piece. Devil’s Head positions in Pike National Forest, a little over an hour south of Denver. The hike itself is not intense, but the view at the top certainly is. A lone fire station hovers on the top of this rock formation that supposedly looks like the head of a devil. I will have a video coming up soon of the hike, but here is just a taste of Colorado’s devilish Continue Reading
Travel Snapshot: Spring in Colorado
This week, I recounted my love for spring in the Boboli Gardens of Florence, Italy. However, I am far from the Boboli Gardens world of sunshine and pink roses. This is my reality. Snow. Two days ago, it was well into the 60s here in Colorado. Yesterday, the snow came. Blowing snow made visibility poor as I battled the storm to get my necessary afternoon coffee. Today, this is the end result, blue skies and snow. Spring in Colorado is always a gamble. Continue Reading