The Vacation Diaries: Chicken, Coffee, & Colorado

Two weeks ago, Nick and I adventured out to Colorado for Memorial Day Weekend. During this vacation, I was hoping to enjoy some beautiful views while hiking and a ride in a hot air balloon at some point (bucket list #38), but we were greeted with clouds and freezing temperatures. We knew it was the “off season” but we didn’t know it was “mud season” in Colorado. We made it work though!

Before making the trek from Denver to Keystone, we decided to stop at Chick-fil-a for Nick’s first venture into what fast food chicken should taste like. I introduced him to Chick-fil-a‘s spicy chicken sandwich, their waffle fries, and the Chick-fil-a sauce (my favorite!). As to be expected, it was a life changing event for him, and I’m sure we will be eating at the Chick-fil-a opening this summer in Midtown Manhattan.

Just driving along the twisted roads of I-70, we encountered fog, rain, and snow. I think that was the first time we realized this trip was going to be an adventure! Our GPS somehow led us up one of the craziest roads (without any guard rails!) I’ve ever been on as we made our way up and down a mountain to get to the other side. It was fantastic for breathtaking photos, but terrible for my fear of falling off snowy cliffs into the vast unknown.

Once we arrived in Keystone, we soon noticed everything was shut down for the off season. It was like we were starring on an episode of The Walking Dead…minus the brain-eating zombies. Restaurants I had planned to take Nick to and the gondola to the top of the mountain were closed until June. We made it work though and quickly moved on to Plan C. We decided to drive 25 minutes over to Breckinridge, an adorable little ski town filled with restaurants, boutiques, and gift shops. It also had beautiful views of the surrounding mountains!

Our first stop was Starbucks. Now, before you get your panties in a twist over the fact that we went to chain restaurants during our vacation out West, I must make it known that Breckinridge’s Starbucks is listed on the Top 11 Coolest Starbucks in the World (and similar lists!) and it is located at the highest elevation of any Starbucks on Earth! Because of this, it had to make our list of things to see while vacationing.

We loved Breckinridge! While most of the town was closed until June, we stopped for some Kodak moments along the river, purchased souvenirs from local gift shops, grabbed delicious treats from Mary’s Mountain Cookies, had dinner at Giampietro Pasta and Pizzeria (only $14 for the two of us which is practically unheard of in Manhattan!), and even crossed paths with our first wild animal – a fox that decided to casually cross Main Street!