A cold winter's tale of travel to Colorado Springs and Manitou Springs in February.
The crystallized snowflakes, light as air, fell from the wintery Colorado Springs sky through the first three days.
A scene from wonderful Poetry. Having only been to Colorado in the spring and summer, this experience has been a much different one. Here for business, this entry is about making the most of travel no matter what you may be traveling for.
After a 4:00 am wake up for flights and rental car, we went directly to work to make the most of day 1, set us up nicely for days 2-5, which would be full of local business to attend to. We planned to use the daytime temps as it was below zero at night for a few days. That first day, after a long full day, we stayed in and enjoyed an early night; we cooked up a frozen pizza for dinner and scoped out what was closest to our cabin. We would get into the local wares on day 2. Thankfully, the restaurants and cafes in Manitou Springs, where our cabin was and where we were working, are excellent and diverse.
The Creekside cabin we lined up is in a small old town called Manitou Springs. We found it for a pretty reasonable nightly price on Hotels.com. Manitou Springs is a quintessential mountain town at the bottom of Pike's Peak in the great Rocky Mountains of Colorado.
A local favorite and adventurer destination is the Manitou Incline (manitouincline.com), an old mine car railroad turned hiking feat. Looking like a scar running up the side of the mountain and seen for miles around, this neat spot is visited by thousands of people each day. We had planned to visit the incline this trip, but the weather and timing didn't work out (this time!). There are many shops and galleries in Manitou in beautiful historic buildings that look like we picked them right out of an old gold-mining cowboy flick. Besides missing the incline, we made the most of being between Manitou and work for the week trip. Our first stop on days 2-4 was the Mate Factor, a seemingly small Yerba Mate tea shop open 24 hours a day most days (closed Friday afternoon through Sunday noon). We enjoyed the dark roast late every day and then bought a bulk bag to take home. This tea is crazy good. Each day we made use of the area's walkability and stopped in some quaint, some new age, and some traditional shops to check out the local art and handmade gifts. We are always looking for new vacation rental inspiration, and it's vital that we support locals when we travel.
With the winter storm passing through for days 1-3 and temps reaching below 1 degree, frigid without good gear, we were thankful for the hot tea, rad muffins, and work to be done. The river we walked each day and had out our back doorstep kept changing with ice and snow. The scene was gorgeous.
We were lucky enough to have stumbled upon a flyer at the shops showcasing the annual Gumbo Cookoff and town Parade that would be that Saturday, which landed perfectly on our only "day off" while in town. We were so excited we got into the line at the Soda Spring Park pavilion about 30 minutes before tickets sales started. We were NOT disappointed. The 16 local vendors had brought their game with some of the BEST gumbo I have ever tasted. We got into the people's favorite judging we got to be a part of, and Dustin even went back for seconds to be sure he had his winner. (I voted for Sacred Ground, he for Jalapen "Ya" Black). After the gumbo fest, there was a Parade lining up, so we got an excellent spot for that. By Saturday (day 5), the weather had really warmed up, and we got to enjoy the eclectic parade with about 2000 people and even spotted Bigfoot!
FOOD in Review:
Let's talk about the food... that was a highlight of the trip as we tried a bunch of local restaurants and a fantastic Korean BBQ place during the week. So diverse we ate famous (and delicious Chicago Style dogs at Margo's Vienna Station (their fries are McDonald's old fries) and fancy fondue from Mona Lisa's (www.monalisafondue.com) our second time here and we recommend the Seasonal menu items. Excellent presentation, service, and in the heart of Manitou. The Carnita's at Amanda's fondue was super tasty and reminded us of home (San Diego) with a couple of slight differences on the plate. The best seafood Hot Pot ever was found while we were on a Home Depot run one day when we found Tong Tong's for lunch (2036 S Academy Blvd, Colorado Springs, CO 80916); it may not look like much nestled in a suite by Big Lots, but it is a hidden gem. I will be coming back here as well. Also in Manitou is a famous shop bringing Louisiana to Colorado Springs, Rocky Mountain Beignets (https://rockymountainbeignets.com), we went back twice. These little delights were the show's star with their powdered sugar awesomeness. We already have planned it for our next family trip this summer.
Special Mention: One of the best spots we visited was at SWIRL (www.swirlismybar.com), a more upscale date night experience with perfect vibes and even better food. The staff explained that the menu concept is foods crated to offer both traditional options and an "off the beaten path" menu. The Coconut Thai Curry Soup was probably the best we have ever had.
Until Next Time Colorado!
Make sure to check out our gallery for photos from this winter adventure.
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