Recently, my mom came to visit! Charles and I wanted to show her a fun time and do some activities that we hadn’t done before, so we took her to Lyons, Estes Park, and Fort Collins, Colorado! We had only been to Fort Collins once so we wanted to go back and check it out. We had a great day checking out these small towns in Northern Colorado!
Lyons
We started our morning by getting coffee and breakfast at a cute coffee shop, Moxie Bread Company in Lyons, CO. Lyons is a last town before you enter the mountains that take you into Estes Park. It’s got a great BBQ restaurant and all the small town charm you’d expect. Charles met a new friend too, although we forgot to get his name…
After leaving Lyons, we headed into the mountains. It snowed the week we went, so the views were extra pretty (but fortunately the snow had melted on the roads!)
Estes Park
Estes Park, which I’ve mentioned previously, is a small mountain town at the base of the Rocky Mountain National Park. They’re known for their adventure and wildlife. Last time we were there, we saw elk, although unfortunately we didn’t see any this time. They have the cutest downtown with local shops that sell everything from fudge to jerky to clothes and homegoods.
After exploring downtown Estes Park, we headed to the Stanley Hotel. The Stanely Hotel is famous for the being the setting of the scene with the twins in the basement in the Steven King movie ‘The Shining’. Now, I hate horror, so I never saw that movie, but I am familiar with the scene. Another famous movie filmed here was ‘Dumb and Dumber’. The hotel was had a beautiful view of the mountains, even on the cloudy day were there. You can get tours of the hotel, but we opted out this time.
Fort Collins
After finishing up in Estes Park, we headed over to Fort Collins, about an hour north. Fort Collins isn’t really a small town, but gives off small town vibes! We headed downtown to walk around the shops. It was quite a bit colder than we anticipated, so after stopping in a few shops, we stopped a small coffee shop for some cider and gingerbread cookies to warm up before heading to our next stop!
A definite highlight of this trip was the speakeasy, The Social, right in the heart of downtown Fort Collins. It was recently voted as one of the top 20 speakeasys in the US, and it did not dissapoint! We had early dinner reservations and I’d read that the lines can get quite long, so we got there right when it opened (and it still had a line!). The atmosphere was dark and lush and the menu was super unique!
After our aperitivo, we headed to dinner at The Regional. It was phenomenal! The food was just out of this world delicious. Charles and my mom split the Korean BBQ bison ribs and wow…it was so yummy! I’d highly recommend this restaurant if heading to Fort Collins! Unfortunately, after dinner it was time to head home.
There’s so much more to explore in all these towns and I’d recommend all of them in the summer or winter!
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