Colorado is a state Nick and I have been wanting to visit and when the opportunity came up to take a short trip there around new year’s, we knew we had to jump on it. As far as we can remember we think this is the first time we spent New Year’s Eve outside of Michigan as well. Although this trip was only three days long we still got to see enough to get a feel of what Colorado is all about.

#block-yui_3_17_2_1_1578780227531_29768 .sqs-gallery-block-grid .sqs-gallery-design-grid { margin-right: -10px; }
#block-yui_3_17_2_1_1578780227531_29768 .sqs-gallery-block-grid .sqs-gallery-design-grid-slide .margin-wrapper { margin-right: 10px; margin-bottom: 10px; }

We stayed at a hotel in downtown Denver and explored the main strip during our first afternoon there. We loved how the city was decorated for the holidays, especially the streets lined trees wrapped in lights. We had dinner at the Yard House which is known for its large selection of beers on draft. We also went into IT’SUGAR – a super fun candy store where you can fill a bag of assorted candy. Nick and I are a sucker for these kinds of stores when we travel! Since that first night was New Year’s Eve and we gained a few hours by traveling west it felt like we had tons of time until midnight, so we took a little nap before going out to ring in 2020 at the ViewHouse.

#block-yui_3_17_2_1_1578780227531_89982 .sqs-gallery-block-grid .sqs-gallery-design-grid { margin-right: -10px; }
#block-yui_3_17_2_1_1578780227531_89982 .sqs-gallery-block-grid .sqs-gallery-design-grid-slide .margin-wrapper { margin-right: 10px; margin-bottom: 10px; }

The next day our plans were to visit Vail and Breckenridge and go tubing in the mountains. Unfortunately, we made it halfway there and had to turn around due to a snow storm that limited our visibility on the roads. We were bummed we couldn’t visit these cute ski towns but ended up visiting the cute town of Boulder instead. This college town reminded us a lot of Ann Arbor, minus the mountains 😉 There were tons of cute shops and restaurants to check out. We enjoyed some margaritas and Mexican food at Illegal Pete’s and watched the UofM bowl game. I also enjoyed shopping the sale at the Free People. That evening we split a pint of Ben & Jerry’s and played cards in our hotel room.

#block-yui_3_17_2_1_1578781427350_9302 .sqs-gallery-block-grid .sqs-gallery-design-grid { margin-right: -10px; }
#block-yui_3_17_2_1_1578781427350_9302 .sqs-gallery-block-grid .sqs-gallery-design-grid-slide .margin-wrapper { margin-right: 10px; margin-bottom: 10px; }

On our last day in Colorado, we got up early, had a quick breakfast and headed south towards Colorado Springs to visit the Garden of the God’s park. We loved walking around and admiring all the different rock formations!

#block-yui_3_17_2_1_1578780227531_47888 .sqs-gallery-block-grid .sqs-gallery-design-grid { margin-right: -10px; }
#block-yui_3_17_2_1_1578780227531_47888 .sqs-gallery-block-grid .sqs-gallery-design-grid-slide .margin-wrapper { margin-right: 10px; margin-bottom: 10px; }

#block-yui_3_17_2_1_1578781427350_19639 .sqs-gallery-block-grid .sqs-gallery-design-grid { margin-right: -10px; }
#block-yui_3_17_2_1_1578781427350_19639 .sqs-gallery-block-grid .sqs-gallery-design-grid-slide .margin-wrapper { margin-right: 10px; margin-bottom: 10px; }

#block-yui_3_17_2_1_1578781427350_21847 .sqs-gallery-block-grid .sqs-gallery-design-grid { margin-right: -10px; }
#block-yui_3_17_2_1_1578781427350_21847 .sqs-gallery-block-grid .sqs-gallery-design-grid-slide .margin-wrapper { margin-right: 10px; margin-bottom: 10px; }

From there we had to head back north a few hours to the airport and head back home. We had a great visit to this beautiful state and can’t wait to go back and hopefully stay in Vail next time to experience more of the mountains. Have you been to Colorado? What would you recommend we do or see next time?