Hey ya’ll, happy Thursday! I recently came up with a new series for my website. I will be talking about my adventures in different places, and giving you the inside scoop. There is so much I learned and did, and I want to be able to share that with you. First up from the vault is my trip to Colorado.
Last February, three friends and I booked a trip to Breckenridge. We had been dying to get away and book a flight somewhere. What better way than to get away and snowboard? At the time, travel had been so restricted due to COVID.
In the last year I traveled to multiple states and when I got there the main attractions were either closed or you needed to book an appointment with time in advanced to do it. Luckily, since we live in Miami things hadn’t been so bad, but traveling out of Florida, it’s a different story. It was not a fun experience so before making any arrangements we made sure we’d be able to snowboard and explore Colorado. Once we were told that everything we wanted to do would be accessible, we booked our trip, and we were off!
We all needed a break and were craving an adventure. In total, it was four of us, and two of us had never snowboarded before. We went for six days and to be quite honest, it was the perfect amount of days to go. In this time our group snowboarded for three days, we got to explore Breckenridge, and we enjoyed our time in the Airbnb. I recommend that if you’re doing outdoor activities to go for more than three days. The time flies, especially while doing snow sports or hiking. There is so much to see and do.
Booking an Airbnb was the best thing we did. We felt cozy and at home in the house we booked. It was a drive up a mountain and close enough to the ski lodge and the town. All of the good restaurants and things we wanted to do were about fifteen minutes away. We got a little carried away and booked an immense house with two floors and amongst the four of us we split the two levels. The house had a fireplace on each floor and a hot tub, both of which are essentials when staying in a cold state and snowboarding. There is no better feeling than taking a dip in the hot tub after being on the slopes all day, your body basically begs for it. It makes you feel so renewed and it helps relieve the pain in your muscles.
For the record, as my first time snowboarding, I was terrible. I found it to be extremely hard, and let my fear and my friend’s poor teaching get to me. I kept falling backwards and landing on my butt, to the point where I cried the first day and laid on the snow in pain, not moving. Out of the three days we booked the lift I only snowboarded two of those days. The first day I was on the slopes the entire day, but the second day I only did two runs, and I was done. I went and got a refund for the third day because I couldn’t take another day.
I somewhat learned the first day but it was so difficult because of the pain. The reason I kept falling on my butt was out of fear of falling forward and hitting my head. At the end of the trip I was so hurt and beat up that all of my butt muscles were bruised black. I was in constant pain for a week after the trip. Even sitting on the plane hurt. It’s funny now, but it was not funny then. And keep in mind, this all happened with me wearing layers, including cycling shorts.
Don’t let my story freak you out though, because one of our other friends picked it up quick and snowboarded like a pro. He ended up snowboarding on the bigger mountains and now goes to Colorado consistently. I on the other hand am not in a rush to try it again. If you’re scared… like me, I was told skiing would be easier. I guess I’ll find out on my next snow trip.
As far as getting around in Colorado goes, we rented a car. Another funny story… our two friends that were left with the task of getting the car didn’t, so we were left looking for a car when we got there, and we basically got the last rental that (barely) fit all four of us and our luggage. We had to squeeze in! Moral of the story, don’t leave the car rental for the last week or even for the last minute. Colorado is known to be very busy between December to March and the last thing you’d want is to get left figuring it out in the cold with snowboards and gear.
I will say that you will need a car when going to Colorado. There is an option to have a driver take you up and down the mountains to Breckenridge and back, but it’s a few hours drive and you’ll still need to take cars to get around town. In my opinion, it’s better to rent a car and get around as you’d like, and remember, it’s cold, no one wants to wait around in the cold for a car. We rented an all wheel drive because of the weather, in the winter it’s a must. Driving in the snow was no joke, we saw many accidents driving from Denver to Breckenridge. Just be cautious and preferably have someone who’s driven in the snow drive.
While we were visiting, we went to some really great restaurants. Some of our favorites were Mimi & Pin, Columbine Cafe, La Francaise, and Mi Casa Mexican Restaurant & Cantina. (Unfortunately my phone had battery issues therefore I didn’t get to take any pictures.)
We frequented La Francaise almost every morning before going to the ski lodge. It was a very cute French cafe right by the Ski Lodge. The food was authentic and delicious. We tried many of their sandwiches, their crepes, croissants, and everything we ordered was so great. The employees were so kind and welcoming and the coffees were great! I highly recommend checking them out if you’re in Breckenridge. If you’re going to be on the slopes you want a big breakfast to sustain you, you’re burning a lot of calories up there. If you’re like us, you’ll stop to hydrate yourself or have a beer and you’ll keep going. None of the days we were on the slopes did we stop to eat.
Another spot I highly recommend is Columbine Cafe. They are a southern hole-in-the-wall. I LOVED everything I had from here. We went on our last day in town and had the best brunch I’ve ever had. The food was exquisite and their Bloody Mary’s has me sold. They truly set the bar high on Bloody Mary’s. It was my first and best Bloody Mary to date. It was the perfect balance between all the ingredients, it was rich, and the right amount of heat. However, you can order it non-spicy. The food was so flavorful and amazing. I really have no words for how good the food was. I recommend you go and try it for yourself. But make a reservation or put your name on the list because the wait is about an hour or so, depending on when you get there. The dishes are also a good portion so if you like family style like I do, split the dishes, I promise that it will be enough food and you’ll get to enjoy a good portion of whatever you order.
One day out exploring, we went to Mimi & Pin for churros, and we were not disappointed. We ordered churros and hot chocolate, and to my surprise, the hot chocolate was a really thick chocolate. It tasted like rich, melted chocolate in a cup. I wasn’t able to drink much of it because it was too rich for my taste. Instead of drinking it, I dipped a few churros in it. Most people there liked it but everyone agreed that it was too large of a portion to drink. On the other hand, I enjoyed the churros a little too much. I ordered one dulce de leche stuffed churro and within minutes I was back for a second one. If you are trying to eat healthy, please, for your sake, do not come here. It is dangerous!!! I had WAY too much fun here, haha. The beauty of this place is that the churros are made fresh, in house and so is the hot chocolate. It was great for a snow day.
For dinner, we had Mi Casa Mexican Restaurant and Cantina. It was good authentic Mexican food. The restaurant was quite big and dimly lit. We really enjoyed it. We all ordered many different dishes and went back to the Airbnb content. I ordered some kind of veggie and chicken burrito and it was a huge portion. One of my favorite things was the chips and salsa. The variety of salsa’s was awesome, and they tasted heavenly with the fresh chips. The level of spiciness was next level, I was thrilled! If you know me, you know that I love spicy food. I think I filled up more on the chips and salsa than my actual food. And it wasn’t because the meal wasn’t delicious but because between the queso fundido and the salsa’s, I couldn’t resist.
On the nights we didn’t go out to eat, we stayed in and cooked. We got groceries one evening and also stocked up on snacks to keep around the house. It was a great idea, because we didn’t have to eat out every night, and it also made room for us to spend time together cooking and enjoying the house. We cooked a few dinners there and it was lovely. I recommend it. We made wagyu chili, tacos, and burgers. It was a great time.
Other things we did was stop at thrift shops in Breckenridge, tried out a cool coffee shop called the crown. It was a good time. Overall, I learned a lot on this trip. I learned valuable life lessons, as well as how much I suck at snowboarding, haha! But, good takeaways were the time shared with friends, and the experience. Breckenridge was awesome. I highly recommend going between January to February if you want to do things in the snow. If you’re looking to hike I recommend going after March, otherwise you’ll freeze and there will still be snow on the ground.
A few other takeaways, rent a car, book things in advanced, come with gear, prepare to be extremely sore, don’t push yourself more than you know you should out on the snow, bring padded shorts (haha), and take things for what they are. Every trip is different, every group is a different experience. Enjoy it and take lots of photos for your memories.
This is the first of many trips from the vault. Expect more to come!
-XX,
Keren Nicole
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