I've been in Colorado for the past few days (still am, but leaving this afternoon) doing some college searching. Well, ok, just one college, but still. Anyway, my mom and I were in Colorado Springs, home to everyone's favorite luxury Rocky Mountain resort, the Broadmoor! We couldn't stay there as it is uber-expensive, but we did stop by there yesterday for breakfast in the Lake Terrace Dining Room.
I can see why the Broadmoor is one of the top hotels in the U.S. The entire place is absolutely elegant, but not so much that you are afraid to walk through the lobby wearing shorts and a t-shirt. When you pull up to the front, there are whimsical gargoyle faces above the doors, and the valets are there right away to open your door for you.
The dining room where we had breakfast was very nice, complete with a fountain in the middle. This is the same room where they do a huge brunch every Sunday. Didn't Sam eat brunch while she was there? Well, because we were there on a Wednesday, there was no brunch, but there was a delicious breakfast menu. I had the brioche-dipped French toast, which wasn't exactly French toast, but more of a fried pastry with berry cream cheese inside. This came with a fruit salad and I ordered their chicken apple sausage on the side, just because it sounded so interesting I had to try it. It was actually very good. The breakfast ended up being our most expensive meal of the trip, but it was worth it.
To work off all the food we ate, we walked around the lake in the back of the hotel and watched two black swans play with a stick they had found. When I wasn't looking at the birds, I was looking up at the surrounding mountains. If I was staying there, I would probably spend all my time in a chair by the lake with a good book. Either there or in the tempting infinity pool. Since we weren't guests, we couldn't get in, but we could look.
Once we had circled the lake, we went back inside and looked around the shops. Was it in the Broadmoor that Sam found a plump ceramic chicken that she "didn't need" but bought anyway? Haha. We bought bottles of the Broadmoor's signature hand soap and lotion (which smells just like fresh-picked apples) and said goodbye to the Broadmoor. Hopefully I'll be able to go back there again.
To give you an impression of the extremes of my day yesterday, we started out at the elegant Broadmoor dining room eating gourmet food, and ended the night at Casa Bonita, the incredibly cheesey (not just talking about the food) Mexican restaurant that is complete with a roaming Mariachi band, very mediocre enchiladas, cliff divers, a "pirate's cave" to explore, and someone actually walking around selling those flashy things little kids beg for when they are at Disney World. Actually, the whole place was reminiscent of the Pirates of the Caribbean ride. Oh my.
And yes, I did ride the Cog Railway up to the top of Pike's Peak. I recommend everyone who comes to Colorado to do this. The views are unparalleled, and there is a special kind of doughnuts at the top that are very good. And no, I did not sing "America the Beautiful" at the top. The air is pretty thin up there, and I had to concentrate on not giggling too much from the lack of oxygen to my brain. And sadly I had no coca leaves to chew for the altitude. I'm guessing they aren't legal in the U.S. though... just Peru!

I really enjoyed reading your post. I didn’t notice it yesterday, was it temporarily in custody or did I just miss it? Sounds like you had a nice time in Colorado Springs and like me never found any springs. I never went in the “Broadmoor”, but remember driving by once. If you ever go back, be sure to check out “The Garden of the Gods”, lots of incredible rock formations. What college were you checking out, the Air Force Academy maybe?

I'm glad you enjoyed it. Actually, I did check out Garden of the Gods, though I didn't walk through the whole place. It really is amazing--the rocks seem to have almost grown out of the ground. I was definitely not looking at the Air Force Academy, though we drove past it. No, I was looking at Colorado College, which is really nice. You can see Pike's Peak from the campus.

I've got one last question for you, did you see Samanthas' picture when you were at the "Broadmoor".

Nooooooo I didn't. I wanted to, but I had no idea where it was and we didn't have much time there. Hopefully I'll visit that hotel again and I'll see it!!!!

I also enjoyed your report, Kelsey. It sounds like there’s a good chance you’ll get back there to find that photograph, but don’t waste any time looking for a plump chicken in the Broadmoor gift shops because Samantha stuck that thing under her arm at the Del Coronado, right before she bought the more practical coral hoodie.
Your Casa Bonita report made me chuckle. For two years, Father O and I lived about 100 yards from that place and listened to those strolling mariachis way too many times. They used to go outside to entertain the very long lines that would always start building up at about 5 P.M. every night. Although it all seems “cheesy” to you now, 30 years ago it was a very innovative concept to combine entertainment with cheap dining. For $3.99 you used to be able to get nachos, a taco, two enchiladas, refried beans, rice, a drink and all the hot sopaipillas with honey that you could eat. This was all consumed in a dark and heavily chlorinated dining atmosphere teeming with action that is probably what reminded your senses of Disney’s Pirates of the Caribbean. That place is probably still a rare good spot for cliff divers seeking gainful employment. If I ever get back to Denver, it’s the first place I’d want to eat, believe it or not.
Have fun with the rest of your college visits. Take full advantage of these once in a lifetime travel opportunities when you are allowed to skip school with a good excuse.
Mother O.

Yes, it is nice to get away for a few days. It's not so nice to get back and have a ton of make-up work and tests. Oh well.

Ok, so it was the Del Coronado. I think I remember that now. I just wasn't sure... there were a lot of chickens in that gift shop (not actual chickens, of course). I'm a bit rusty on my GH trivia... I haven't watched it in a while.

Yes, Casa Bonita was an experience. I have family that used to live over there and they were the ones that told us to go. Otherwise, we wouldn't have known about it. I had always thought it was a made-up place from South Park. Which is why I laughed for about 15 minutes straight when I found out it was a real place. I'd like to go there with a group of friends--it looks like a fun place for that type of thing. You go there for the show and the atmosphere... but not the food. We have a few really good Mexican restaurants around here, so I think I'm a bit jaded when it comes to that.

I guess if you lived right around there, you went all the time and made good friends with the cliff divers, huh? We need to get some of them in the Midwest...

Well Kelsey, in an effort to keep the cobwebs from forming too quickly here on this possibly endangered “Great Hotels” Forum, I will respond to your question related to my friendly neighborhood cliff divers. Certainly we did eat there many times, but never made the acquaintance of a single scantily clad cliff diver. They mostly climbed out of the water and disappeared, only to return twenty minutes later, even taking the plunge dressed as bandits shooting guns back in the olden days. And I must say, I agree with your assessment of the overall quality of the food. However, I heartily defend the warm and fluffy sopaipillas, which linger in my memory bank in the pastry vault, right along with Prague Strudl.
In life, you sometimes need to experience the worst of things (e.g. enchiladas) in order to recognize and appreciate the best when you find them! And as Samantha told us in Lake George, sometimes you just have to embrace your inner tourist.
With these words of wisdom, I will end this post, and channel my efforts into starting a new thread here called “SAVE THIS FORUM!” I also wonder if it may be time for Brownheads to Unite to save ALL the forums.

Mother Orange