Sampling Food in Colorado Springs

There are a variety of restaurants in downtown Colorado Springs, Colorado, which means you can find something for any taste. Most of the restaurants are independently owned and each of them has its own unique style. We were only downtown for a day, so we only had time to visit a few locations. In order to maximize our experience we went to a Colorado themed restaurant, an Irish pub, and a seafood restaurant.

Bar at Colorado Craft
Historic Building with Jack Quinn’s Irish Pub

Our first stop of the day was at Colorado Craft Social, which was serving Sunday brunch. We ordered the Green Chili Cheddar Biscuits with eggs over easy. As always, we shared our meal as it was definitely a lot of food. As a bonus, the meal came with a free mimosa to help start the day out right and they also served a lot of local Colorado beers. After eating our fill of comfort food, we walked around the downtown area to enjoy a sunny day in Colorado Springs.

Green Chili Cheddar Biscuits
People Enjoying Colorado Craft
Entrance on Tejon Street

In the afternoon, we headed to Jack Quinn’s to listen to some authentic Irish folk music and enjoy a pint of beer and some chips and dips. Chips are obviously the same as French fries and it came with two dips, one that was a curry dip and the other was somewhat similar to a thousand island dressing. The building that houses the restaurant was built in the late 1800’s and is part of the historic downtown district. It was hard to leave the wonderful ambiance of the pub, but we needed to head back to our hotel for some warmer clothes as the temperatures drop quickly once the sun goes down.

Musicians Playing to a Full Restaurant
Relaxing at Jack Quinn’s
Chips and Dips

For dinner, we ended up at Bonny and Read for an upscale seafood experience. After a half dozen oysters, we shared the Yellow Tail Snapper. It is served whole with a lime ginger sauce and coconut rice giving it an Asian flare. Although we don’t usually like to have to filet our own fish at the table, it certainly tasted wonderful. With all of the wonderful choices to choose from, downtown Colorado Springs certainly is a great place to go for a night out.

Yellow Tail Snapper
Oysters
Bonny and Read

 

Downtown Colorado Springs, Colorado

Colorado Springs has a lot to offer visitors. There is Garden of the Gods, the Air Force Academy, Pikes Peak, and Manitou Springs, just to name a few. Downtown Colorado Springs has much to offer as well, with many restaurants to suit a variety of tastes plus the Pioneer Museum, Colorado College, and the Fine Arts Center. We decided to spend a couple of days downtown to enjoy many of the things that this small city has to offer.

Pioneer Museum
Walking Tejon Street
One of the Many Statues Downtown

Colorado Springs is the second largest city in the state, but it isn’t a large city by any means. It still has a historic feel and wonderful views as it sits at the base of Pikes Peak. One thing you can’t help but notice when walking around the downtown area are all of the statues that can be found on almost every block. One of the more interesting statues was of a western couple dancing that actually spins in a circle mimicking the motion of the dance.

More Modern Buildings
Dancing Statue
Historic Buildings

We stayed at the Mining Exchange, which is a Wyndham Hotel and is centrally located in the heart of the downtown area. A block away is Tejon Street, which is the main street to find small boutique shops and many different restaurants. We popped into several of them, but one of our favorite locations was Jack Quinn’s Irish Pub, which has live Irish music on Thursdays and Sundays. It was a great way to spend a couple of hours, having a pint and listening to some authentic folk music.

Inside of the Mining Exchange
Downtown Shops

Colorado Springs is a perfect location to launch your Colorado adventures as it provides easy access to the heart of the mountains and is centrally located in the state. It is also the home to the United States Olympic Center and proudly calls itself Olympic City, USA. With so many places to visit near the heart of the city, it can be busy during the heart of the tourist season, which is from May to September. We are happy to call this city home, but don’t always explore it as often as we should.

Colorful Building
Downtown Clock
Mountains in the Background

 

Sweet Memories

We are firm believers that if you stay young at heart, you will have a happier life in general. We try to stay energetic and push our boundaries wherever possible. We also try to view the places that we visit with same sense of awe and wonder of a child. One our favorite memories was of our 20th wedding anniversary when we went to Disney World without any children. It was an opportunity for us to really let our inner children out and have that sense that anything is possible. We went on many different rides and went to the various theme parks, thoroughly enjoying each of them. One of the ones that was especially enjoyable was Disney’s Hollywood Studios theme park where memorable scenes from movies come to life before your very eyes. One movie that is definitely part of our childhoods is the Wizard of Oz and when we were in London several years ago, we even went to see a performance of Wicked in the West End Theatre District. So, when were in Disney World and saw scenes from the Wizard of Oz, it brought back wonderful memories from our childhood. It isn’t easy to take photos from a moving ride, but for this week’s Daily Post Photo Challenge of Sweet, we have chosen a few pictures that we took from that section of the ride. There were many other memorable sights during that ride, but these brought back a wonderful range of emotions.

Munchkins
Wicked Witch
Animated Characters
Follow the Yellow Brick Road