DENVER - day 3 of this mountain city
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♡ started the morning by doing a 1.5 hour tour of the Denver Broncos Stadium @broncos
♡ went to Daniel's Park for beautiful views and found some Bison hiding in the fields
♡ was given a free ticket for the Denver Zoo @denverzoo and seen my favorite animal 🦁, spent about 2 hours there
♡ ended the night by going to a Tyler Farr concert at the Grizzly Rose @thegrizzlyrose (now I know why I've never seen him in concert before lol)
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09. 27. 2024
ESTES PARK | ROCKY MOUNTAIN NATIONAL PARK ➡️ day 6
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♡ took about 1 hour to 1.5 hour to get to Estes Park from Centennial (southern part of Denver where I was staying)
♡ park at the Estes Park Visitor center and take the red route trolley for hop on and off stops within the town (free)
♡ this town is also the entrance into the Rocky Mountain National Park ($30 Park entrance fee & requires a timed entrance pass before 2pm)
♡ elk freely roam the town but you can't touch them
♡ Hiked 3 trails - Alluvial Fan Trail (family friendly), Chasm Falls, and Huffers Hike at Alpine Visitor Center (12,000 ft above sea level)
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09. 26. 2024
DENVER day 2 ➡️ day five
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♡ left Silverthorne (Vail & Breckenridge region) and headed back to Denver
♡ first stop was Red Rocks Park and Amphitheatre
♡ lunch at The Cow an Eatery (got the fish & chips)
♡ Toured the home of the "unsinkable" Molly Brown from the Titanic
♡ strolled the Stanley Marketplace (local place for food & shops)
♡ bought a last minute ticket to the St. Louis Cardinals vs Colorado Rockies baseball game (which STL won ❤️) @cardinals
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09. 25. 2024
VAIL ➡️ day four
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♡ got to Vail around 10 am (20 - 30 minutes from Silverthorne, where we stayed because it's cheaper)
♡ park at the Vail Transportation Center (free during day, pay for overnight)
♡ Free bus shuttle & wifi throughout town
♡ take bus to Booth Lake Falls Trailhead (roughly 4 miles roundtrip to the falls)
♡ stroll around the east and west parts of the village (lots of expensive shops and restaurants), but eat cheaper pizza from Pazzo's Pizzeria)
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09. 24. 2024
BRECKENRIDGE ➡️ day three
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♡ two hour drive from Colorado Springs
♡ parked in the public parking lot where it's $5 until 3 pm, then free after that
♡ all the shops and restaurants are along the main street, could spend a couple hours walking around
♡ at lunch at the Empire Burger - Crispy chicken Caesar salad was soo good
♡ visited the Illinois Creek Trailhead to find this giant troll
♡ Hiked at the Sawmill Museum of Breckenridge
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09. 23. 2024
COLORADO SPRINGS ➡️ day two
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♧ started the morning off by going to church at Red Rocks Church in Park Meadows campus in Denver. What was ironic was that while getting ready for church, we watched our home church service online and the first song that they sang was the first song that RRC also sang, which is Goodbye Yesterday by Elevation Worship.
♧ headed to Colorado Springs around 1130 am
♧ first stop - the U.S. Olympics and Paralympics Museum. Took a couple hours to get through. Very interactive.
♧ next stop - quick lunch at Wendy's
♧ last stop - hiking at Garden of the Gods. God met me here during my hike. This last is beautiful. Spent a few hours out here exploring. Free to come to unless you buy stuff at the trading post
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09. 22. 2024
Colorado 2 0 2 4 🏔✈️
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DENVER ➡️ day one
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◇ woke up at 3 am
◇ left home at 4 am
◇ got to Indy International Aiport by 5 am
◇ flight departed around 730 am
◇ arrived in Denver at 800 am (they are two hours behind)
◇ picked up car rental from the downtown Enterprise (ALOT cheaper than getting one at the airport)
◇ started the day by going to the City Park Saturday Farms Market
◇ paid a visit to Larimer Square, which then connected to Union Station and Coors Field (home of the Rockies)
◇ found the Denver Oktoberfest
◇ drove to the Santa Fe Fall Street Festival
◇ ended the night with dinner at Zig Zag Smokin Burger
day 5️⃣ of CHARLESTON 🌴☀️⛵️
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□ started the day off early by visiting Boone Hall Plantation & Gardens
□ yes - this is Ally Hamiltons summer home from the Notebook and no - Ryan Gosling was not there waiting for me lol
□ took us about 3.5 hours to get through everything and that includes the house tour, the grounds tour by tractor, walking through the gardens and slave homes, and "lessons" that you could sit in on
□ this property though is 😍 and those Magnolia trees with Spanish moss
□ went back inland to downtown and parked at the parking garage on Garden - Queen street parking garage (pretty cheep)
□ walked many blocks around The Battery, Rainbow Row, the American Theater in The Notebook where Noah & Ally danced in the street, gift shops next to the City Market, got pineapple and mango whip from The Pineapple Hut
□ finished the evening with putt - putt at Frankie's Fun Park (definitely recommend). It was $20 for 2 people of putt - putt, but they also have an arcade, batting cages, food station
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05.23.2024
day 4️⃣ of CHARLESTON 🌴☀️⛵️
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□ the start of the day did not go as planned due to needing much sleep but that's okay, sometimes you just have to go with it
□ take a drive to Sullivan's Island and Isle of Palms
□ these are great areas if you want a beach day
□ parking can be limited as there many beautiful residential homes on these islands
□ two spots I recommend area the Station 22 public access and Thomas Park on Sullivan's Island
□ Sullivan's Island has a good handful of cute coastal shops and places to eat so you could easily spend an afternoon / day here
□ ate dinner off the island at Lewis Barbeque - got the pulled pork BBQ sandwiches, Mac n cheese, tallored French fries (deep fried in beef fat), with a sweet tea of course 😋
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05.22.2024
day 3️⃣ ➡️ CHARLESTON ☀️🌴
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□ we arrived on Tuesday afternoon (the 21st)
□ got a hotel at the Comfort Inn & Suites Airport Convention Center
□ visited the City Market off Market St. & Meeting St.
□ parking garages can be hard to find so we parked at the one located next door to the Grand Bohemian Hotel Charleston then walked around that area
□ take a stroll through the French Quarter - they have many colorful houses to see, places to eat and shops to buy expensive items at lol
□ got some strawberry and Salted Carmel gelato at Tínto Y Crema 😋 👌 - they do offer free samples
□ look up the Pineapple Fountain / Waterfront Park Pier - they have a beautiful park you could walk around and enjoy 🌴☀️⛵️
□ we ended the night by going over the bridge to am on - the - water restaurant called Reds - the shrimp & chips were good, hushpuppy that comes with meal had a little spice kick to it but still good
day 2️⃣ in A S H E V I L L E
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□ hopped back on the day two of the hop on / off trolley tour and got off at the downtown stop 🚎
□ found the Double D's Coffee & Dessert double decker bus - tried the Sunny Day fruit smoothie 😋
□ toured the Biltmore Estate 😍 - I was walking through my Hallmark / Beauty and the Beast dreams. The property was beautiful and you could easily spend more than 3 hours exploring
□ made a MUST stop at The Pretty Place by the YMCA. To best describe this location, it's a chapel up in the mountains where you can see God's beauty and feel His peace. This hot spot is about an hour south of Asheville with MANY twists and turns 🚗 ✝️
□ ended the night by getting a hotel in Simponsville, South Carolina called Quality Inn Simponville - Greenville (Monday 20th / Tuesday 21st)
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05.20.2024
Hello Asheville, North Carolina! 🚗🌎
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Day 1️⃣ (May 19th)
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□ arrived in the city around 330 pm
□ headed to the Gray Line Trolley Tours / Visitor Center
□ last tour started at 4 pm, which was perfect timing because we took the 1 hour and 40 minute ride around the city without getting off and got a second day free for tomorrow with ability to get off at any of the 10 stops
□ It cost $70 for two people - they offer military discount
□ definitely recommend doing it this way, if you're able, so you can figure out what you want to get off the trolley and see ahead of time
□ hotel for one night in Asheville was at the Country Inn & Suites by Radisson near Outlet Mall (clean, comfy, location, breakfast 👌)
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05.19.2024
