Blissful in Crested Butte: Part 1

A Weekend Stay in Crested Butte, Colorado | THE REAL LIFE | travel, foodie, Colorado, Rocky Mountain getaways, vacations, restaurants, shops

AN IDYLLIC SKI TOWN

The man and I ventured off early Saturday morning for a Memorial Day weekend getaway in Crested Butte, the most quintessential Colorado mountain town.

On the agenda? Running trails, exploring shops, relaxing, and of course, visiting as many restaurants as possible.

Take a look at the first half of Day 1!

A weekend getaway; scenic drive from Denver to Crested Butte, Colorado | THE REAL LIFE | travel, Rocky Mountain getaways, running, fitness, food, restaurants

A SCENIC DRIVE

We hopped into the car bright and early for a breathtaking road trip

Breakfast before the drive from Denver to Crested Butte, Colorado | THE REAL LIFE | travel, Rocky Mountain getaways, running, fitness, food, restaurants

…which was preceded by a delicious bagel breakfast sandwich. Nom!

The scenic drive from Denver to Crested Butte, Colorado | THE REAL LIFE | travel, Rocky Mountain getaways, running, fitness, food, restaurants

The four-hour drive from Denver to Crested Butte is gorgeous. Once you arrive, you realize the quaint little town is surrounded by huge, strikingly beautiful peaks and rolling green hills.

The scenic drive from Denver to Crested Butte, Colorado | THE REAL LIFE | travel, Rocky Mountain getaways, running, fitness, food, restaurants

We arrived around noon, eager to explore.

Elk Avenue in Crested Butte, Colorado | THE REAL LIFE | travel, Rocky Mountain getaways, running, fitness, food, restaurants

ELK AVENUE

The most bustling area of this tiny ski town is Elk Avenue, littered with the most charming shops, restaurants, and coffee houses.

Townie Books bookstore in Crested Butte, Colorado | THE REAL LIFE | travel, Rocky Mountain getaways, running, fitness, food, restaurants

First stop: Townie Books.

Townie Books bookstore in Crested Butte, Colorado | THE REAL LIFE | travel, Rocky Mountain getaways, running, fitness, food, restaurants

The man and I both adored this bookshop. It was small but filled with well-selected items.

William Shakespeare history books in Townie Books bookstore in Crested Butte, Colorado | THE REAL LIFE | travel, Rocky Mountain getaways, running, fitness, food, restaurants

We both lingered around the history section…

Cookbooks in Townie Books bookstore in Crested Butte, Colorado | THE REAL LIFE | travel, Rocky Mountain getaways, running, fitness, food, restaurants

… and the cooking section! Ottolenghi galore.

Rumors Coffee and Tea House in Crested Butte, Colorado | THE REAL LIFE | travel, Rocky Mountain getaways, running, fitness, food, restaurants

This is Rumors Coffee and Tea House, which is attached to the Townie Books (as it should be!). We never ordered from here, but I thought it was a cute space.

Also: Crested Butte is the town of awesome coffee houses, just FYI.

Shopping Elk Avenue in Crested Butte, Colorado | THE REAL LIFE | travel, Rocky Mountain getaways, running, fitness, food, restaurants

We couldn’t resist Casa Bella, a gourmet kitchen shop, where we pointed out all the high-end cookware on our wish lists. [I thought this sign was on-point.]

Mountain Earth Organic Grocer in Crested Butte, Colorado | THE REAL LIFE | travel, Rocky Mountain getaways, running, fitness, food, restaurants

We glanced through Mountain Earth Organic Grocer—but not for long, as the sight of food caused our tummies to rumble.

Teocalli Tamala Mexican restaurant in Crested Butte, Colorado | THE REAL LIFE | travel, Rocky Mountain getaways, running, fitness, food, restaurants

TEOCALLI TAMALE

Our hunger led us to Teocalli Tamale, which had been recommended to us by a friend. Since we were planning on a trail run soon after, we split the Gourmet Veggie Burrito.

Gourmet veggie burrito from Teocalli Tamale Mexican restaurant in Crested Butte, Colorado | THE REAL LIFE | travel, Rocky Mountain getaways, running, fitness, food, restaurants

Mmm! Everything was fresh. Even the tortilla tasted homemade!

The Old Town Inn hotel in Crested Butte, Colorado | THE REAL LIFE | travel, Rocky Mountain getaways, running, fitness, food, restaurants

THE OLD TOWN INN

After lunch, we checked into our room at the Old Town Inn, which was also recommended by a friend. The amenities were nothing to write home about, but the owners and staff were incredibly kind and bent over backward to give us superb recommendations (both for food and running trails).

They also lay out a fabulous complimentary breakfast, and offer fresh-baked cookies at 3:30 pm every day! They know the keys to our hearts.

Trail running in Crested Butte, Colorado | THE REAL LIFE | travel, Rocky Mountain getaways, running, fitness, food, restaurants

 5 MILES ON THE TRAIL

With map in tow (and cookies in our bellies), we headed out through town to Peanut Lake Road & Woods Walk Trail for an afternoon run at 8,800 feet of elevation.

Running Woods Walk Trail in Crested Butte, Colorado

It was a sweaty run with many sights to be seen!

Trail running through the aspen trees in Crested Butte, Colorado | THE REAL LIFE | travel, Rocky Mountain getaways, running, fitness, food, restaurants

We ran past gorgeous mountains, lakes, aspen trees, and even a little waterfall.

Trail running in Crested Butte, Colorado | THE REAL LIFE | travel, Rocky Mountain getaways, running, fitness, food, restaurants

The dichotomy of this humble, charming town against such a towering-mountain backdrop takes a while to fully adjust your eyes to. It was difficult to keep my eyes on the trail. Thankfully I didn’t take a spill!

Phew! And that was all before dinnertime… which is a post in and of itself: We had a progressive meal at three different places!

CRESTED BUTTE: PART 2

CRESTED BUTTE: PART 3

Note: This post is part of the City Tripping Link Up with Wandermum.co.uk!

Wander Mum

17 thoughts on “Blissful in Crested Butte: Part 1

  1. MummyTravels says:

    What a gorgeous spot – and it must have been amazing to get out into the mountains, I can imagine how clear the air would have been. I’ve got to say, I think I’d have still been wandering around Crested Butte (best name ever), it looks fabulous. #citytripping

    Liked by 1 person

  2. WanderMum says:

    Great place! I love exploring a new place by going for a run…it’s a great way to explore and keep fit…especially at those elevation levels. You certainly deserved dinner. Thanks for linking to #citytripping

    Liked by 1 person

Leave a Reply

Fill in your details below or click an icon to log in:

WordPress.com Logo

You are commenting using your WordPress.com account. Log Out /  Change )

Facebook photo

You are commenting using your Facebook account. Log Out /  Change )

Connecting to %s