After our beautiful friends’ wedding in Crested Butte, Brian and I drove on over to Vail for a couple days of R&R just the two of us. We had a wonderful experience in Vail. Since our previous couple of days were filled with lots of fast-paced fun events with friends, we wanted a more relaxing, slow-paced-no-agenda end of to our lovely vacation. We stayed at The Sebastian boutique hotel/resort. I had no idea what I was doing when I booked the trip (found a deal on Expedia or something like that). Turns out it was a FANTASTIC decision.   The staff was incredibly nice and serving.  You know when you stay at a nice hotel and they have a mini bar with drinks and snacks that cost close to a downpayment on a small car and yucky coffee in a pouch in your room? Well, they had really nice snacks, fresh apples, an unlimited supply of bottled water, local coffee, and a Nespresso espresso machine  in our room that was all COMPLIMENTARY. I felt just like Penelope Cruz drinking my shot of espresso in the mornings.  Oh, and when we checked in they gave us a card to use for what was essentially a Redbox movie rental machine that was also complimentary.  Perfect. The accommodations were quite nice. There were big pump bottles of shampoo and conditioner and body wash from their spa downstairs in our lovely shower. If wanted, you could just take the bottle with you (although there was a fee for that unfortunately).  You’d think we paid an arm and a leg to stay here, but it wasn’t over priced at all. There was also this “library” that was floor to ceiling books and large pieces of beautiful art with various seating options and an old table that was built for chess or checkers. Brian and I took advantage of it for sure. The office center was also quite nice. It had several desktop computers and a huge iMac computer with free access. Each morning Brian worked out in the very nicely equipped gym and I took advantage of laying poolside.  Those small complimentary items really made our stay so much more enjoyable. It really puts a damper on your vacation when you’re spending $13 for bottled water and $7 for a banana in 1 day.

When we arrived in Vail on Sunday, we got the tail end of the Sunday Farmers Market that goes through the Summer.  It took up the entire little town. We each found a food vendor and grabbed a bite to eat. Naturally, Brian got a plate of meat and I got a salad. We later ate dinner at a casual cute little pizza place that had clearly been around for a while since there were old photos of folks in 80’s ski gear on the walls. The restaurant had basically a wall of windows and a small patio area that we sat near and got to look out onto the picturesque little town. Afterwards, we walked the pristine streets and bridges that cover the beautiful creek/stream/river running through the town.

The next morning we got up and hopped a free ride (another perk of The Sebastian) to a cute breakfast spot, The Little Diner, per the hotel’s suggestion. It was a good choice. So good that we dined there the next morning, as well. hah.  It’s literally a little diner. There’s maybe 15-20 total seats at a bar that surrounds the cooks.   The food was amazing and so fresh. I highly suggest you test it out if you’re in Vail.  There was a small line out the door both mornings. This wasn’t too bad for Brian because on our way out of the hotel (after already enjoying a regular cup of coffee and espresso in our room) the hotel staff offered him complimentary FRENCH PRESSED coffee and the newspaper. Delivered to him on a small tray with condiments to dress his coffee. Does it get better than that?

We went for a hike up the “berry picker” trail through tons of aspen trees over to “lions down” trail that was shared with mountain bikers that dumped us in the other little section of town. There’s a free bus that shuttles through both sections of town, but we chose to walk the entire time since it was such lovely weather. It was actually warmer than I planned, but still nice. Anything is nicer than summer in Texas. We didn’t hike all the way to the top to see the back bowls, because I had to get back to pump. Blah.  We could have also taken the ski lift up to the top to see the back bowls, but it was a little pricey. We chose to be frugal and enjoy the hikes, which was perfectly fine with me.  On the second day towards the end of our hike we got caught in a little rain storm. Thankfully we brought a small and somewhat water proof backpack with us that I tossed my (new) camera into. By the time we made it back into town, we were drenched. So fun!

We ate dinner at a small (and what at first seemed like a sketchy) sushi restaurant that turned out to be pretty good.  Both nights we were in our room pretty early to enjoy a complimentary rental movie. If anyone knows us, this is a dream vacation. Especially when it’s my first chunk of time on an adult only vacation after having a baby 9 months prior. I love early nights-in watching movies in a big comfy hotel bed after a fun day hiking and exploring.

The town was buzzing with open-air-patio restaurants and live music in the evenings. I fell in love with the European/Swedish influenced architecture. I said it before, but the best word I can use to describe Vail is picturesque. It was so clean and the flowers were all in full bloom and perfectly groomed. It was so colorful. Summers in Texas are usually themed with yellowish dead grass and some dinky on-there-way-to-dying wild flowers if you’re lucky. I wouldn’t mind living in Colorado in the summers. It’s a blessing that I’ve somehow ended up in Colorado almost every year since I started high school (so for the past 10+ years!).

The  last night I had planned for us to walk over to the amphitheater for a free summer concert on the lawn, but as we were about to walk out of the hotel it started pouring down rain. So, we decided to enjoy a drink at the hotel bar instead. Being adventurous, Brian tried this over priced fancy drink called the “bull fighter”. Bad choice. It had a whipped egg white on top. Sick.  Since we didn’t want to venture out in the rain after having just showered, we ordered room service hamburgers. Probably the most expensive (but also most delicious) hamburger I’ve ever eaten while wearing a big comfy hotel robe. You’ve done it again, Sebastian. Even your food is delicious.  If we return to Vail, The Sebastian is our top hotel choice.

After our stay in Vail, we drove back to Denver to hop a flight home to Dallas to wake up the next morning and enjoy July 4 at home. Thankfully, it wasn’t a problem with TSA that I carried on a lunch kit filled with my breast milk from the week of traveling.  Our time in Colorado was a blessing and a fun adventure. Here are my photos from Vail.

 

This is funny because we felt like idiots. We couldn’t figure out where the trashcans were. It took us a bit to learn that you lift the lid to these contraptions to deposit your trash. Duh. I guess this is bear proof. And Brian proof. 

 

Our Vail trip on Instagram