Walking Around Salida, CO - part III

This is the third and last part of the Salida, CO weekend trip.

As in every trip coffee shops were involved. My traveling partner has a gift for finding the perfect local places to hang out in, and this one certainly more than lived up to expectations: great staff, great atmosphere, great service, great food/drinks, great everything.

We stopped at Cafe Dawn the first time Saturday morning for a quick hot drink before going on our little touristy day of visiting the town (see previous 2 posts).

We liked it well enough that we decided to come back Sunday morning to read the newspaper... the place was packed!

There was a family reunion in town and they all decided to come down to Cafe Dawn for their breakfast too! It gave the place a very jovial atmosphere for sure, if at times a bit loud.

The owner came around to greet people and attend to their needs. Very friendly guy with a pleasant demeanor. I'd seen a poster about music on the wall and asked him about it. On Sunday afternoon several local musicians come around to play and have a good time together. We made plans to come back.

After our afternoon hike, we came back to rest our feet and get settled to wait for the music to start.


If you've been around this blog before, you'll know I like the occasional hot chocolate and I am very picky about how it's made: no syrup (bad aftertaste), has to be quality powder, in hot water.

Just at the off chance they might have more than soy milk (it seemed like that kind of place) I asked for their current choices: yeah, almond milk!

The barista was very nice in heating up the milk espresso fashion, giving it a fun layer of foam at the top.

Check out this absolutely scrumptious glass of hot chocolate! Hmmm, good!

A little while later the musicians started coming in and the place slowly filled up with what looked like mostly regulars who knew what they were in for.

Nothing fancy, just a group of friends enjoying playing together. Good rythm, good vibes. What a great way to spend a couple hours.

On Monday morning we headed home towards north Colorado, opting for smaller roads over the mountain pass rather than boring highway... little did we know a snow storm had had a similar idea. Besides the harrowing driving and skidding across the road, two cool things happened:

We saw a herd of wild elks off the side of the road, who promptly ran off before I could take a closer picture (the nerve), and a small family of bighorn sheep who came down the mountain to graze in someone's yard.

A great finish to a great weekend.

Walking Around Salida, CO - part II

FIBArk, advertised as "America's Oldest and Boldest Whitewater Festival," has been taking place every summer at the Riverside Park in historic downtown since 1949. If you look close enough, you can see the slalom sticks in the photo below

After spending the whole morning walking around the town, we decided it was time to visit the surrounding open spaces for trails to take the dogs on... here are a couple shots of that hike:

and today's parting shot, a room with a view... :p

Walking Around Salida, CO - part I

Continuing with our Memorial Day weekend trip:

We rented a little cabin in Buena Vista (right next door to Salida). Cabins are more pleasant than a motel room and when you travel with 2 dogs, it does offer more wiggling room. The other advantage is being able to fix a meal rather than eating out all the time.

We stayed at Vista Court Cabins. Rustic, simple, it turned out perfect for what we were looking for.

Cabin #3, that's us!  :)

Saturday was reserved for walking around and exploring the Downtown Historic District in Salida, CO.

The day was very overcast, unfortunately not ideal for my little point-and-shoot camera.

Salida is known as the "Heart of the Rockies" and is located on the Upper Arkansas River Valley in central Colorado.

The streets were mostly deserted, being early in the year and still most definitively on the chilly side -though I'm willing to bet that changes once Spring and Summer come around!...

There's plenty of cafes, diners, restaurants, pubs, and shops to go around (our favorite coffee shop of the trip coming up soon)

You can see the 14,000 ft mountains all around town with their amazing snow caps, making for some fantastic views. Salida itself rests at 7,000 ft. elevation.

Besides the architecture, there were a few interesting sightings worth mentioning...

Local art:

We considered joining...

And last but not least, this one gets "Best Red Neck Brush Guard" award:

:P

Next, favorite coffee shop in town and a hike outside of town.

Winery at the Holy Cross Abbey

Driving back from the Royal Gorge (see previous posting), we went into Canon City, CO to visit the winery at the Holy Cross Abbey.

The Abbey.

It started when two Benedictine monks came from Pensylvania to Breckenridge, CO in 1886.

More followed as they moved from Brekenridge to Boulder to Pueblo and finally to Canon City, naming the foundation Holy Cross Abbey.

The Abbey was built in 1924 in the gothic style, where the monks ran a boarding school for high school students until 1985.

Monks still resided at the Abbey until 2006.

You can actually visit the monastery during the week and if I remember correctly, the sign at the front also listed mass hours for Sunday mornings.

The Winery.

The vines were started by the monks a few years before the church decided to close this monastery and move them out of state.

Very few wines are actually produced there now, though we did see several rows in front of the tasting room. I don't recall where the vines are currently grown -where's that handy tourist flyer when you need it- but they do have over a dozen wines including Chardonnay, Merlot, Riesling, Cabernet Sauvignon, and Syrah.

The tasting room is open Monday - Satruday, from 10 am - 6 pm, and Sundays from 12 - 5 pm. Most selections are free except for a few reserved collection, requiring a small fee.