We were supposed to go to the Bahamas for Labor Day weekend but due to Hurricane Dorian, we had to cancel our trip. Tommy already had the time off work so we still wanted to go out of town. We began looking at flights and I noticed that there were direct flights from Jacksonville to Denver via Frontier. The flight dates and times worked out perfectly so we decided to go to Colorado! I planned the trip in less than 24 hours.
I asked y’all on Instagram stories how to organize this post and the majority of y’all voted to mix the itinerary in with the photos so here it is!
Our Itinerary:
We flew Frontier airlines from Jax to Denver. It was an inexpensive and direct flight. Frontier is one of those airlines where you have to pay for everything – bags, to pick your seats, drinks, etc. There are no TVs/ wifi on board. The plane is very basic. Overall, we had a good experience flying Frontier. I don’t think Tommy was thrilled with it because the seats are small and there is no first class. He had to sit in the middle because I was holding and nursing Madison the whole time.
We entertained Madison on the plane with toys and I nurse her whenever she acts cranky or tired. Usually she naps in my arms for about an hour on the plane. I also nurse her whenever we are taking off and landing so that her ears pop! We check all our luggage at the bag drop off. This is all we bring through security- I bring a small crossbody and wear Madison in a pouch. Tommy wears a backpack with baby stuff and then either his iPad or my laptop so we can watch movies or play games.
We landed in Denver around 2pm. The Denver airport is huge compared to the Jacksonville airport. We grabbed our luggage and headed to rent a car. We rented an Infiniti SUV so we had plenty of room for all our bags, stroller, carseat, etc. Plus, Tommy refuses to drive anything small LOL.
We began the drive to Colorado Springs. The drive is about an hour and a half. We noticed that everyone in Colorado drives the speed limit which is different from Florida. It was a nice change of scenery to see mountains everywhere!
We arrived at The Broadmoor Hotel which is where we were staying for the night. Several of y’all recommended this hotel. I am so glad we stayed here because it was absolutely beautiful! When we checked-in, our room was upgraded. The room that they gave us was huge and so nice! I definitely recommend staying here. The resort property has several bars and restaurants.
We unpacked and relaxed for a little while before going to explore the hotel and grab drinks. There is a hallway in the hotel lobby area that has pictures of all the famous people that have stayed at the hotel – it is pretty cool! Also, since the whole property is owned by the resort, you can walk around with drinks. We had a drink at “Play at the Broadmoor” and at “The Hotel Bar.” We sat outside at The Hotel Bar and at sunset, they have a bagpiper play the bagpipes – pretty neat! The Broadmoor property’s sister resort is The Cloisters/ The Lodge at Sea Island. We stayed at The Lodge for our babymoon and they also have a bagpiper play at sunset there too!
Hat – sold out, similar HERE // Top – sold out, similar HERE // Jeans // Booties
Some pictures of the interior of the hotel:
Dinner at Restaurante del Lago – the food and wine were delicious! The restaurant serves Italian food. I highly recommend trying this place if you stay at The Broadmoor!
The next morning, Madison woke up super early because Colorado is two hours behind Jacksonville time. Tommy let me sleep a little longer because Madison didn’t sleep thru the night (she never does…lol). He grabbed coffee and fruit from the hotel breakfast area. And then we sat on the balcony attached to our room and enjoyed! It was nice and cool in the morning (in the low 60’s).
We then headed to grab breakfast and drive to Garden of the Gods. Garden of the Gods is a beautiful park with different rock formations. Some of the rock formations are 300 feet tall. It was cool to walk around and explore.
We headed back to the hotel to pack up and head to Vail. The drive is about two and a half hours. We stopped to have lunch because Madison was crying in the car (some days she hates her carseat!). We had lunch at Salado – it was in some tiny town. It was so good – the veggie sandwich I had there was amazing!
Jalapeno poppers and Cactus fries for appetizers
We arrived at the Sonnenalp Hotel in Vail. The hotel is so cute! I found the hotel on the American Express Platinum Fine Hotels Collection site. The hotel was like a little European ski resort!
The room had a second story! The bed and closet were upstairs. The main room, bathroom, and balcony were downstairs.
The outside of the hotel! So many gorgeous flowers!
The view from our room. It was so beautiful! We slept with the windows open. It got to be in the 40’s at night and the 80’s during the day.
We then went and explored Vail. We walked around and noticed that there was a street festival going on. Goumet on Gore is what the festival was called. It was so cool, there was lots of food, drinks, and live music. The food was mostly food trucks and restaurants that had pop-up stands. The drinks were craft beers, mixed drinks, and wine/champagne like miraval and vevue – my fav!
We had dinner that night at a fondue restaurant, Swiss Chalet, that was part of our hotel. The restaurant was really good! Madison was getting fussy because it was so late so we didn’t get to have a very long dinner.
The next morning we had breakfast at our hotel. The American Express Fine Hotels Collection hotels include complimentary breakfast at the hotel’s restaurant. The breakfast at the Sonnenalp was amazing! Everything you could think to eat for breakfast was on their buffet!
We then went on a gondola ride up Gore Mountain. It was a beautiful view from the top. We then hiked over to the other gondola to eventually head back down. The top of the mountain was over 10,000 feet above sea level! We were so out of breath. We don’t know whether or not we had mild altitude sickness but we felt somewhat nauseous the whole time we were in Vail. I had a high resting heart rate too (over 100)! Once we went back to Denver, all these problems resolved.
After hiking, we had lunch at Bully Ranch. The soft pretzel was amazing! All of our food was good here.
After lunch, we just relaxed and I went to the oxygen bar at the spa at our hotel. Tommy said the oxygen bar is just a gimmick but I still wanted to try it out. I don’t think it really helped with my altitude sickness but I told him it did lol.
Several people suggested going to have drinks at the bar at the Four Seasons Resort so we did that before dinner. They have a beautiful view and cool drinks!
Dress // Jacket – Zara last year // Purse // Booties
We had dinner at Mountain Standard which was recommended to us by a few people. It was really crowded so we had to sit at the bar. The atmosphere was cool but we were tired because of the time change and it being so late (10pm). I was so ready for bed by the time dinner was over.
The next morning we had breakfast at our hotel again before heading to check out. The hot chocolate there is to die for! It is supposed to be real Swiss hot chocolate! I bet it is even better when it is cold out.
We then left Vail and headed to Denver. The drive was about an hour. We tried to go to the Coors Brewery but they were closed for Labor Day weekend. Which was unfortunate since Tommy’s favorite beer is Coors Light. We then went to Red Rocks Amphitheater. Red Rocks was really cool! It was pretty crowded and hot so we walked around for a little bit before heading to our hotel.
We checked into our hotel which was the Ritz Carlton in downtown Denver. We relaxed in our room and had a snack at the hotel restaurant.
We went to the Taste of Colorado festival that night. The festival had a bunch of food, drink, and live music. Dwight Yoakum was one of the musicians playing – it was our 3rd time seeing him! Denver was probably our least favorite part of our whole trip. Vail was our favorite! I really want to go back to Vail during the winter when it is snowing. I’ve never done a ski trip before so maybe sometime we will come back to Vail to ski! Overall, we had such a great trip to Colorado and I would love to go back!
XO, Danielle
