<p>Hi Digmedia, I read in another thread that you are near Colorado Springs. I haven’t been there since I was 12, but I’m going to have to entertain myself for a couple of days while D visits CC, overnighting with a friend. </p>
<p>We are staying in that Antler hotel close to campus, and I will have a car. </p>
<p>Best places to eat, shop, tour? Appreciate your suggestions…</p>
<p>ez</p>
<p>Hi -</p>
<p>You’ll find that Colorado Springs has a very small town feel to the downtown. I like it because it’s very navigable.</p>
<p>One of my favorite restaurants is within walking distance from your hotel: La Creperie (on Tejon St.). They have a different menu daily, but I also love to go there just for the crepes. Don’t pass up a dessert crepe as well. For very casual, the Phantom Canyon Brewery is right across the street from your hotel. The food is typical for places like that, but it’s very convenient. For Mexican, I like Jose Muldoon’s in the same block as La Creperie. And another place very close to the hotel is Saigon Cafe - a small place with excellent Vietnamese food. And one more favorite is Adam’s Mountain Cafe in nearby Manitou Springs - healthy, delicious food. And one MORE favorite (I have a lot of them) is in Manitou Springs: Mona Lisa. The upstairs part is quite expensive, but I recommend their (cheaper) basement (separate entrance) which has a very limited menu. Get any one of the cheese fondues as a meal and then top it off with the dark chocolate fondue for dessert. OMG… Ummmmmm…</p>
<p>Touring? You’ll find that Colorado Springs is a real tourist town, with all kinds of attraction-type things to do. It just depends on what your interests are and what time of year you’ll be here. Getting to the top of Pikes Peak is not to be missed, especially going by train. But in the winter, it’s not possible. But, do go see and walk around Garden of the Gods and also drive up to look at the Air Force Academy. There are some tourist attractions very close to town like Cave of the Winds and the Manitou Cliff Dwellings Museum. At the Cliff Dwellings, they moved and reconstructed (in 1906) an entire Anasazi dwelling into a cliff near town. So it’s fake and real at the same time. The Cave of the Winds is an OK diversion - the cave is not spectacular, but it’s worth the trip up to it just for the views of the canyon that it’s in. This canyon is where I spend A LOT of my time and I think it’s absolutely spectacularly beautiful. Don’t be too intimidated by the aptly named Serpentine Drive (now Cave of the Winds Road). The hotel will have a zillion other suggestions for things to do. Depending on your time, I would also try to get up to Boulder - about 1.5 - 2 hours away. When we lived in Boulder I thought I had died and gone to heaven. Plan to spend time on the Pearl Street Mall (a pedestrian-only street), walking, shopping, eating, and people-watching. I love Boulder, and it’s a great college town. Maybe you can also check out the University of Colorado.</p>
<p>Shopping: check out Old Colorado City, once a separate town from Colorado Springs, but now sort of merged into it. There are some good shops there. Especially look into the Simpich Character Doll shop. And for lunch in that area, try either Gertrude’s or - for a strictly local experience - try Meadow Muffins for good burgers (I think - I’m a vegetarian, so I get the Veggie Burger, and always get (good-natured) insults from the people working there). Pearl Street in Boulder is also a great shopping area. Today, you can find outlet malls all over the US, but a HUGE one is in Castle Rock, about 45 minutes north of Colorado Springs. If you’re only here for two days, that’s not enough time for Boulder or Castle Rock, but you can save those for another time, once your daughter starts at Colorado College.</p>
<p>It’s a great school if you can deal with the Block Plan, especially for extra-curricular-type things, but to me the students all look like weirdos. I’m laughing while I type this, because in undergraduate school my friends and I ALL looked like weirdos as well.</p>
<p>Any questions - just PM me.</p>
<p>I liked Colorado, C osprings not so much. We did do Gardens of the Gods and the Cliff dwellings musem? I really liked the cliff dwellings I could have stayed there another hour or two same with the garden of gds.
I was there for my brothers graduation of U colorado co springs and he was in air force so we also did the tour of the air force academy.
We had really bad mexican food, but then my brother has bad taste probably didn’t know where any good restaurants were.
Was shocked to find the only coffee place was Starbucks- quite a blow to some one from Seattle.</p>
<p>There are some local coffee shops around here, but you have to look past the gazillion Starbucks that have opened. Downtown, the main ones are Pikes Perk, Boulder Coffee Company, Mountain Brew, Colorado Mountain Beanery, and many others. In our neck of the woods, Serrano’s is very popular!</p>
<p>Thanks so much for the info!! I’m very much interested in what type of weirdos the CC students seem to be…do tell! D is intrigued by the block plan–I can def. see it. She loves being outside, too.</p>
<p>Thanks too for the Springs info–last passed through at age 12 when Dad planned the last Station Wagon Odyssey With Six Kids And A Pregnant Wife to a dude ranch (town was …Lake George…?) We had to wear personalized leather bolo ties and ask to be excused from the family-style dining table. The matriarch (Miss Squash Blossom Necklace of 1953) wanted us to kiss her upon being excused. We all refused to comply, being midwestern and half scandinavian, so spent a good deal of time at the table waiting for the adults to finish. But the riding, the hiking and the fishing were so, so memorable. We still laugh about it, but recall waking up in the cold morning under the hudson bay blanket and smelling the wonderful breakfast cooking…fun.</p>
<p>We will do the tour and stuff, but then she will be experiencing the “college friday night” with her currently-frosh pal. I will be eating at your suggested joints and driving around. Boulder is not a school consideration, just because in-state options in MN and Wi are so good.</p>
<p>Interested in your thoughts on CC…</p>
<p>ez</p>
<p>ezduzzit - </p>
<p>It just occurred to me why you’ve even heard of Colorado College!?! Since you’re from MN, I’ll guess that it’s hockey. Right now CC has the best record in the nation and is ranked #2 in the country - just ahead of #3 Wisconsin. Minnesota is #9 (BC is #1, btw). Curious: was that it? CC plays MN several times each year. </p>
<p>Anyway, when are you visiting? Make sure that you write a complete report of the visit for us. I’ve been promoting CC on the board for a while, but to be honest, the city of Colorado Springs keeps many kids away (see emeraldkity’s comments above).</p>
<p>But if your daughter is outdoorsy, she’ll fit right into this place!! I don’t know this for certain, but it seems like more CC grads have been atop Everest than from any other school.</p>
<p>Hi Dig: </p>
<p>Quite a few MN kids look at CC–in fact it is, I think, one of their biggest representations of out of state kids. Many apply to UC-Boulder as well. I, too would like to see more talk of schools like this on the board, but I fear the applicants are largely self-selected due to location and the different schedule. She is outdoorsy, loves to run, hike, ski. Urban is not really her bag. Small size is her biggest question mark. </p>
<p>As for hockey–well, um, yah…She has been attending Gopher games for years, and will go to a game this coming weekend while visiting: CC vs. SCSU. She is probably the least rabid in our family, and sees it pretty much from a social event angle, which is cool. About the time she was accepted, CC swept MN at home, and she delighted in telling the the admissions rep how her parents were suffering. He replied that it was fun for all the CC players from MN to show so well in front of friends and family. Ouch! Well, our goalie is from Colorado Springs, so…</p>
<p>Coming in next week. I will enjoy your many fine recommendations while she gets a taste of college life. Thanks again, will report back.</p>
<p>ez</p>
<p>ez -</p>
<p>I KNEW there was a hockey connection in there somewhere!!</p>
<p>One more thing to look at: Outdoor Magazine’s list of the top 40 schools for the outdoorsy types (from a year or so ago). They “rank the Top 40 schools where you can hit the books AND the backcountry. Your assignment: Rappel off that ivory tower and take our cram course on America’s most adrenaline-friendly colleges. You’ll come for your B.A. (Bachelor of Adventure) and want to stay for life.”
<a href=“http://outside.away.com/outside/features/200309/200309_college_towns_1.html[/url]”>http://outside.away.com/outside/features/200309/200309_college_towns_1.html</a></p>
<p>CC is number 13 on this list. Univ of WI - Madison and Univ of MN - Duluth are also on the list.</p>
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</p>
<p>They <em>really</em> want to get as far away as possible, huh?</p>
<p>Seriously, Colorado Springs is the “capital of evangelical organizations,” said NPR a couple of weeks ago. We have over 100 national/international organizations that include James Dobson’s Focus on the Family (a favorite bumper sticker here says, Focus on your own damn family!), Ted Haggard’s New Life Church, Compassion International, Young Life, and on and on. The funny thing is, as diametrically opposed as these organizations are to my own beliefs, I know many who are leaders in these orgs (hard NOT to know some around here). And guess what? they are warm, intelligent, likable people. But in general, Colorado Springs is a very, very conservative town and the major employers here are the military (Ft.Carson, AirForce Academy, Chyenne Mountain (underground HQs of NORAD), Peterson AFB, Shreiver AFB), large defense contractors, and these evangelical organizations.</p>
<p>It was a little bit of a cultural shock moving here from Boulder, one of the more liberal towns in all of the US.</p>
<p>ez -</p>
<p>I am curious to hear about your Colorado College visit (and so is backhandgrip). Don’t forget to check back in, either here or in a new thread in the Parents Forum, and give us a full report. Also I’d like to hear if you did any of my recommended things while you were in The Springs…</p>