I have so many travel posts to get caught up on, I’d thought I’d start with a quick getaway we took in July 2021. The opportunity arose to take a long weekend trip to Colorado Springs, Colorado with Drew’s lacrosse team. They were playing in a tournament hosted at the Air Force Academy sports field. What a cool experience to play with mountains all around! We live in Kansas City, so this trip was a doable road trip for us. I love a good road trip! Here’s a recap of what we did over a long weekend.
Day 1: Colorado Springs
Kansas City to Colorado Springs is drivable in one day, between 8-9 hours. We decided to leave early on a Friday so we still had time to do some things when we arrived into town. No surprise, we pulled right into a brewery when we got into town – ha! Steve and I love to drink craft beer and explore new breweries. Our kids are teenagers, so they are used to it and can handle it. The first stop was at Bristol Brewing Company. The brewery is located in an old school, so the atmosphere is quirky and fun.
Next, we drove to the downtown area of Colorado Springs and had a beer at Red Swing Brewhouse. We found that most places in Colorado Springs are easy to get to, and it doesn’t take a ton of time.
We didn’t have reservations to eat anywhere, so we just did a little research and landed at Oskar Blues for dinner. After dinner, we walked to grab ice cream at Josh & John’s – so good!
After dinner and dessert, we headed to the hotel. We stayed at the SpringHill Suites in the North part of town, near where the lacrosse tournament was being played. The area of town around the hotel is nice and new, with lots of restaurants, hotels, etc. As mentioned earlier, it was north of downtown, but nothing felt that far away.
Day 2:
Day 2 was a Saturday, so Drew was playing lacrosse in the afternoon. We wanted to take advantage of the morning! With a little research, we decided to head back into the city for breakfast (we like non-chain, local places as much as possible)! The Mountain Shadows Restaurant is a small place in a residential neighborhood known for their cinnamon rolls.
After breakfast, we drove to Garden of the Gods to do some exploring. The kids and I had been here the year prior with my parents, but Steve had never been. Garden of the Gods is easy to get to, there is free parking all over the park, and you can find hikes for all levels. It’s fun to climb on the rocks and take photos. It’s a beauty that can only be captured with your eyes. Photos just don’t do it justice!
A total random gem of a find on our trip was Gold Mine Mini Golf! We found out that you can play 18 holes of golf for $3! They have three different courses to choose from. The course is so fun and well done, we loved it! On this day, we played two of the three courses. It wasn’t super busy, so it was just perfect. Highly recommend!
Drew played lacrosse that afternoon at the Air Force Academy! Such a cool experience for all of us!
A request was made from our kids to eat at In-N-Out for dinner. There was one right by our hotel. I personally don’t understand the hype, but it was fun to eat at one since we don’t have them in Kansas City.
Day 3: Colorado Springs
Day 3 started off with more lacrosse, which is the reason we came to Colorado Springs! The weather was beautiful and the mountain views will never get old! After lacrosse, we headed to a small town right near Colorado Springs called Manitou Springs. It’s super quaint with shops and restaurants and parks and cute homes all around. We popped into Townhouse Sports Grill for a bite to eat.
Manitou Springs has a penny arcade, which we knew we had to hit! It’s called a penny arcade, but the prices are 2021 prices! Ha! They have tons of old and new games to play. We mostly played Skee Ball and did the horse racing game – super fun!
After the arcade, we went back to the mini golf place to play the final course! Told you we thought this place was great! Can’t beat it for $3 a round! Then we drove to find Helen Hunt Falls, a small water fall in North Cheyenne Canon Park. The drive to the waterfall was pretty and it’s easy to access once you are there.
We stayed near the hotel that night and ordered pizza from a local spot down from the hotel. The next morning we checked out of the hotel and headed home! It was a great long weekend in Colorado Springs! xo