Time for part 2 of all the fun stuff we did while in Colorado.
One of the holiday traditions my brother and his wife try to do each year is get over to the expensive and exclusive Broadmoor Hotel in Colorado Springs to look at the Christmas lights. Lately the hotel has become even more exclusive, not letting the general public visit, reserving their grounds only for those staying overnight. There is however a workaround that they've found, and that's to book a reservation for one of their restaurants!
Turns out she'd thought of that too. Those prices are dinner prices, when Wagyu and other expensive items are on the menu. We are doing a very late 3pm lunch, where the menu is much more reasonable.
La Taverne on the signs and menus but The Tavern on the napkins. Odd.
Patrick opted for a French Onion Soup, which is so cheesy that it's served with a pair of gold scissors.
Megan opted for a Potato and Leek soup which was also quite tasty.
For our main entree, all four of us chose La Taverne Bistro Steak Frites, a 7oz portion of filet and shoestring fries. Definitely a tasty meal.
For dessert, Megan chose a Bananas Foster Cheesecake for the table, with creme bruleed bananas, brown sugar and rum caramel sauce, and vanilla ice cream.
After lunch, we wandered around the hotel areas while we waited for it to get dark enough for the Christmas lights outside. At least that's what we're hoping for outside. Megan has been keeping an eye on the social media posts for The Broadmoor and hasn't seen anything yet about them turning the lights on. We'll just have to wait and hope that once it gets dark, they'll come on.
Above the lobby, reminding me very much of Disney's Grand Californian lobby, is this giant holiday display made of tasty treats!
Colorado Springs is known as Olympic City USA, The high training grounds make it a good choice for endurance athletes, and it even houses the Olympic Training Center. (My high school math teacher was an Olympic Wrestler, finishing 6th and 10th). So what better way to celebrate and get ready for the 2026 Olympics than make a giant display for them!
We see Curling, Ice Skating, Hockey, and Santa's Sleigh has turned into a bobsled.
There's the ski jump.
And a snowboard halfpipe.
The runners on Santa's bobsled are made from lots of candy canes.
Nice job chef of The Broadmoor! They even included some forest critters and trees to round everything out.
Although maybe the choice of a peppermint disk for this demon deer's eye could have been different.
We could have gone outside but it's a bit chilly out there. Instead we found what Theresa said was the best room in the entire hotel. It's a library room, complete with a fireplace and one of those rolling ladders to reach things on high shelves. We relaxed on the loveseat and read whatever the latest book we're into on our phones. Patrick searched the shelves for something by Tolkien, but came up empty.
Alright, it's starting to get dark. To prepare to go outside, we'd better get something hot to drink.
It's chilly enough as-is, but the wind blowing over the lake as we walked across to the second hotel building made it even colder. Still no lights on though.
As we warmed up in the lobby, we overheard a couple of people who looked like they were in charge say "Let's get this tree lit!"
Yeah? Right back outside we went! Time to be cold again! It's 5:30 so hopefully it's going to be soon.
They weren't messing around tonight either. Turns out, our timing of the day was perfect! It's the tree lighting ceremony tonight for the season! There was a choir director leading a choir and everyone else in various Christmas songs.
Did I mention yet that it was cold? Feels like 20F outside.
Theresa curled up under her jacket while we waited and waited for the lights to come on. The crowd was getting restless. The choir director said we'll sing 1 song then light the tree. Then decided to sing another song after that. Then they talked about the charity that tonight was supporting. Finally Santa and Mrs. Claus made their way across the lake and wishes us all Merry Christmas.
Garçon - We do not smile in British photos.
If you have to laugh though, you cover your mouth with your napkin. They had to do that a lot.
The children would ask the garcon questions about the food they were being served.
Garçon - One moment please (walks out of the room to speak to the imaginary chef)
Garçon - Where did you get the orange scones?
Imaginary Chef (loud enough for the dining room to hear) - From a street vendor outside.
Garçon (returning to the dining room) - Those pastries were imported directly from France under the king's guard and escort, especially for you here today.
Garcon proceeds to spoon an obnoxious amount onto it.
We're in the last couple days of our visit. Avery had a sleepover and I made them some lunch. Avery loved my truffle rice and beef. It's already Ian's favorite quick lunch I make at home. Alli just wants noodles and red sauce.
Sunday means football and pizza! We gathered over at Patrick's to eat and watch the games. Go Broncos!
The game that they made up was great, but the problem is that there's only one copy of it, and it was gifted to Gram and Pop Pop. The girls were hard at work cutting and hand drawing all the cards to make another set.
And it wouldn't be a family gathering in Colorado if we weren't doing some sort of puzzle together. It's easy to sit down at the table and just hang out while we work to put it together. Mom and Dad volunteer at the library at the Friends of the Library book store, and along with books, you'll often have puzzles that get donated. No one wants to buy a puzzle with missing pieces, so they take them home, assemble them, and verify that it's complete before selling it.
And the rule is, if you've helped with the puzzle you get your photo with it at the end.
Alli wanted us to save the Pig for her to do.
You even get to help if you've only done a single piece, which seems to be Ian's strategy for making it into the picture.
Finishing 5 puzzles, most over 1000 pieces in the week we've been here. Not too bad at all considering all the other stuff we've had going on!
In the week we've been here, it has been cold, but it hasn't snowed a single day. That is, until the night before we're headed to the airport. Driving home from Patrick's house the roads were slick and caused the tires to slip. The next morning on the way to the airport, the roads getting to the freeway were still slick and icy.
But we made it with plenty of time to spare. Enough time to get Chick-fil-A from the Denver airport and still make it to our gate.
That boy. He walked outside many many times on our trip here without a coat on.
Our first stop is Chicago! We've got a 3 hour layover here before hopping on the flight to Orlando.
We found the food court with tables that have plugs on them and spent the time chilling. In some cases, quite literally. Despite the cold weather outside, the AC is running and blowing directly down on us! Brr!
Looking at the forecast ahead of time, it was looking pretty likely that Chicago was going to get hit with a winter storm while we were there.
Our plane boarded 45 minutes late, then pushed back from the gate, waiting another 90 minutes for the de-icing truck to make their way over to the plane and get us ready to go.
It's been a long day of travel, getting in to Orlando around 11pm but we made it.
We were welcomed on the train by Orlando Mayor Buddy Dyer, caught the shuttle to the extended park lot, and headed home. It was a fun trip back to Colorado for Thanksgiving and we have lots of good memories to look back on.
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