Leg two of Colorado-cation here we go! If you missed it, Denver was our first stop and lots of yummy recs are here. We embarked on this next leg in our rented pickup truck and nursing some injuries. This led to a slow start in Fort Collins, but I stuck it out!

After checking out Red Rocks Amphitheatre we headed straight to our VRBO rental to drop our bags and take a little break before heading out. We stayed in a gorgeous carriage house that was quiet and walking distance to Old Town. We also have friends (shout-out to Dan & Erin for being the BEST hosts and tour guides) in Fort Collins so we got the locals treatment for the weekend. Our days were filled with bike rides, checking out prairie dogs, homemade vegan yumminess and plenty of local beer!

Itinerary: Different from our Denver post, I am taking a day-by-day itinerary approach to Fort Collins. It was intimidating to really nail down the best activities here, so we are so grateful for friends who planned a perfect weekend!

Day One (Friday night): We arrived in Fort Collins on a Friday afternoon and decided to walk to Old Town to avoid any weekend parking nightmares. We had a lovely 10min walk through neighborhoods and by the time we made it to town we were already dreaming of living here. Perfect fall weather really shows a town in its best light!

Our first stop was Crooked Stave for alllll the sour beers. There is a taproom in Denver, but we saved this brewery for Fort Collins to break up the beer stops (2024 update - this location is sadly closed now). The location is quaint and centered in Old Town, perfect for people watching on the patio and enjoying the ~ vibes ~. After a flight of sours, we snagged a few bottles to enjoy on our next leg of the trip and walked to New Belgium Brewing.

New Belgium Brewing on October 1st was literally like living in a perfect autumnal snow globe - swapping snow for yellow leaves, of course. The campus is stunning! We found some stumps in the back to enjoy some beer, listen to bluegrass, and wait for friends. We are lucky to have a New Belgium Brewing campus here in NC, but wow does Colorado do it right. After a few beers and birthday shenanigans, we headed back to our carriage house for the night. We were starved and made a pit stop in town at the first outdoor dining we could find. We happened upon Union Bar and Soda Fountain and it truly hit the spot. Is there anything better than late night fries, ceasar salad, and a diet coke?

Day Two: We were up bright and early to spend the day with friends on Saturday. We started off with breakfast on the patio at Rainbow Restaurant and it was DIVINE. So many options for breakfast and lots of yummy vegan pastries. We went mostly vegan this weekend with friends, and honestly it was great. We even started pulling some of the meals from this weekend into our regular rotation - so if you need tofu recipes hit us UP.

After breakfast we headed to the weekend farmer’s market, my favorite thing to see in a new place, and pretended to be locals. It was fun to shop with other people and see what their favorite things are - I was particularly impressed with the chiles!

The rest of the day was spent exploring the foothills, searching for prairie dogs, cooking delicious vegan foods, playing games and catching up. The photos from this day are sparse - who has time to take pics when you are enjoying the best of company!

Day Three: This was a BIG day! Dan and Erin are avid cyclists and we were so excited that they wanted to share that part of their lives with us. They helped rent e-bikes for us to use for the day, and I fell in love. We started out bright and early to cycle through town before lunch and then again out along the foothills in the afternoon. By the end of the day we biked 43 miles! WHAT. And I did it all with an undiagnosed broken arm?! I think this speaks volumes to the ease and accessibility that an e-bike provided for us. My sea-level, out of shape body could never have done that on its own. Our reward for the day was CO-style pizza from Beau Jo’s. Apparently it is a thing to dip your crust in honey, and I kinda loved it! After late-night goodbyes, we spent our last evening in Fort Collins before making the trek to Rocky Mountain National Park. Our last morning was spent grocery shopping, filling up the gas tank, and grabbing our final latte of the week (only Airbnb k-cup coffee was in our future).