A Babymoon to Remember

It's been written about before, but the Babymoon is a wonderful thing. Not only do you get to get out of dodge, but you get to funnel more money into the economy, spend time with your wife and baby-to-come, and see a new part of the state you should have seen years ago but were too lazy or unadventurous to bother.

I have been wanting to see Crested Butte, CO since about 4 years ago in October when I was on my way out to Boston to hang with some friends. I was in the airport and grabbed the two papers I always do while traveling, USA Today, and the Wall Street Journal. The USA Today had a section on snowy travel destinations. There, in front of me, was the most comforting, snow-filled picture of small town Crested Butte, or as some like to call it, crusty butt. I have always dreamed of living in a place that is both small-town, big culture, progressive, good food, lots of traffic-stopping snow, good coffee, and some form of outdoor recreation -like Burlington, VT. This little 200 pixel-squared picture of Crusty Butt made me warm inside with excitement. Alas, 4 years, a marriage, and a pregnancy later, I FINALLY made it there. WE finally made it there. It was amazing.



We stayed at the brand new Mountaineer Lodgeon Mt. Crested Butte (elev. 9330) The Lodge has not been open more than 4 months. It smelled so clean and fresh, almost as if they are pumping lily-smelling essential oils into the elevators and rooms. We were upgraded to a suite from a studio overlooking the ski slopes and some new construction/demolition. Amazing views, food, and coffee.

Among the highlights:

• A winter-coated fox


• An elk


• Camp 4 Coffee shop


• Nice locals


• Golden aspen trees covering mountainside


• and, last but not least, this one is the real kicker...

We had just gone out to eat and on our way back to the lodge I stopped at a liquor store to grab something cool and refreshing - maybe spritzer-like, maybe a fresca and some bottled water, when I decide to check out their beer selection. BAM! I couldn't believe my eyes. Shipyard Ale's Pumpkinhead beer! No way!

That is the same beer we had in Maine last year that I tried finding here for the entire fall. I made countless calls to the distributors, manufacturers - to no avail. Well, it turns out after talking with the "dude" at the counter, that the owner of the liquor store was from Maine. Go figure. I walked out with all of their three last 6 packs. Happy Halloween!