Denver isn’t exactly the Colorado town for us — a little too expensive, you have to drive to get to mountain stuff/views, and it’s overrun with Avs fans & scooter people. However, we were told repeatedly that the smaller communities outside of the city would probably be a better fit.
So we decided to rent a car and check things out. The problem was, our two picks were an hour out of town in opposite directions. Colorado Springs or Fort Collins? Hmmm…we ended up heading north to check out the area.
We rolled into town around lunch, so of course I picked the strangest sounding and unlikely restaurant option I could — Australian food at the Waltzing Kangaroo located near Colorado State University. Did you know that Australia was all about savory meat pies? I had no idea. The crust was nice and flaky, and the smashed peas were a nice change from mashed potatoes. I would totally go for it again on a cold, soggy day.
We wanted to check out some of the local features, so headed west to Horsetooth Reservoir. The drive took us away from the college apartments through older neighborhoods on big lots and small horse farms. I liked the old trees and easy drive to water and mountains.
The reservoir looked like a great option for hiking, fishing, and a quick getaway from people. I wonder if the population really goes up in the summer or if the town empties of students and the place stays quiet. Questions!
We drove the long way back through smaller towns and agricultural areas into the more industrial side of Fort Collins. That’s where all the breweries are.
We hit a few places, but were really taken with the sours from Funkwerks and thought they compared well with Crooked Stave. We ended up taking a three-pack of bombers home, which is saying something considering we didn’t have much time to drink them. Larger breweries in the area include Odell Brewing Company, Equinox Brewing, New Belgium. Hell, even the university has a brewery.
We headed to the downtown/old town area next. It’s super cute, but not overly geared towards tourists (aka Golden, CO), and not over-loaded with the dive bars as you see in some college towns. We found signs for farmers markets, which we love, and candy stores, bakeries, and cute-looking restaurants, and public transit. It felt like FOCO might have a scene.
There’s a newer area of old town that is built from shipping containers with eateries anchored by a brewery. We saw a similar build and mix of business in Albuquerque. I applaud the conscientious reuse of materials, which maybe speaks towards a green sensibility in the area.
We side-stepped the interstate on the return trip, and wound our way past alpaca and horse farms and scenic hills. We’re still not sold on the weather in Colorado, but think this trip gives us ideas about the sorts of communities we might check out going forward.
Onward!
Sorry for pestering you but glad you were able to check out FOCO and found some things in the town lousy with breweries to your liking. Onward, indeed.