Estes Park

 

After our Bear Lake excursion Thursday, we found a spot to park in one of the numerous  public parking lots in downtown Estes Park and sat out to investigate shops and eateries.

 

This is an old town and most of the shops are beginning to show their age; but most of them are kept in good repair. Hundreds of tourists visit everyday and overall it's a pleasant, laid back small town atmosphere.  Johnna and I aren't usually looking for trinkets or mementos to take home. But I like to wander up and down the street and go into an occasional shop to browse.

 

We were mainly looking for some place to eat lunch so I had my nose in the air hoping to smell something enticing.

 

The day we arrived, Johnna logged onto a food website looking for restaurants in Estes Park. So far the only down town place she recognized had been soundly thrashed by several reviewers, so we walked on up the street, passing it by. We finally wandered by a place with some pretty good odors wafting out the door; as it turned out, those good smells led to some tasty food.

 

Lunch over, we continued window shopping and made a couple of purchases. On previous trips we would bring home a baseball style cap for our son. Last year he informed us he had enough caps and wanted frogs from now on. Ok. Frogs it is. We found one made from rusty bits and pieces of metal that we thought would catch his fancy and bought it. Until my son asked us to bring him a frog when we traveled, I hadn't noticed, every gift shop sells them. Of course we always buy a frog at our first stop and then see others that we like more, or just as well. He'll get his frog; a nice one at that.

 

View of some Estes Park shops.

Another look.

I went up stairs here and bought a small Buddha statute for the fifth wheel.

 

The shop I went into is upstairs in the back. Is this store front picturesque or gaudy?

 

 

While I was making my $5.00 purchase, Johnna bought a $3.00 ice cream cone. By this time, counting lunch, the frog, the Buddha and the ice cream cone, we had sent almost seventy bucks. Another reason to stay away from shopping areas while traveling.

 

An interesting statute in the park.

 

Tourists bring their dogs everywhere now days. In Estes Park I saw several water bowls like this in front of shops. A vet would probably tell you not to let your dog drink from a community water bowl. All manner of doggie ailments can spread this way. It seems a nice gesture anyway.

 

Estes Park isn't the worst tourist town we've visited. The old shops give it an ambiance of friendliness and you don't feel like you're in a high pressure selling environment.

 

 

I promised myself on this trip, I would be conservative when it came to eating at restaurants. After a long day's adventuring, I'm usually hungry and won't wait for Johnna to prepare a meal and we eat out.  I was going to change that routine this time. So, our first night at Estes Park, what do we do? Eat out; to the tune of $72.00 including tip. The best part of the meal was talking to our waitress about the wild life wandering the streets of Estes Park, such as, bear, elk, deer, along with the usual rabbits and squirrels.  And all during the meal we were amused watching ducks from the adjacent pond eat bird food from feeders placed on the porch railing. No one claims ducks are smart but some are definitely smarter than others. In order to get the food a duck had to peck at an opening in the feeder. This would release a few grains into the feeding tray. Some ducks figured it out, while others didn't and had to take what the smart ducks left scattered around.  

 

If I were to write a review of the restaurant, I would award 5 stars to the ducks for their entertainment value; and maybe a generous 3 for the food.

 

As we drove back an forth on our way to town, we  kept passing this BBQ joint called Smokin Dave's BBQ & Taphouse. The parking lot was always full for lunch and dinner. I usually take that as a sign; the food is either good or cheap and the only way to find out is give it a try. Our next to last day in Estes Park we ate there. Mmmmm good and it wasn't all that expensive. I had the two rib platter, St Louis style ribs and Buffalo ribs with red beans and a dark beer. If you like ribs and beer, Smokin Dave's is where you'll to find it.

 

Our first two days in Estes Park went swimmingly and we looked forward to the photo work shop.