The Secret Stash - Crested Butte, CO Dining at its Best! Part II

After licking my wounds and taking a cat nap we decided to head into the quaint downtown area of Crested Butte for some dinner. We we're told that The Secret Stash was the place to go if you'd never been before so that made that decision very easy (and given I love pizza and that was their specialty, it was a no brained!)

Not too far from our hotel was a bus stop that was free transportation around the local Crested Butte area. We had just missed a bus but didn't have to wait long for the next one to show up and we were off!  

Even in the dark, the main street downtown was still quite cute and, even though the shops we're closed, we did a lap around just to see everything before heading to our destination. While we did have to wait about 10 minutes for a table, it was fine as they have a small little gift shop we pursued and I hopped I hopped on Yelp to see what people recommended. 

The decor at The Secret Stash is awesome! Much of it comes from the travels of the co-owner who traveled the world before settling down in Crested Butte to open her restaurant. There are many India influences and relics and I kept spotting something different as I looked around during our meal. 

The guy tossing the pizza behind the counter was so much fun to watch!

Thanks to checking out Yelp, we ordered the Crack Fries as a starter...and OMG were they amazingly good. The mix of truffle oil and parmasan cheese was out of this world good...and we gobbled them up, almost wanting more!  We hadn't had much to eat that day (a bagel on the go in the AM and then a waffle post snowboarding) so we were quite hungry. 

Before *drooools*

After.

Finally our Hamptons pizza arrived. I liked this not only because of what came on it, but also because of its origin. East Coast baby! :) Though we subbed in the corn meal crust and it was so fab. 

SO.GOOD.

Add the 'lemon crown' as the final touch!

For as hungry as I was I only had 2 slices...but knew this would be a great late night Thanksgiving snack since we were having an earlier dinner, so it all worked out. :)

Before heading back to the hotel, I decided it is never too cold for ice cream and we made out way over to grab some yummy sweet treats (chocolate covered pretzels and more!) and I got a yummy cookies and cream ice cream cone to enjoy while making our way back to he hotel.  While cold, it definitely hit the spot!

Feels like 16 degrees...so what!?

What yummy treats have you found on vacation?

Thanksgiving in Crested Butte, Colorado! Part I

It's hard to believe that it's been a week since Thanksgiving. Time is going so fast right now, it's almost crazy. It also means I'm that much closer to running my first half next month (hello December!) which I'm super duper excited about...especially as we work to finalize our running outfits. ;)

Here is the first installment of our trip last week!

The hubs and I decided to travel roughly 4 hours outside of Denver to enjoy a relaxing Thanksgiving alone in the mountains of Crested Butte.  All I knew of it was it was a quaint ski town, and that it was the original home of Heidi Montag (because The Hills was my show back in the day...and I still love seeing what Lauren Conrad continues to do with her life today.)

Lucky for us the weekend prior they got HAMMERED with snow, so driving through the mountains on Tuesday to ge there was beautiful, and at times slow and a bit treacherous, but we made it!  While we arrived before check in to our hotel, Elevations, they were able to not only get us a room but a bit of an upgraded on at that, so it was quite nice!

After unloading our belongings we quickly suited up in our snow gear to hit the slopes!  The great event for us is that since it was Opening Day, lift tickets were free!  Unfortunately I do not own my own gear BUT we litterlslly went 20 feet out out hotel and the rentals were right there. Not to mention we were also situated right at the ski lift...so I highly recommend our hotel! (We found them via a Groupon deal...money well spent!)

While the hubs has his own snowboard, I have only been a few times and am still unsure what my status is with snowboarding. It is quite a love/hate relationship at this point - and after last week is leaning more towards hate.  However, I could tell he really wanted me to snowboard with him, so I agreed to strap that board to my feet for the day. 

I'd be lying if I told you I knew this was a mistake almost immediately. My one boot was uncomfortable no matter what I did and my right leg (not attached to the board) was in pain from supporting my body. While we didn't have far to go to get to the lift, the lines were long (see: free lift tickets and also best Opening Day conditions in years) and there was much waiting to be had. 

I was anxious most of the way up the mountain, dreading getting off. And, in true form, had a horrible exit off the lift. I quickly had to get over that and prepare myself for what was going to turn into the never ending mountain. This took awhile given the various people surrounding me, but eventually we were off. 

I'm hopeful that if I were to take actual snowboarding lessons (clearly I am self taught thus far) I would perhaps fair better. A Colorado mountain with real fresh snow is quite different from the mountains I've skiied in the Poconos back in PA - which are typically icy and artificial - so compounded with everything else maybe I shouldn't be surprised at the nasty spill I experienced not 5 minutes into my travels down ge mountain.  Face first (well, I guess chest as my face never touched snow...) into the powder. 

Having NEVER had a fall like that before I was hurt (physically and emotionally lol) and was SO over it at that point. However, this board was my only was to get down...so I had to get over it and make the best of the situation. I felt so bad for my hubby because I wanted him to enjoy his ride down, but he was concerned with me and trying to give pointers to help make it down the mountain. 

I was a lost cause at that point. haha. But I love him for caring so much. :)

After many stops (my thighs burned the whole time, which has never happened to me before when I've boarded and think may be running related...so I needed the breaks) I finally made he grand descend back towards home base. The hubs had gone ahead towards he end and was waiting patiently for me.     I couldn't WAIT to get us strapped from my board!  I encouraged him to take at least another run, but he said once was enough for him too, and he'd rather relax with me. 

Before heading back to return my board (yes after only one run which my husband had predicted!) we picked up a yummy waffle to enjoy while watching the other patrons enjoy the mountain. The last time I had a waffle like this, I was visiting a friend in Denmark over Thangsgiving break in college, so it was quite lovely. 

After our waffles and people watching we  returns my board and retreated to our room for an afternoon snooze before a night out on the town. 

Have you had any bad spills doing a winter sport?