I just spent the last 7 days visiting a part of the country that I never thought I’d visit. I was sent to Aurora, Colorado for a work trip. I figured I might eat out every night and maybe take a walking tour or something like that, instead I ended up hiking, enjoying the weather and yes eating out. I’ll have to admit I thought the city of Denver would be my high point, as we did venture downtown and walk the streets a bit, but Boulder really stole the show. Don’t get me wrong I enjoyed Denver. Our group did night out at “Howl at the Moon” and also had a great vegan meal at Watercourse. Watercourse was a pleasant surprise as I dined on their Southern Plate which comes with “fried” cauliflower, mashed potatoes and broccoli which was super filling. I made room for their ice cream dessert, too, which is a treat because I can’t usually have ice cream because of the dairy, but this treat was all dairy free. This meal held me down until the next day even after a late evening in the city.

For this entire trip our hotel was in Aurora, Colorado, which didn’t offer a whole lot as far as things to do, but we did have a fantastic view of the Rockies all of the time which made things bearable. I would like to shout out a few restaurants in Aurora that are worth trying out: Molcajete and GYROZ. These were comforting foods for lunch and dinner. Molcajete is a Mexican spot with great customer service and cheap prices. GYROZ is quick and filling, they even have a drive thru window. Try the number 1 as it’s a combination of steak and lamb and it’s pretty darn amazing and I usually hate lamb, so that is really saying something about their food.

Now, what can I say about Boulder…. everything! I really enjoyed Boulder because I felt that I was in a modern frontier town of sorts. The mountains surround the town and the town is filled with artsy shops and unique modern restaurants that made you feel like you’re on a resort vacation. We spent an afternoon following our work day walking the Chautauqua trail in Boulder, which is good for first timers, but challenging enough that you feel like you have accomplished something. The trail offers sweeping views and there were also a great number of people actually out on this trail taking engagement and wedding photos along with kids enjoying weather and time with their families. This trail was super friendly and not pretentious at all. I did end up spraining my ankle due to wearing the wrong shoes for hiking, but I recovered a few days later with no issue. I would gladly do it again anytime.

We finished the evening eating at Leaf Vegetarian Restaurant and walking around downtown Boulder. Downtown Boulder has a cluster of unique shops and college town bars, so it’s a very relaxing stroll. Coming from the east coast, the entire town just seemed pretty relaxed, but hey if I had the mountains to look at every day, I’d be pretty relaxed, too.