Beautiful World // Durango

Cory and I have visited Durango several times, and it remains one of my favorite Colorado destinations, perhaps as much for the quaint old city charm as for the lovely company I find there.  It’s about a six hour drive from Colorado Springs, and an infinitely better drive when there’s no snow involved.  Last year we drove out on a snowy weekend in February and crossing the two mountain passes with icy road conditions lengthened our drive significantly – also making it much more…interesting?  In any case this past weekend boasted totally clear skies and made for a relaxing and beautiful drive.

Our friends Annie and Jake (re: this post) were hosting a benefit concert called the Winter Jubilee, which has precipitated our visit the last two years.  I love listening to other talented musicians, especially live, and never fail to be completely inspired.  In addition to Annie, two other bands played the concert series: a fun group all the way from Ireland called Mighty Tempest and the dynamic quartet of sisters called SHEL. (Today’s Soundtracks posts to come on both of them!)

We also spent a fair bit of time meandering up and down Main Street, exploring the shops and eating some delicious grub – I highly recommend the pastries at Jean-Pierre’s, we stopped in there each morning for hot chocolate and cream puffs.  Cream puffs could be the nicest breakfast ever invented.  Bottom photo is the tasty wood-stove-pizza from Fired Up.  I won’t go into detail about all the stuff we ate – but if you’re interested in reviews, you can check out my Yelp profile.

It was such nice weather while we were there that we took a walk down the Animas River Trail, which runs parallel to Main Street – we just walked in the direction of the river from downtown and found a little path that connected to the trail in an Albertson’s parking lot.

And of course, walking down Animas River Trail is where we discovered the swing sets that I had so much fun with! I couldn’t resist posting just a few more photos.

Well, now I wish I was heading back next weekend.  I supposed I can find some swing sets here in the Springs to keep me busy, right?

It’s a beautiful world out there, find something to explore this week!