Colorado Springs, CO

It’s been a few years but one of the coolest places I’ve been to for climbing is the Sport Climb Center over on North Park Drive.

As I recall they seem to have the best options and largest selection of indoor climbing in the area. I need to get back over there but it was a popular destination for serious climbers, beginners, kids and even parties.

Be sure to bring a friend who you can climb with as it typically takes 2. One person to climb and the other to act as the belee-er. Climbing is a sport and should be respected as such. In a very short amount of time, if you’re not experienced, you can tire out and be unable to climb anything!

The right shoes are also important but not necessary if you’re just going to try it out. It is excellent exercise, affordable and fun. Be sure to check out the Sport Climbing Center of Colorado Springs where for the price of a movie and popcorn you have a healthy alternative!

Call them today at 719-260-1050.

*Photo Courtesy of www.ExperientialSystems.com

Since I’m a dog owner I’m often looking for places to take the pooches where they can get off the leash and enjoy the outdoors. I have one miniature Schnauzer and one Boston Poo (Yes, I think I made that up! Boston Terrier mixed with Poodle).

Both dogs are under 25 pounds and while our yard is large they enjoy the stimulation of getting out.

Two places we’ve gone to recently are Boulder Park and Shook’s Run. However, I don’t think that either of these areas are good for off-leash. We always keep them on the leash in these areas.

For total off-leash enjoyment check out Red Rock Canyon over off of Highway 24 and 31st St. This area was acquired by the city in 2003 and is undergoing development over the next several years. They offer many trails for hiking, climbing, biking and running as well as off-leash areas for dogs.

Having recently relocated back to the Springs there are many things that I appreciate more now than before I left. One of those things is the selection of grocery stores in town.

Can I be serious? Yes. In south Texas the only grocery store is called HEB. They have run everyone else out of town. You won’t find Safeway, Albertson’s, King Soopers, or any of the traditional grocers. They did have the Super Walmart’s and 1 or 2 Whole Foods to compete with but it really wasn’t a competition.

In Colorado Springs, however, it is nice to have a choice!! To be honest I will probably take most of my business to King Soopers like I always did before but at least there is a choice. King’s has great produce, the membership card thingy, gas discounts and most importantly, Home Delivery!!

It’s true I’m not a senior citizen yet but why not take advantage of home delivery of groceries? It’s very handy to be able to create your shopping list online and know before you buy how much you’re going to spend. King’s also does a great job of integrating the coupons from the weekly flyers and they are even discounting the $9.95 delivery fee by $9.95. Let’s see…that makes it free!

Just one of the benefits is that I won’t get sucked into those impulse items. You know, cookies, cereal, candy, and all that stuff I don’t need. We’ll see how long it lasts but for now I’m all about home shopping at King Soopers!

Giuseppe’s Old Depot Restaurant is a destination spot in Colorado Springs for great food, drink and atmosphere.

Giuseppe’s is a popular spot in the Springs for family get-togethers, family reunions, wedding rehearsal dinners and just about any occasions that is made better by food.

I recently had just such an occasion thanks to a high school reunion. A group of us got together there and caught up with each other, reminisced about old times and enjoyed the food and drink. I keep saying food. That must be because the food is very good as well as affordable.

Giuseppe’s has a long history and I won’t repeat it here. Suffice it to say that it used to be a busy train station and you can read all about it on their website.

The restaurant was very busy on a Friday night but we received decent service. Considering we had a table of 13 and we all had drinks and entres and we all had separate checks we were all happy with our wait staff.

In addition to great food the wine list was pretty good and priced right. I think the most expensive by-the-glass wine was less than $7 and they had many good choices for around $5. Even the mixed drinks were surprisingly affordable. It’s always nice to get the bill and be pleasantly surprised by the total.

You know, this blog isn’t supposed to be all about food and drink though it seems like that’s what has been filling the pages recently. Thanks for hanging in there as I settle back into the city and bring you items of interest beyond food and drink!

If you’ve not been to Giuseppe’s or even if you haven’t been there in a while it’s always a good place to go. The food is good, the drinks are good and the atmosphere is fun and upbeat.

As you have probably gathered at this point I’m a big fan of the downtown scene.

We went downtown again on Tuesday afternoon for an early dinner and wine. We had a very good meal at the Sonterra Grill. This is the actual table we sat at! Robin had the Prime Rib and I had the Filet Mignon. Both were very tasty! We also had a bottle of Angeline Dry Creek Zinfandel. Angeline is the bargain label for Martin Ray wines but the wine was very good. It was not as robust as a Cab but held up valiantly to our meaty dishes. Our server at the restaurant was Megan and she was very attentive. We finished up around 6:30 and beat the dinner-time rush.

After dinner we had to stop by Vintage’s Wine & Spirits to bring home a few bottles of wine. Have I mentioned that I like this place?? Erin wasn’t in but the clerk was very helpful and directed us to 2 great bottles of wine. The wines will be reviewed in the coming weeks at the Redneck Wine Review.

Incidentally, if you like wine you should check out my co-bloggers wine site called the Wine Outlook. Farley does an excellent job with tasting notes, wine and food pairings and sharing wine experiences.

Around 10 years ago my my wife, her son and I were driving north on Union Blvd near Palmer Park on our way to visit some friends. Matt, my step-son, is about 11 years old at the time and he spends the summers with us and lives with his dad in Georgia during the school year.

At this age Matt is just figuring out how to push his mother’s buttons and relishes nearly every opportunity to do so. My wife, Robin, plays along most of the time but sometimes doesn’t know when Matt is trying to get to her.

BJ’s Velvet Freeze is a local hangout located at 1511 N. Union Blvd and has been there ever since I can remember. They specialize in soft-serve ice cream cones, novelty ice creams, burgers, fries and other not-so-good-for-you stuff. We had taken Matt there once before and he was always vying for a way to ingest more sugar and today was no different.

As we wait for the light to change Matt, who claims to be able to “turn off” his southern accent when around girls, calls from the back seat of the car in the most southern accent you can imagine, “Mamma, I think I need a BJ”. I don’t think that Robin was even paying attention to where we were or the fact that BJ’s was on our left as we sat at the stop light. Her jaw hit the floor and she was in complete denial that her 11-year old son could have any idea what he just said.

“What did you say?” she says, smoke beginning to waft from her ears.

“You know, an ice cream. Right there mamma!” and he points out the window to BJ’s Velvet Freeze with a slight grin on his face.

As we lay in bed later that night Robin asks me if I think Matt knew what he was saying.

Being an 11-year old boy once myself I proclaimed, “Of course, he did!”

BJ’s Velvet Freeze has been the source of many a good story, a corresponding good laugh and plenty of good ice cream ever since!

A mainstay in Colorado Springs since 1973 Leon Gessi Pizza is a great place for good Pizza and good friends.

Having grown up in and around Colorado Springs I remember Leon Gessi Pizza from my high school days. Yes, I’m dating myself here but “back in the day” I used spend my lunch hour and sometimes my 5th hour that was free at Leon Gessi Pizza where for $2.25 I could buy 2 slices of cheese pizza and a coke or “2 and a coke“.

It was a popular lunch destination for hordes of high school teenagers who had cars or of friends who had cars and could make the 1.3 mile trip from Wasson High School to Leon Gessi. There would often be a line out the door at lunch time and the pizza creators behind the glass could be seen cranking out one pie after the other to meet the demand of hungry students and business professionals alike.

Last weekend one of my close friends that I met while in high school invited us out for pizza at the revered Leon Gessi. It was a trip down memory lane! Just walking in the place brought back many deep-rooted memories. The sights and smells evoked thoughts of hot rods, hair bands and friends I haven’t seen in years!

The restaurant is virtually the same as I remember it 20 years ago. However, since we were there for dinner, and maybe because we’re older now with families, we ordered whole pizzas instead of slices. Oh, yeah…and a pitcher of a sudsy adult beverage! The pizza is as good if not better than I remember and the atmosphere is simple but enjoyable. The New York Style pizza is somewhat unique in these areas considering all the chain restaurants and delivery huts and by my palate has them all beat by a mile.

After we finished our pizza last weekend perhaps a few seconds were spent visualizing my trip back to school and a 6th hour World History class with Mr., hmm…my memory fails me. But then the kids screamed and I glanced at my friend who has considerably less hair than he used to (at least on his head) and I was brought back to the present.

Despite all the years that have passed since I last had pizza there Leon Gessi is still doing it right! 2 and a Coke!

I was driving around the ‘hood the other day and saw a white minivan that advertised “Cheers Liquor Mart - Delivery”. I had to do a double-take. Cheers delivers?

You bet. Cheers delivers just about anything except for sale items. Sale items are cash & carry only. After a little bit of exploring on their website at www.spiritsusa.com I discovered that they offer online shopping and delivery. Deliveries are only made once per day and there is a delivery fee of $7.50 but that can be very convenient when shopping for large amounts of liquid refreshments for a company BBQ, picnic or Holiday party.

Here’s an excerpt from their website about their online shopping and delivery.

Welcome to our online catalog!

Note: You must be of legal drinking age to shop at this website.

How to browse our catalog
Select a main category from the list. You may then select additional types within this category using the “Select a Type” pull-down menu. You may also search by product name or manufacturer by entering a keyword in the “Search by Product” field. You may also filter your search by price by choosing a price range.

How to purchase a product
You may purchase a product by first adding it to your shopping cart. You may select the quantity either when you add it to your shopping cart or within the shopping cart itself.

How orders are processed
Once you have placed an order, it is sent to the store in your area for processing. You will receive an order confirmation via e-mail that contains your complete order information and order number. Please print this page for your records.

How orders are delivered
Your order will then be delivered according to the individual store’s delivery policy. Note: Some products marked as “In Store Specials” might only be available for in store pickup. Our delivery trucks run their delivery routes once a day. Your location in our delivery route will determine your delivery time.

Delivery Policy
We do not allow delivery of sale items. These items are cash and carry and available for pick up only.

Since I now live just 1.2 miles from downtown Colorado Springs I find it very convenient to shop and eat there. In the old days it seemed that I couldn’t be bothered with the downtown scene and truth be told - there wasn’t much there anyway.

A sort of renaissance has occurred there over the last decade or so as it has in many downtown areas across the country. More shops, restaurants, clubs, parks and niche businesses are located in the downtown areas these days.

Last weekend we had some time and a little money so we headed downtown to get a cup of coffee. We parked on Bijou near Tejon St. and since we were directly in front of Jamba Juice we decided to get one of those instead of a coffee. While waiting for our drinks we spied a kitchen store across the street. Hmm…we’re much more into kitchen things these days and I really could use a new set of knives!

After finishing the juice drinks (where I signed my credit card receipt with a crayon, yes a crayon…I guess the CC machine was down or it’s a new trendy thing) we headed over to Sparrow Hawk Cookware. Wow! They seem to have everything in this store. From knives and cutting boards to bean pots, crock pots, tea pots and more. Forgiving their severely inadequate website the store makes up for it with more things crammed in there than clowns in a car. Yet, it wasn’t overly difficult to shop.

We purchased a new rolling pin for our special homemade tortillas and a new paper towel holder for our new kitchen. Pleasantly, the prices seem to be competitive. I judged this by comparing some Chemex coffee filters priced at about $8 vs. $7 PLUS shipping online. Since I’m now so close the $5 shipping seems like overkill compared to the minuscule amount of gas I’ll use to drive downtown.

Sparrow Hawk Cookware is a great store. If you’ve got some time to kill and are shopping for kitchen stuff stop in.

Is Colorado Springs a growing city?

It would seem to me that it has grown significantly since the year 2000. It’s tough to argue that the traffic hasn’t gotten worse although commutes in Colorado Springs compared to other cities is very reasonable. Yet, according to city-data.com the population of Colorado Springs has increased by just about 11,500 residents. In 2000 the population was 360,890 compared to 372,437 in 2006. Can that be correct?

Further research showed that the population of the city in 1996 was about 345,000 according to infoplease.com. I guess what skews the numbers is the city borders or what is considered Colorado Springs “proper”. Much of the population increase over the last decade has occurred outside of the city limits therefore those numbers don’t show up.

The population of the county of El Paso is currently over 565,000 residents but I can’t find a change in population over the same time frame as for the city.

In any case there is no doubt that traffic has increased and it feels like there are a lot more people here today than 7 years ago and it’s true if you look to the county stats instead of the city stats.

Yesterday I made my way downtown for a visit to a wine store. I was just going to go to Cheers Liquor Mart but thought the downtown store might offer a better range of lesser-known wines. Boy, was I right!

The place I visited is called Vintage’s Wine & Spirits at 9 S. Tejon St. and one of the owners, Erin Collins, was very helpful. Her thorough knowledge of most wines, wineries and vineyards was evident after I gave her a short list of wines on my “wish list”. She politely pointed out that a few of the wines on my list were going to be very difficult to find in Colorado because most everything that was brought into the state (of that brand) was for restaurant distribution only. Aha! That answers my question as to why I can never find these wines in wine or liquor stores.

After a few minutes I knew I could trust Erin to recommend a good wine based on my tastes. I told her what I look for in a wine and she carefully considered it then recommended 2-3 different wines that were within the price range I wanted to spend. This seemed like a match made in heaven!

You should also know that when I first walked into the store I was very impressed with the ambiance, the layout and immediately thought I had gotten myself in over my head. I just knew that everything was going to be out of my price range. On this account I was wrong. Vintage’s Wine & Spirits has a wide selection of wines available in every price range. I was very relieved to discover that I could shop there without breaking my budget- and I’m cheap! I usually try to find the best wines for less than $10-12 per bottle. Not that I won’t spend more on occasion but for everyday wine drinking I find this to be a suitable range. Erin pointed out many wines that were within my budget and would seem to be a good fit for my palate.

The store has been voted “Best Wine Shop” by the Colorado Springs Gazette In 2002, 2003, 2004 & 2006 for their impeccable knowledge and service and their mission is to find the perfect wine for every palate & price.

In the end I walked out with 3 bottles of red wine, 2 that I’d not had and 1 that I already knew I liked. I took one new bottle to a friend’s house for dinner last night and it was a hit. Erin picked a winner! I’m eager to try the other one she recommended and look forward to shopping there for wine on a regular basis.

I highly recommend Vintage’s Wine & Spirits to anyone who enjoys drinking wine!

Just one of the nice things about living near downtown Colorado Springs is the plethora of available running routes. Whether you’re looking for a lunchtime run or an evening stroll through Shook’s Run.

With the weather being as nice as it is the trails are sure to be more crowded than normal as the seasonal runners join the hardcore athletes. Early morning runs are cooler and typically less crowded but who can get up early every day to make that happen? Lunchtime and evening runs are more popular.

Running in the Pikes Peak region is almost always a visually appealing venture. What with all the mountain views, riverside trails and mountain trails there are routes for the beginner through to even the most advanced runners.

For a definitive look at various running routes in the Colorado Springs area check out the Pikes Peak Road Runners website and join the club!

Every July 4th a large celebration takes place. Not for my dad or my friend Gary’s birthdays or for aunt Rosalyn and uncle Barry’s anniversary. The celebration takes place to mark the anniversary of the independence of the United States. This year marks year 231!

In Colorado Springs there are 4 or 5 different celebrations in different parts of the city but the largest party will take place at Memorial Park - 1605 E. Pikes Peak Ave. As always the event is free.

The official start time is 8pm but crowds will gather much earlier than that to claim preferred seating for the fireworks extravaganza. The Colorado Springs Philharmonic Orchestra will perform Tchaikovsky’s 1812 Overture in tandem with 6 Howitzer cannons provided by the 3rd Armored Cavalry Regiment, Fort Carson, Colorado.

Bring a picnic basket but leave the BBQ grills and pets at home. Also, don’t overlook the fact that any type of firework is illegal to set off in the city limits. Yes, even sparklers!

According to www.springsgov.com Memorial Park offers all of the following:

Aquatics and Fitness Center (indoor pool), fitness room, social/play room; swimming lessons. (Best access off S. Union Blvd. just south of E. Pikes Peak Ave.)
# Prospect Lake and Bath House: swimming beach, boating (motorized and non-motorized), water-skiing, boat rental (paddle, row, sail and canoe), two fishing areas (one wheelchair accessible fishing dock).
# Mark “Pa” Sertich Ice Center: public ice skating, lessons.
# Velodrome: bicycle racing track, roller skate racing track.
# Sports Center: Parks and Recreation’s Sports Division Administrative Offices; three baseball/softball fields, 15 football/soccer fields, 12 tennis courts with Tennis Center.
# Other facilities: picnicking (shelters), large-group picnic area (by reservation), bicycle criterium, horseshoe courts, multi-play court, three playgrounds (including Phil Long/Denver Broncos Community Playground with ADA accessibility), 5.3 miles of trails, 1.6 miles of bikeways, Prospect Lake Fitness Trail (hiking, biking, jogging, fitness), restrooms, public telephones, vending machines, concessions. 196 acres.

In my recent move to Colorado Springs from San Antonio I’ve come to appreciate the overall size of the state of Colorado as well as the size of the city of Colorado Springs.

On Friday I began a trek with 2 vehicles and a U-Haul trailer from south Texas to Colorado Springs. The total one-way mileage is about 975 miles. I used to joke to my friends that a drive from San Antonio to Colorado Springs is 14 hours - 12 of which are in Texas. That is so very close to the truth and having driven it multiple times it’s not funny. There are a few miles in New Mexico on the route that I use but once I hit the Colorado border it truly is about 2 hours to the Springs.

On Friday it turned out to be a 19 hour trip. Ugh! We left at 3:30am and arrived at 9pm. We also gained one hour on the trip! It certainly made for a long day and I’m still recovering from the drive, the unloading of the PODS box and the never ending unpacking.

In any event it was extremely nice to take the 1.3 mile jaunt downtown to Starbucks and be back home inside of 15 minutes. In recent trips to the grocery store, wine store, Walmart, sister-in-law’s house and various other destinations it’s nice that everything is so near. Some other cities such as San Antonio require 15-20 miles and 20-60 minutes just to go grocery shopping.

Ah, yes…it’s good to be home!

The weather has been HOT!

I’d like to feel comfortable saying that Colorado busted out of the drought this year but this hot weather makes me question it. With all the snow the entire state got this past winter and spring it seems likely that we won’t be hurting for water this summer. Would you agree?

Since the old-school pattern of high heat and afternoon thunder showers hasn’t started quite yet it can be tough to beat the heat in the mid-afternoons. How do you beat the heat?