Manitou Springs

I have a mind like a black hole. Somehow I completely forgot that we actually DID do something last weekend! We ventured over to Manitou Springs which is sort of known as the hippie-town sister of CO Springs. I knew I'd like it! We didn't get to spend much time walking around because we went on a Friday night after Collin was finished working so we're definitely planning to go back. I planned to do a little antique shopping to see how it compared to my hometown antique capital of the world. But, no-go. They were all closed by the time we got there. So we walked up and down the main street to see what was around.

The town is right at the base of Pikes Peak

Downtown is very cute and surrounded by mountains

The North Pole!

And there is a railroad somewhere in this pic that takes you to the top of the mountain

This was a hand-painted 3-D map of the town that was apparently done by kids. Not sure about the story behind it.

There were many little winding side streets, unique little staircases built into the side of the rocks that led to who knows where, and bridges over crystal clear streams that really added to the eccentrically charming feel of the town. I didn't get many pictures though. :( Next time.

We decided to grab a drink and find a place for dinner. We stopped at the Townhouse Lounge for a few drinks first. It definitely had a locals feel and was our kind of dive bar with happy hour specials too, perfect.

After that we decided on mexican for dinner. Fantastic mexican out here by the way!! There was a new restaurant that opened this year a little ways up the mountain so we gave it a try. It was called Crystal Park Cantina (named for the road it's on) and they had pretty great reviews so we headed up the hill. 

Inside:

They had awesome margs and the food was pretty good too. I had baja style tilapia tacos and Collin had a pulled pork burrito with green chile sauce. Very good but we'll probably try another place when we go back just because there seemed to be such a selection!

Fish Tacos!!

I also want to try this place called Craftwood Inn. It looks pretty fancy shmancy and the menu looks amazing. Everything from wild boar and elk to calamari and scallops. We didn't actually see it while we were there but read great reviews and checked out their website. Here's a picture:

Ok. I'm off. Maybe my sieve of a brain will remember something else tomorrow...