Where to refuel in Estes Park
ESTES PARK, COLO.— Estes Park receives more than its fair share of tourists as the only town of any size (population 5,000) near Rocky Mountain National Park. While its main drag is mostly taffy, toffee and faux OldWest souvenirs, there’s good stuff, too: Nepalese food
Colorado as a whole, but Estes Park in particular, has what at first seems like an odd number of Nepalese immigrants. Then you look around at the Rockies towering overhead. .One result is a rather pleasing number of prayer flags around the place. Another is the restaurants, such as Himalayan Curry & Kebob. One of the local breweries makes a special ale for the eatery (natch), and the food is good, especially when enjoyed on the patio overlooking the alpine cyclorama that encircles the town. Coffee to savour
When the two 18-year-old hipster kids at the next table in Inkwell & Brew debate the importance of the Virgin to the message of Christ it makes a nice counterpoint to the sketches behind the bar of characters from director Wes Anderson’s films. The locally roasted coffee is also expertly decanted in this combination coffee shop and stationery store. Cinnamon buns from a bakery
About 100 metres from the Four Seasons Inn on the main road into town lies Cinnamon’s Bakery. It’s open every day from 6 a.m. to 10 a.m. and serves coffee and its specialty, cinnamon buns. Though it only opened in May, the 60-something couple behind the counter, Carole and Bob Fixter, can barely keep up with the demand. Get in early for the pecan buns; on the morning I visited, they were already gone by 8:30. The place Stephen King stayed
The Stanley Hotel looms large over Estes Park. It’s home to the best bar in Northern Colorado, with one of North America’s largest whiskey collections (1,200 types). This is also the place where horror writer Stephen King and his wife Tabitha stopped for the night during a blizzard in1974. They were the only guests registered on the last weekend before the hotel closed for the season. One long night of wandering the halls and drinking alone with Lloyd the bartender was enough to spark an outline for The Shining. Details: stanleyhotel.com Bert Archer’s trip was sponsored by Colorado Tourism, which didn’t review or approve this story.