I’m not that good at writing, so I’ll keep it to bulleted points with ratings and short notes where applicable.
Background: This trip in August 2018 was based around a business trip to Denver. This is the trip that inspired me to make a goal for myself to visit every National Park in the US. Rocky Mountain National Park just took my breath away.
Flights:• JFK to DEN on AA
- Award Ticket: 30k Miles+ $5.60 per ticket+ $150 in AAdvantage award fees
• STL to LGA on Southwest
- This was a paid ticket
- We missed this flight even with TSA Precheck because American’s computers were malfunctioning, and we were unable to check in online. We ended up taking a cab to LGA to catch the last flight out to Denver that night.
• LGA to DEN on Frontier
- I had never flown a budget airline before, but since we weren’t checking any bags in, the process was smooth, and we had no issues at all
• DEN to JFK on AA
Hotel:• Denver Marriott Tech Center- 3/5
- Cash booking
- This is a bit of a drive from the airport, but since we just needed a place to crash for the night, it was perfect
• Westin Riverfront Avon Vale- 4/5
- Cash booking
- Beautiful hotel with awesome views
- We checked in on Friday, and our Gold status coupled with Amex luxury hotel benefits allowed us to leave our room at 4PM. We then stayed over til the zman at a family member’s suite.
• Hotel Talisa Vail- 3/5
- Cash booking
- Hotels in the areas were sold out, so we had to hop around a bit. The hotel was nice and modern, but oddly enough, not very clean. (no actually trash, but hair in the shower, that kind of thing).
Method of Transport:• Car Rental- National
Food:• Rosenberg’s Bakery- 4/5
- The food was delicious. Since we were stocking up for the next three days, we went a little overboard…
• East Side Kosher Deli
- Fully stocked kosher grocery
Activities:• 16th Street Mall- 4/5
- Being from Brooklyn, I found the setup of to be really cool. No cars are allowed on the streets, except for a trolley that goes up and down the avenue.
• Rocky Mountain National Park- 5/5
- Absolutely magnificent. Words can’t do this place justice, so I won’t even try. As this was the first National Park we ever visited, we didn’t know how much hiking we wanted to do, so we didn’t plan it that well. We came across some moose- those things are big!
- Bear Lake Park/Trail- 5/5
- Trail Ridge Road- 5/5
This was something else. We drove up to the top- the whole way up I kept my face turned away from the window. Witnessing that ten-thousand foot drop a few inches away was just too much for me. At the top it was close to 40°- remember this is in August- the temperature in the valley was closer to 90°. The wind was blowing something fierce but the views from that high are unparalleled. No trees grow at this elevation- close to thirteen-thousand feet- so your view is unobstructed.
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