New Theater and Bowling Alley in Winter Park, CO

We are getting a new bowling alley and movie theater here in Winter Park. That big ole’ building popping up right between The Grand Park Community Rec Center and the Winter Park Lodging Company offices will be  the destination to catch a flick in the Winter Park area.  The Village at Grand Park will house eight lanes of bowling, two digital cinemas with stadium seating, video arcade games and a bistro specializing in brick oven pizza. The project is scheduled to open summer of 2012.  Rumor has it there will also be a bar serving at least beer and wine.

The above picture is an artist rendering of what the building will look like from the Winter Park Lodging Company parking lot.  Below is the view from US Highway 40.

We are getting all fancy here in WP with lots of new things.  Next thing you know we will be getting a Wallmart…. oh I hope not, but a Target would be really cool!  Or our little town can stay just the same with the tasteful stores that we already have.

But hey, we are getting a new movie theater and bowling alley so no more driving to Grand Lake for guys night out bowling.  Kids can catch a flick in a stadium seating theater and hopefully we will be able to have a brew while waiting.  Now we have a perfect setting to view the Warren Miller ski movie each year.

We can’t wait for the new Grand Park Bowl & Cinema.

If you are looking to get even further away, check out the experimental forest in Fraser. This beautiful trail system takes a little longer to get to, but is well worth the drive. This 23,000 acre forest has been a site for studies in alpine and subalpine environments since 1937. For a nice easy ski, park at St. Luis Campground and ski the loop which includes Creek Side and Flume trails. If you are looking for a challenge, add on Chainsaw and Zoom, but be prepared for some big climbs. Click here to view a map of this area (look for the blue box stating 1^st St. Louis Campground).

Please be sure to bring a map on either of these trails, along with sun screen, a light snack and plenty of water. Maps are available at the Winter Park Chamber of Commerce, located in the heart of Winter Park. These trails are also great bike trails in the summer.

American Blues News reviewed one of her songs, 4 Non-Blondes, as being part Rolling Stones, part John Lee Hooker, and part Dukes of Hazzard car chase. In other words, Samantha knows how to play the blues, and we’re guaranteed another amazing show this Friday. Kate Moss will certainly only add to the party; she’s no stranger to the guitar herself. With these two on stage together, be ready to dance.

One added bonus: the Blues Society is kind enough to appreciate Verteran’s Day at the show, so any Verteran plus one guest will get into the show FREE! Guess what else? If you’re a guest of Winter Park Lodging Company, mention it at the door and your ticket will be on the house too! If you didn’t book with us this time, your ticket is $10, but it’s for a good cause: the Grand County Blues Society is a non-profit, so all the cash they collect at the door goes toward keeping Blues in the School and Blue Star Connection successful programs. Plus, our donations and ticket purchases help us to to keep bringing great live blues music back to Winter Park as often as we can. So, after you’re done waxing your skis for the early opening of Winter Park Resort this Saturday, come out to Smokin’ Moes for a great night with us. Want to make a weekend out of it? Give Winter Park Lodging Company a call to set up your lodging, lift tickets, ski rentals, and some free tickets to a great show!

Winter Park Resort Area Best Bars

Beers and skiing go hand in hand like ski condos and hot tubs.  We have finished, finally, the best burgers review for Winter Park, CO and since ski season is just about here we thought we would do what are the best bars here in Winter Park and the surrounding Fraser Valley.

There as many kinds of bars as there are beers and there is a place for each and every one of them.  Local pub, restaurant bar, shot bar at the ski slope, sports bar, bar at the pizza place, the night club bar …. lotsa bars and we have them all here in WP.

What is your favorite and why is the question?  Is it the selection of beers on tap, great location and view, the hotty slinging the swill, the bartender hooks you up with with free suds, great people watching (both sexes), what gets you to head out and plop your dollars on that bar?

I did a best place to get a beer in Winter Park a couple of years ago and all those places are still around but they are places to get a beer not necessarily bars (splitting hairs maybe?).  So we are doing this top five bars for the start of this ski season.  Remember we have some new places here in WP so lets not leave them out of the competition.  Emilie’s wine bar, The Library Sports and Grill are two of the newbies that should be in consideration.  We also have an older list of best patio to get a beer in Winter Park, CO. Lets not leave these, mostly, Winter Park Resort watering holes out of the equation either.

So here is how this works, I will post this blog on the Winter Park Facebook page and you all can recommend away either on the FB page or in the comments below this blog.  I will take the top five and give those top five the old college try.

So here goes: What are the best bars in Winter Park, CO?

There are always some store shuffling after and before ski season and this year has been no exception.

This summer we saw the opening of The Library and Emilies Wine Bar right on Highway 40 here and they both have been great additions to the restaurant choices in the WP and the Fraser Valley.

Now leading up to the 2011-12 Winter Park/Mary Jane ski season opening the Winter Park Trading Post sports gear consignment and Surf and Turf Restaurant, Strips and Tails will be opening before start of ski season.

The Winter Park Trading Post will be housed in the old Caldwell Banker building right in US Highway 40 across from Fraser Valley Hot Dog.  Strips and Tails is opening in the old Hideaway Bar spot at the end of US 40 across from the Winter Park Lodging Company new offices Pine Tree Plaza.  Steve Bromberg is proprietor of Strips and Tails.  Steve presently operates The Bistro at Iron Horse in the winter and Mackinaw’s Bar and Grill on Lake Granby in the summer.

I don’t have much word on the Winter Park Trading Post but it sounds like it will be like most sports gear consignment stores in ski towns.  One of our favorites is Boomerang Sports in Steamboat Springs, CO.  As I said Winter Park is definitely in need of a consignment sporting goods operation.

So, ski season will be here soon and we are ready for some new shops, eateries and a whole bunch of fresh snow.

The Library:
This new restaurant and bar’s motto is “Don’t Lie To Your Mom, Tell Her You’re at the Library”. Delicious food and microbrews make this a good après-ski spot. We recently tried the Cobb salad and the Paul Bunyan burger. Yum! Located on the main drag in downtown Winter Park near Randi’s and Wells Fargo. Also, it’s right across from the Post Office, how fitting.

Emilie’s:
Located just as you enter downtown Winter Park, where BlueSky shoes used to be, this tapas bar has the town talking. It’s a little pricey, we hear, but we also heard the food is yummy as is the wine. Want something more filling? Go next door to Backcountry Grill for good steaks and atmposphere.

Coming Soon! Elevated Pizza.
Hot off the Press. The folks at Home James Transportation are going to expand their delivery service beyond just people moving. They will be delivering pizza out of their new pizza shop Elevated Pizza in the Alco Shopping Center.

Happy Spring Splash Winter Park. Mud season has officially started with the end of the fabulous 2010/2010 ski season. What a celebration. Now, let the sun shine, the trails dry quickly and the mountain biking begin!

The skiing has just ended but it is time to look ahead for the opening of Winter Park Resort for all the summer base activities.  Alpine Slide, put-put golf, rock wall climbing, trampoline, zip line and most importantly Trestle Bike Park will all be back and running in no time at all.

This year looks to be a great one at Winter Park with lots of summer activities and a whole bunch of events going on in at the Resort and in the town of Winter Park.

Trestle Bike Park will be getting more trails with the famous Rainmaker now running from top to bottom.  In town there will be Winter Park Jazz Fest, Winter Park Music Fest and a resurrection of the American Music Festival.

Bring the kids up for the longest alpine slide in Colorado with a carnival like party in the Winter Park Village.  The Cheeky Monk, Lime, Pizza Peddl’r and Backbowl Soup Company are serving up great food and drink and the base of Winter Park will be a great place to spend some times with the kids and family.

Look for deals from Winter Park Lodging Company to make your stay as economical as possible with the best guest service in Winter Park, Colorado.  Spring is here and summer is around the corner so mark the calendar, Winter Park Resort opens June 11th.

Colorado’s Favorite Front Porch is set to open under new owners full time June 6th, 2011.  Last summer the Lodge opened for a short time with limited food and hours as a kind of audition for the new owners.  This season will see the Grand Lake Lodge up and running at full steam serving breakfast, lunch and dinner as well as getting back into the wedding business.

GLL is now owned by an investor group out of South Dakota and managed by Regency Hotel Management.  The full restaurant menu has not come out yet but that should be available in the next few weeks.

The new Grand Lake Lodge website (partially completed) can be found at http://grandlakelodge.rtrk.com/

If you have never been out to the Lodge, it is quite a treat.  Some of the best views in all of Colorado.  The Lodge sits above the town of Grand Lake which is on the banks of Colorado’s largest natural lake.  Grand Lake has been a summer playground for some of Colorado’s most wealthy and famous residents.  The entrance to Rocky Mountain National Park sits just outside Grand Lake Lodge’s entrance.  If are looking to explore the high country or just get away, there is not a cooler place than the Lodge.

Word on the street is there will not be too many changes coming to GLL at least this year.  The Lodge will be open from July 10, 2011 and will close September 11, 2011.  Wouldn’t it be really nice of the new owners could keep GLL open in winter months also?  That may be too tall an order though.  It is very nice to see Grand Lake Lodge reopening and we wish them the best!

Winter Park Lodging Company has won the ZB award.  What is the ZB award you ask?  Well, the Zb award the most creative use of the Winter Park/Fraser Valley mascot ZB.  And why is our mascot named ZB here in Winter Park, Colorado? ZB is the original Colo license plate numbers that were given for Winter Park and the Fraser Valley ( see picture to the right).

Whew that is complicated!

Here is the Winter Park Chamber of Commerce announcement of our big win in the promote ZB contest:

Winner Announced: The Chamber is pleased to announce the winner of the “ZB’s Launch for Lunch Contest” held in January.  Drumroll please… the winner is Winter Park Lodging Company for their incredibly creative ZB sticker.  Also, an Honorable Mention to Grand County TV18 / Outside Television for including ZB in a commercial.  Check it out by clicking here.

We won we won we won!  Look for ZB all through the town of Winter Park, CO.

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