The Smokehouse BBQ Winter Park, CO

 
 

Winter Park, CO Restaurants

BBQ Winter Park Colorado

Winter Park has a new restaurant that opened this past weekend. The Smokehouse is located right on US Highway 40 (main street) in the building that housed Pizza Hut until the end of last ski season.  Being true to the Smokehouse name all meat served are dry rubbed and slow smoked with natural, untreated applewood.

There are approximately 25 tables in the snazzy redone dinning room and a bar serving beer and wine.  Favorites look to be pork ribs, Texas Style Brisket and the pulled pork shoulder.  The Smokehouse BBQ is available for dine in , take out with catering options available.

The Smokehouse is open 7 days a week for lunch and dinner.

The Smokhouse contact info:

phone 970.722.0227

website www.wpssmokehouse.com

Winter Park Resort Winter Carnival

 
 

Mary Jane skiing

Mary Jane’s Birthday Bash

This weekend brings us the Winter Park Carnival celebrating Mary Jane’s birthday.  The event celebrates one of Winter Park’s most famous gals – Mary Jane, the lady of the night. Winter Park Resort will host Mary Jane’s Birthday Bash with daily events including free bump tips, a snow sculpture contest, live music, and delicious Après Ski birthday cake (outside of the Club Car, on the Mary Jane base, at 2:15pm Saturday).  Destination Downtown will carry the celebration into Saturday evening with a main street parade, fireworks and family fun activities. Ice Sculpture competition will return this year at Winter Park Resort and downtown Winter Park.

Here are the scheduled events  on Saturday, January 21 to celebrate Mary Jane turning another year older:

7:30-9am Pancake Breakfast at Mary Jane

8am-11am Interactive Ice Display at Winter Park Resort

8am-4pm Snow Sculpture contest at Winter Park Resort and Mary Jane 9am-4pm Retail and Rental specials at the Mary Jane Shop

10am-1pm 5k Less Idle More Wild Snowshoe Series in Hideaway Park 10am-2pm Free Bump Tips at the Top of the Super Gauge Express 11am-1pm Kids fun activities with 1k race in Hideaway Park. 11:30am-5pm Jager Ice Bar & Giveaways Club Car Deck

12pm-5pm Live Music on the Club Car Deck

2pm-6pm Sprint Photo Booth- Old Time Photos

3pm-6pm Mary Jane dress-alike specials & après ski at the Club Car 1pm-4pm vitaminwater Street Team Sampling

3pm-6pm Coors Liberty Ski Giveaway at the Derailer Bar 3pm-6pm The Silver Bullet Base Bash Live Music Series presented by Coors with Kort McCumber at the Derailer Bar

4pm-6pm Free Campfire – S’mores Hot Chocolate and Sledding Party at Hideaway Park

4-8pm Free Music at Hideaway Park 5:15pm Wish Lanterns to be lit and set off in Hideaway Park

6pm Free Parade down Main Street Winter Park

Fireworks and Cupcakes to follow 9pm The Grand County Blues Society Presents Trampled Under Foot at Smokin’ Moe’s

11:30am-5pm Coors Light Ice Bar & Giveaways on the Derailer Deck

Sunday, January 22 Events:

7:30-9am Bloody Marys at Club Car at Mary Jane

10am-2pm Free Bump Tips at the Top of the Super Gauge Express 9am-4pm Retail and Rental specials at the Mary Jane Shop

11:30am-5pm Jager Ice Bar & Giveaways Club Car Deck 11:30-5pm Coors Light Ice Bar & Giveaways on the Derailer Deck 3-6pm Apres Ski Club Car at Mary Jane

9:45pm Live Music featuring Whitewater Ramble at Ullrs Tavern

Head on out and help Mary Jane celebrate her birthday.

Winter Park, CO Key Card Savings

 
 

Savings in Winter Park  key card

Discounts with the Winter Park Key Card

Your Key Card is the only card you will need to access rewards, savings, discounts and ongoing promotions in Winter Park & The Fraser Valley. Make sure you use your Key Card every time you stay, shop, dine or do an activity at participating merchants. You will will earn points and rewards every time you make a purchase and then you may redeem those points back with us. And the best part, its FREE!

Get your Winter Park & Fraser Key Card.

If you take your card to the Winter Park Chamber of Commerce, they will put $10 on it to use at any of those 50 businesses for a limited time so get over there and get your $10.

Participating  Winter Park and Fraser Valley Businesses include:

Alpine Sun Ski & Sport

Arapaho Chiropractic Center

B’Jammin

Beaver Village Lodge

Best Western / Alpenglo Lodge

Blue Sky Massage

Columbia Store at Winter Park Resort

Colorado Adventure Park

Deno’s Mountain Bistro

Earth Rocks

The Eatery at Beaver Village

Epic Mountain Sports – Both Locations

Fontenot’s Fresh Seafood & Grill

Granby Ranch 8350 (Members Private Club)

Grand Sports Shop

Hernando’s Pizza & Pasta Pub

Icebox Liquors

Imaginations

Kopy Kat Office

Moose Hollow Trading Company

Olympia Lodge

Pizza Pedal’r

Powder Addiction

Rocky Mountain Chalet

Seven Sisters

Seven Trails Restaurant at SolVista Basin

Ski4Less – All 4 Locations

Ski Broker

SolVista Basin Retail & Bike Shop

SolVista Basin Cafeteria

SolVista Basin Ski Rentals & Ticket Sales

Spectrum Home Services

The Salon at Winter Park

The Sun Piper

The Viking Lodge & Ski Shop

Trails End Mercantile

Wild Horse Inn

Winter Park Chateau

Winter Park Lodging Company

Winter Park Market

Get your card and start saving now!

Grand Park Bowl & Cinema in Winter Park, CO

 
 

Grand Park Bowl and movie theater

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.

bowling in Grand County

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.

Winter Park, CO Lunch – Carvers

 
 

Restaurants Winter Park Resort

Winter Park, CO Restaurants

We had a chance to get  out and hit an old Winter Park favorite for lunch today.  Carvers has been around for since 1983 and has gone through a couple of different owners and has been open for dinner some parts of the year and then closed for other parts of the year.  Currently Carvers is open for breakfast and lunch seven days a week.  Carver Brothers Bakery first opened on June 1, 1983, in Winter Park, Colorado. It was started by Jim, Bill, Sara and Eleanor Carver.

Today the old time bakery serves up some fine breakfasts and lunches including great Eggs Benedict variations.  Today we had a Frito Pie chili bowl and an egg white omelet with bacon.  Yummmm!

Carvers strives to use only the freshest, locally-grown products available including 100% cage free eggs with no added hormones or antibiotics.  The same can be said for the 100% naturally grown beef…It’s locally raised in Colorado without adding hormones or unnecessary antibiotics.  All bread products served are made in house daily including the bread accompanying our breakfast entrées, all sandwich buns and to-die-for cinnamon rolls.  The extra attention sets them apart from other places and will bring you back time after time.

Check out the full Carvers menu.

CARVERS is little hard to find because they are one of the only sucessful business not on Main Street.  They are located behind Cooper Creek Square in downtown Winter Park.  If driving, turn west on Vazquez Road from HWY 40 and pull into the free parking garage located 100 yard from your turn on the right.  You will find them at the west end of the mall.  There is also parking available by accessing us from Lions Gate Road.  Call if more info is needed, (970) 531-7120!

Check out Winter Park Lodging Company’s list of favorite Winter Park restaurants.

Elevation Pizza Winter Park, Colorado

 
 

Pizza delivery WInter Park, Co

Pizza Delivery Winter Park, CO

Elevation Pizza is the Winter Park areas newest pizza maker.  And boy are the pizzas here tasty and they deliver to the comforts of your own home or condo.

Elevation Pizza is the place to get a giant pie in Winter Park and the Fraser Valley. From fresh made pizza dough to homemade San Marzano tomato sauce, we invite you to choose from familiar favorites or signature styles with unique flavors and blends, all topped with high-quality ingredients. Located in Fraser in the Fraser Valley Center (near ALCO). Dine in, carry out, and delivery available to Winter Park/Fraser-area. We also can take care of your group catering needs.

Elevation Pizza is also on the Winter Park Lodging Company Vip discount card.  As a guest with WPLCo you the second pizza of your liking at 50% off with the purchase of a regular menu priced pizza.  That is a screaming deal to feed the masses after a day on the slopes and remember they will deliver to your door.

Check out the Elevation Pizza Menu.

Our favorite here at the Winter Park Lodging Company office is the Adam Bomb.  This a spectacular pie with pepperoni, hatch green chills, a smear of cream cheese with San Marzano tomato sauce and mozzarella cheese…. Yum!

Elevation Pizza Contact info:

970.726.0066

Web: www.elevationpizzaco.com

Only those staying with Winter Park Lodging Company get the Elevation Pizza deal so remember to book your Winter Park vacation lodging with WPLCo.

Airfare Deal Alert for Winter Park, CO – November 2011

 
 

Take a look below at the flight from NYC to Denver for just $198 and the killer deal from Austin for just $110. November’s Airfare Deals are all round trip flights for $198 or less, and all cities are different than those in last month’s report.  For more flight deals to Denver, check out www.airfarewatchdog.com. Get the deals now so you can ski Winter Park with us!

Also in this month’s airfare deal alert, get the scoop on the airfare hikes predicted for this ski season. Reports that high demand for holiday seats, combined with low availability, means fares for these heavy travel periods are bound to go up, soon. See MSNBC’s full video report.

November’s Flight Deals as of 11/2/2011:

$110 RT Austin, TX (AUS)
$142 RT Boise, ID (BOI)
$178 RT Boston, MA (BOS)
$199 RT Cedar Rapids, IA (CID)
$198 RT Detroit, MI (DTW)
$139 RT Idaho Falls, ID (IDA)
$139 RT Jackson Hole, WY (JAC)
$198 RT New York City, NY (LGA)
$139 RT Oklahoma City, OK (OKC)
$139 RT Rapid City, SD (RAP)
$198 RT Rochester, MN (RST)
$118 RT Salt Lake City, UT (SLC)
$118 RT San Antonio, TX (SAT)
$120 RT San Diego, CA (SAN)
$190 RT Shreveport, LA (SHV)
$118 RT Spokane, WA (GEG)
$148 RT St. Louis, MO (STL)
$190 RT Texarkana, AR (TXK)
$148 RT Wichita, KS (ICT)

Remember to check with us for availability at a vacation rental in Winter Park for your dates first, then book your flights! Search Winter Park Lodging Company now to see what options await you.

Best Bars in Winter Park, CO

 
 

Best bar in Winter Park CO

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?

Best Burgers in Winter Park, CO

 
 

Winter Park, Colorado’ s Best BurgerBest burger in Winter Park co

It has taken awhile but we have completed the best burger competition in Winter Park, CO.  I have eaten enough burgers to be fairly sure that I will not be ordering a burger in a restaurant for the next couple months.  The positive is I have learned we have some killer burgers here in Winter Park.

The original competition was going to be a contest of the top three recommended by our Winter Park Lodging Company Facebook Fans but there were more than three recommendations.  I tried all five different burgers in addition to the ever present McDonald’s franchise here in Winter Park, CO.

I have seen some burger reviews break down a burger almost scientifically in how they rate the burger.  I was not very scientific at all.  If the meat was flavorful and the bun had a good texture and consistency I pretty much thought the burger good, from there it was deciding what burger had the best flavor combination overall. Burger at Heck's Devil Thumb Ranch

The restaurants that we visited were Deno’s, The Library Grill, Heck’s at Devils Thumb Ranch, Randi’s and Sharky’s.  There was not a bad burger at any one of them.  I am a blue cheese lover and most if the time I ordered some kind blue cheese burger sometimes with bacon.  At Hecks they had a burger with a nice slice of pork belly that can be seen in the pic on the far right. YUM!!!!!

 

Library Sports bar and grill burgerSo the top burger in Winter Park, Colorado goes to……… drumbeat please……..

Deno’s.  As I said the competition was close but if I had to rate the five burgers I would go in this order:

  1. Deno’s – great meat but it is the bun that really makes this burger.
  2. Heck’s at Devil’s Thumb Ranch – you can not go wrong with putting a slab of pork belly on a burger. They might even be 1a
  3. Randi’s – may have had the best meat but the bun was “stiff”. Still a really good burger and had some awesome onion rings to go with.
  4. The Library –  ordered the Paul Bunyon which is a two patty behemoth that will satisfy any large appetite.  The sweet potato fries sound great but are pretty much mediocre.
  5. Sharky’s –  don’t know why they are last as the burger was really good but a tad small.  They have a homemade bun that is fantastic.  Burger at Sharky's Winter Park, CO

So, there are the best burgers in Winter Park, Colorado from my humble opinion.  You can and will not go wrong with any one of these.  If you are in a rush, or hungover, you can still hit McDonald’s for that Big Mac or Q/Pounder with cheese but you would be much better off hitting one of these local stops here in Winter Park and Fraser.

Here is the original post for the best burger competition in Winter Park , Colorado.

Airfare Deal Alert for Winter Park, CO – October 2011

 
 

The deals are out there right now, especially for Texas and Arizona residents. Perfect. Ya’ll are probably really looking forward to Winter Park’s snowy temperatures after the steamy hot summer. But there’s more great deals to be found, including a flight from Portland, MAINE, for $120 round trip! For more flight deals to Denver, check out www.airfarewatchdog.com.

Baggage Basics: Also in this month’s airfare deal alert, learn which airlines don’t charge an arm and a leg for you to bring your luggage. For example, my favorite airline right now is Southwest, because not only can you bring two checked bags for free, you can make a flight change without paying a fee. To see Airfare Watchdog’s comprehensive list of all the airlines’ baggage fees, click here.

October’s Flight Deals as of 10/4/2011:

$118 RT Amarillo, TX (AMA)
$184 RT Atlanta, GA
$168 RT Branson, MO (BKG)
$122 RT Chicago, IL (MDW)
$138 RT College Station, TX (CLL)
$186 RT Flint, MI (FNT)
$108 RT Houston, TX (HOU)
$164 RT Indianapolis, IN (IND)
$98 RT Kansas City, MO (MCI)
$166 RT Killeen, TX (GRK)
$90 RT Las Vegas, NV (LAS)
$139 RT Lincoln, NE (LNK)
$186 RT Longview, TX (GGG)
$122 RT Milwaukee, WI (MKE)
$142 RT Minneapolis, MN (MSP)
$118 RT Omaha, NE (OMA)
$90 RT Phoenix, AZ (PHX)
$120 RT Portland, ME (PWM)
$116 RT Tucson, AZ (TUS)

Remember to check with us for availability at a vacation rental in Winter Park for your dates first, then book your flights! Search Winter Park Lodging Company now to see what options await you.