Super-fantastic Journeys

Georgetown is an old gold mining town located less than an hour from downtown Denver.  Growing up in Colorado, Georgetown was just one of the small towns you drove by while going somewhere else.  Now Georgetown is a great place to visit and use as a base camp for more exploring in the area.  The town of Georgetown has changed over the years in a very positive way but has maintained a lot of its old mountain charm. Georgetown is known for the Victorian houses built here back in the 1800s, and many of them are still standing and well maintained.  Many of the yards are full of flowers during the summer, making for a beautiful town to explore. Where I Stayed Microtell Inn & Suites 2190 Argentine St. Georgetown, CO 80444 720-741-8989 Website Service: ✮✮✮✮✮ Rooms: ✮✮✮✮ Cleanliness: ✮ ✮✮ ✮ ✮ Amenities: ✮✮✮ Microtel Inn & Suites George Town - Photo from Wyndham Hotels The Microtel Inn & Suites is a new property in Georgetown and sits on the west end of Lake Georgetown.  I was nicel

Distance: 4.1 Miles Trail Type: Out and Back Elevation Gain: 1066 feet Difficulty: Moderate All Trails Map I grew up hiking on this trail and made my most recent visit here in July 2021.  This is one of my favorite trails in the area.  The trail is a great length and has some elevation gain to it allowing you to spend much of the hike above the tree line.  This provides you with some great views of the surrounding mountain ranges and the lakes that dot this valley.   The road to get to the parking area has been greatly improved and is easy to navigate with any vehicle, just take your time.  The trailhead is clearly marked and has a decent size parking area available, however, I am sure that it can fill up quickly on the weekends. The hike begins in the forest and rises gently up to the first lake along the journey.  Naylor lake is a good size lake and a side trail takes you up to it.  Naylor lake will provide you with many scenic views as you continue to climb up the valley. Depend

Distance: 8.1 Miles Trail Type: Lollipop Elevation Gain: 3622 feet Difficulty: Difficult All Trails Map For those wanting to climb to two of the highest points in the state of Colorado, Grays and Torreys are a popular way to summit two 14ers in one day.  This is a popular location for hiking and can have a lot of people on the trail.   From Interstate 70 you will take Stevens Gulch Road to the trailhead.  It is three miles from the highway to the trailhead but the road is rough.  It is best to have a 4WD with ground clearance, but 2WD with enough clearance can make it.  We took a 2019 Toyota highlander to the trailhead and made it without scraping anything.  The parking lot at the trailhead can fill up early, as many hikers start before sunrise.  The alternative is to park in the lower lot, but this will add 6 miles to your total hike. We started hiking at about five in the morning and did the first mile or so with our headlamps.  The trail crosses a stream and begins a steady clim

I have come to Bethesda Maryland a number of times for work and always look forward to returning.  Located north of Washington D.C., I find that it is easy to get to the National Mall and other Washington D.C. attractions, without being in the hustle and bustle.  Bethesda is the home of Walter Reed Medical Center and the National Institutes of Health.  It has a vibrant downtown area with lots of interesting food options. Getting around in Bethesda is easy by car and is close enough to places to stay that you can either walk or take uber.  The Metro goes right through the area as well so it is possible to catch the metro back to Regan National Airport or down to go and see the monuments and museums. Where I Stay Bethesda Marriott 5151 Pooks Hill Rd. Bethesda, MD 20814 301-897-9400 Service: ✮✮✮✮✮ Rooms: ✮✮✮✮✮ Cleanliness: ✮ ✮✮ ✮ ✮ Amenities: ✮✮✮✮ The Bethesda Marriott is one of my favorite and most consistently high-quality full-service Marriott properties.  It is located in a great spot

10560 Metropolitan Ave. Kensington, MD 20895 240-483-7285 Website Service: ✮✮✮ Food: ✮✮✮ ✮ Cleanliness: ✮ ✮✮ ✮ Talia's Cucina is a Mediterranean kitchen made fresh and with great flavor profiles.  The dine-in portion of the restaurant is small but the flavors coming out of the open space kitchen are huge and the result of true passion for the cooking.  We started with the kalamata olive hummus.  The hummus is for sale in a refrigerator inside the restaurant and they literally take the container from the fridge and serve it with some warm pita.  The nice thing about this is that you can easily take your leftover hummus with you just by putting the lid back on.  The hummus was very good and was not overpowered by the olives.   I had the 7-hour Lamb Wrap which had a roasted leg of lamb that has been marinated in Greek spices served on a pita with lettuce, feta tomato.  The lamb was very flavorful, but it was heated back up in a skillet which I felt dried out some of the lamb and made

7129 Bethesda Ln Bethesda MD 20814 301-718-1005 Website Service: ✮✮✮ Food: ✮✮✮✮✮ Cleanliness: ✮ ✮✮ ✮ Luke's Lobster is a seafood restaurant located in downtown Bethesda Maryland that focuses on doing high-quality seafood right.  Part of a larger sustainable seafood provider from Maine the restaurants provide you the feeling of stepping into a lobster shack along the Maine coast where you can get the freshest seafood possible.   Luke's Seafood rolls are classic.  A classic top split but that has been buttered and grilled, then filled with the fresh seafood salad of your choice, and topped with just a sprinkle of celery salt.   Lukes also offers a selection of local craft beer as well as some of the more common domestic beers. The inside of Luke's is tight and is very true to a couple of lobster shacks that I have visited on the coast of Maine in my travels.  There is limited seating, with about half of the seating being bar style and half being tables. You place your order a

 When you are in a town known for great steaks, it is not a surprise that you can also find a great burger.  You can find everything here from a simple classic fast-food burger to the fanciest gourmet burgers you could imagine with all types of amazing toppings and flavor profiles.  This post will explore some of the great burger spots, attempting our best to rank order them for your enjoyment.  Follow the links to the individual posts about each location and learn more about their burgers and our experience. Rodeo Goat Multiple Locations 9610 Wharf Rd. Dallas, TX 75019 972-440-1530 Website Service: ✮✮✮ ✮ Food: ✮✮✮✮✮ Cleanliness: ✮ ✮✮ ✮ ✮ Read my Full Post  The Rodeo Goat has always been held in high esteem in the DFW area for having great burgers, but with 5 locations around the metroplex, it is even easier to get one of these delicious gems.  There are 18 gourmet burgers on their menu, each one of them sounding amazing and flavorful.   Liberty Burger Multiple Locations 5211 Forest Ln

Rodeo Goat was on my bucket list for longer than it should have been.  It was all about the location before, but with five locations around the DFW area, you no longer have to drive that far to get an amazing burger at Rodeo Goat.  Rodeo Goat starts out with the freshest ground beef possible which they say is ground in-store the same day that you eat it.  Fresh quality meats are important in the burger, and their burger tastes like it.  Their menu is full of different burger options, 18 in total on the regular menu.  In addition to the regular options, there is always the "Battle of the Burgers" on the top of the menu which puts two specialty burgers up against each other in a battle for greatness where the decision is made based on what you vote for by ordering. We visited the Cypress Waters location on a Saturday afternoon after the normal lunch crowd.  Cypress Waters is located in the middle of the DFW metroplex and is close to the DFW airport if you are flying into town.