Greeting from a Texas Renaissance afficionado!

[Tanda]

I also had ordered their Blueberry mead (one of their non-carbonated meads) since I'm a blueberry junky. Gooood stuff.

Ha! I'm drinking that Right This Minute. It's my second favorite of theirs. I realllllly like the plum.

I think this has become a mead thread.  Yay!

[Mistress Charlotte]

Actually if you want an even better mead try Meadery of the Rockys. the Raspberry and Chocolate Velvet is to die for. I tried Redstone and to me it was like drinking seltzer water and gave me and Toki both bad indugestion. Were as the Meadery of the Rockies (Sadly in Western Colorado) is a far better mead.

Ummm what she said!

[Hercules]

Looks as if I've enticed my head wench to tag along (mentioning mead perked her ears up  ).

Any suggestions for POIs on the drive up 287? We're eyeing Cave of the Winds and others in that area.

[Tanda]

Caves of the winds totally! The basic tour is pretty fab (also, naturally air conditioned). The treasure/ghost tour is supposed to be fantastic.
Garden of the Gods is AMAZING. Pretty close to Cave of the Winds. You could do both in one day and still have time for dinner at the Boardmoor. If you are really adventurous, I suggest the Cheyenne Mountain Zoo. It's on the side of a mountain! You can feed giraffes and ride a ski lift to the top of the zoo. Also fun, Cheyenne Mountain State Park. It's between Ft. Carson and The Cheyenne Mountain. Like where Norad is. And the Stargate for you geeks. Lots of picnic areas and camping at Cheyenne Mountain State Park. Great trails. And usually a deer or two will try to run you over.

If you want to head up north a bit, there is Lookout Mountain and Buffalo Bills grave near Golden. Worth the drive for the view. You can see the whole of the Denver Metro Area and on a clear day, you can see to Kansas (almost really). Since you are in Golden, you can do the Coors Brewery Tour. They used to give out samples... On the way there you can hit Lair O' the Bear Open Space near Red Rocks and walk through an enchanted forest to see a castle.

If you feel the need to hit Denver proper, The Museum of Nature and Science, the Zoo, 16th Street Mall, Hammond's Candy, and a slew of microbreweries await your time. Also, the Art Museum looks like a castle.

Just a few ideas. 

[Capt Gabriela Fullpepper]

Also Bishops Castle south and west of Pueblo near Belauh, CO it's well worth it as it's a one man project to build a castle.

[Blushing]

If you're visiting Cave of the Winds and Garden of the Gods, check out Manitou Springs ... there are a bunch of natural springs around the town, and it's a neat place to wander as well.

[ladybootlegger]

I should have commented sooner. The Celtic restaurant/bar is no longer open here in Castle Rock, which was so very depressing!!

There is a wine room in the Bubbles Liquor store here in Castle Rock, that has a small section for mead. Some of the mead they sell is locally made. So there is something else to consider.

[Rosamundi]

The Coors brewery in Golden still gives out samples, as of about 6 weeks ago. Tour and samples both are without charge. And the tour's self-guided, so you can mosey on down to that tasting room as quickly or as slowly as you like. Golden is a nice little walk-around town if you can add an extra afternoon to your trip.

[Capt Spleen]

Then there is the "short tour" at the Golden Brewery. You bypass the tour of how beer is made, (and miss a half cup of five ish hour fresh beer)  and go directly to the tasting room. A punch bracelet that lets you have three of your choice beverages. However you can taste dixie cup tastes all day long, no limit.