I can honestly say Wyoming was never on my bucket list of places to visit in the US. But I will now say... it should have been. We had a blast in the tiny town of Laramie, Wyoming for my cousin's wedding, which was absolutely stunning. We flew into the Denver airport and drove the 2.5 hours to Laramie during what happened to be "Jubilee Days" and found great food, fun people and some pretty dang good craft beer too.
Some of our favorite spots included:
Really good food, relaxed atmosphere. Try the wings (PB&J! and my favorite Yakitori)
This little pub has really. good. food. But also, the happy hour specials are insane. We got a round of drinks for 3 people for $9... huh?
Get the toffee nut iced latte and a sausage egg and cheese on rosemary bagel. You're welcome.
Really cool atmosphere with great beer, right downtown. If you visit during Jubilee Days you'll be right in the middle of the action, across the street from the carnival.
After the wedding, we extended our trip to do some things in Colorado. We bought tickets to The Avett Brothers at Red Rocks and then toured downtown Estes Park and did some shopping before heading to Denver so Jay and my dad could catch the Home Run Derby while my mom and I went out to eat and hung at the hotel bar.
Red Rocks Amphitheater
A few tips:
Get there early so you can park near the entrance.
Bring a tent to tailgate, there is NO shade.
Go into the venue early if you have General Admission tickets, seats fill up fast.
Wear comfortable shoes, you'll be walking uphill and downhill quite a bit.
Bring a blanket or seat pad as you'll be sitting on a wooden/concrete bench.
Bring a jacket, it gets chilly quick when the sun goes down.
Estes Park
Do the walk around the lake first thing in the morning, it's stunning.
Get coffee and a breakfast sandwich at Kind Coffee, but get there early. It gets busy around 8am and doesn't calm down all day.
Have lunch at Bird & Jim, but make a reservation.
Skip Estes Park Brewery. Sorry, but the beer was just ok and the place was kind of run down with musty air conditioning...
Denver
We didn't venture very far from our hotel since we were only there for one night. But my mom and I had a great dinner at Colorado Campfire before getting drinks at The Warwick.