I know, most people go to Colorado in the winter, when the slopes are covered in feet upon feet of snow. But, we love Colorado in the summer. You don't need 4 wheel drive in the summer. The passes aren't closed in the summer. The weather is amazing in the summer.
One of our favorite spots is Silverton, CO. The smallest town in Colorado in the smallest county. The Animas River has great fishing! It's fun to sit on the rocky banks and watch Bobby fish and let the dogs play as well. We have been a few times and keep going back every chance we get.
Our favorite place to stay in Silverton is The Canyon View Lodge. They are super dog-friendly, and the owners are extremely nice! They seem to love Silverton a lot!
One of the cutest and most unique shops in Silverton is Route 550 Gifts. There are the more run of the mill tourist shops that all have the same t-shirts, and then there is this shop! The owner is extremely nice, and she has designed most of the t-shirts, stickers, and magnets in her retro 50's themed shop. The shop is really a breath of fresh air, and I had to look at each and every piece in the place. You can shop a few of their goods here.
Or check out their awesome TripAdvisor reviews here.
We grabbed some lunch in a very sparkly booth at Mattie and Maud's Cafe, and got one of their "famous" items. It was called Fry Bread. Basically a flat, light, fried, crispy, cinnamon sugar puff. It was under $2.00, and worth a try! The rest of the menu was general breakfast/cafe foods, and the staff was definitely nice. They offer a lot of different Durango Sodas, which was cool.
One of the places we unfortunately haven't checked out is Avalanche Brewing Co. With all of the other tasty places to eat in Silverton, we just haven't managed to get into this cool place. It looked like they had a decent, light menu and likely tasty brews.
Lots of Jeeps and 4x4 / ATVs for rent! You can take them up into the mountains and explore the old mines, something we can't do with our trusty Prius.
Cabbie and Lily absolutely love Silverton! It is such a dog-friendly town.
One place I always get good food is Handlebars. Below is some cheesey green chili soup, and Handlebars Local Beer. YUM! It was lighter, and very cold. I have also gotten their Chicken Pot Pie, and it is unbelievably GOOD. I definitely recommend this place.
A lot of the businesses on the main strip (the only paved road in Silverton), have cool vintage cars with their names on them. Very neat.
Another good place to eat is Teller House. The menu is mostly Mexican dishes, and pretty good. Bobby got the stuffed mushrooms and LOVED them! They are dripping in melted butter, so make sure you are hungry. They have a few beers on tap, I think one or two from Durango.
After dinner at The Teller House, we got one gorgeous sunset! The sky was so pink!
And, this Jeep had The San Juan County Historical Society painted on it. So great!
This was the hood ornament.
And, the dogs would live here if they could!
There was great fishing in the Animas River!
Oh, and I cannot forget to mention the hummingbirds! There were SO many of them in Silverton, and 3 different species I guess. I LOVE them!!!
The water was so clear here! And very chilly, but our dogs don't really care how cold it is!
And, finally I leave you with a rainbow over an old gold mine!!!
