Much is made of the romance of the West, what with its wide open spaces, big sky and places where you can just get lost in each other. We asked readers – and a few folks who are professional romantics – for help picking some of the sweetest spots in Colorado.
DARK SKY
Colorado’s great outdoors are so vast that it doesn’t take much of a drive to get to a seriously dark sky, a place where the love-struck can recline on the warm hood of the car and snuggle up and stargaze. Head to the Pawnee National Grasslands in the northeast corner of the state, or to the Comanche National Grasslands in the southeast reaches. If you can handle the chill, there’s no better place to soak in the heavens than South Park, where it might feel like you could just reach up and pluck a star from the velvety night sky.
WINTER PICNIC
There’s nothing more romantic than something unexpected.
Kristi Blanco, a Colorado native who finds no flaw with our state’s climate, loves the surprise of a winter picnic. On the Front Range, she likes a moderate hike or snowshoe to the top of Red Rocks Trail in Matthews/ Winter Park, which is part of Jefferson County’s Open Space (south of I-70 and west of Colorado 26). She brings along the whole family – husband, kids and dogs. Up top, everyone settles down on a thermal blanket, warms up with a cup of hot cocoa, feasts on fresh fruit, cheese and crackers, then takes in the wintry beauty. “I look out east and enjoy the stunning view of the Front Range and Denver,” she says.
SUNSETS
And then there are our sunsets.
Keeler, still raising the flag for romance in the valley, recalls that the Sangres got their name because of the blood-red color they take on at sunset during certain times of the year. Other travelers swear by the glacial valley where East Homestake Creek wanders through. Though you’ll want to wait for summer to visit, you won’t be disappointed by the breathtaking moments of twilight glow in this area west of Colorado 24, between Leadville and Minturn.
IT TAKES THE CAKE
Marci Perrotto spends all of her professional life making sure the confectionery part of a couple’s most romantic day is perfect. So when her husband Greg manages to drag her away from her Berthoud wedding cake business, they head to the hills. “We have a lot of alone time in Estes Park, and hiking is one of our big things. Lily Lake Trail is one we like, and we like to walk around Bear Lake” in Rocky Mountain National Park, Greg Perrotto says.
“We might take a bottle of our favorite wine. And maybe some cake,” he says with a laugh.
CITY LIGHTS
The amber lights are turned down low at Lannie’s Clocktower Cabaret (lannies.com), in the Daniels & Fisher Tower at 16th and Arapahoe streets in downtown Denver.
Designer Lonnie Hanzon fashioned a cozy lounge from the basement of the historic building. “You can’t even imagine,” says cabaret co-owner and torch-song singer Lannie Garrett (left). “There are light fixtures all amber and gold, and old-fashioned booths covered in gorgeous satin. It’s a very lush and sensual room.”
Because it’s new on the club scene, you can still get a table for Valentine’s Day, when Soul School will be romancing the room with sultry old-school R&B and jazz. “It’s a very sexy band, and you can sip champagne and eat chocolate desserts,” Garrett coos.
STEAMING IT UP
There is something heartwarming about a soak in a tub, even if the tub holds 1 million gallons of hot water. Glenwood Hot Springs worked its magic on Loveland couple Pat and Mark Gembarowski early in their relationship.
Once their romance worked its way around to the point of no return, Mark made arrangements for the pair to spend a night in Glenwood Springs on the way back from a trip to California. “It was Jan. 3 and 5 degrees below zero, and Mark very much wanted to go swimming. I thought it was way too cold, but he talked me into it.
“The pool, of course is still warm, even when it is that cold, but what’s really beautiful is that clouds of steam rise off the pool constantly. So while we were swimming and relaxing, the fog blocked out the sounds and sights of anyone around us, so we felt totally alone, like it was all ours.
“So he proposed then, and it was wonderfully romantic,” Pat Gembarowski writes. “We’ve been married 17 years and still go to Glenwood whenever we have a chance, and any other hot springs pool we can find.”
ROMANCE OF THE WEST
The romance of the West lured Phyllis Coletta out here from the East Coast, and on Venable Pass in the Sangre de Cristos, she fell hard for a cowboy named Bob McConnell.
“We live in a tiny cabin on Bear Basin Ranch, and the most achingly beautiful view is our backyard: a herd of 60 horses grazing on acres of rolling pastures, with those magnificent Sangres standing guard in the background.”
Ditto for her adopted home, where the pair run KB Mountain Adventures. “I love so many parts of this gorgeous state but still I come home to Westcliffe, Bear Basin, the Sangres (which are not only our backyard, but our office) and there’s just the resonance of unparalleled beauty. I love that our work allows us to play outside with people all summer. For a Philly girl, this is a dream come true.”
“So here’s a picture of me and Bob kissing on our horses,” she writes.
FULL MOON WALK
Sure it was hyperbole when Dean Martin suggested “when the moon hits your eye like a big pizza pie, that’s amore.” But Elmer Keeler, who lives in Villa Grove, on the west slope of the Sangre de Cristo range, says there’s just something sweet about talking a walk in the light of the full moon.
“I’ve been out there when it’s so bright you can see your shadow from the moon,” Keeler says, reflecting on the vast San Luis Valley nights, which are mostly unspoiled by the lights of civilization. “Sometimes, you can see the outline of the mountains. A lot of people who live in the city don’t think about that.”
The full moon rises tonight at about 9:45 but will still be bright on Valentine’s Day night, even if you’re strolling a big-city street with your sweetie.
