Haunted Stays and Autumn Days in Colorado

As bellhops grabbed my bags, a valet driver swiped my car keys, and a receptionist handed me a key to my room at The Little Nell, a five-star hotel in Aspen, Colorado, I was already feeling the pressure of time.

Skiing in the Alps. Swimming in crystal clear lakes. Modern cities with medieval old towns. All that chocolate and cheese.

Somehow, the baby I used to Björn to my chest and tote around trips to Hawaii and Colorado is now a 6'2" man with beverage preferences reclining his seat on a cross-country flight to college in Oregon. I chose to spend our pre-campus nights in the decidedly un-stuffy Jupiter Next in Portland’s Central Eastside district for its fun vending machine (get a mystery bag for $10!), chill communal outdoor balconies with views of Mount Hood, and proximity to food vendors with delicious local eats. I packed for five days, anticipating much walking, hydrating, and chowing down. Oh, and lugging books into my son’s dorm room. Read on for a peek into my packing list for Portland, Oregon.

LaGuardia Airport is hardly a romantic destination — but for at least one couple, it's where their love story began. 

With its endless blue skies and hiking, climbing and exploring galore, Colorado is a wonderful place to introduce the kiddos to the great outdoors.

The best time to visit Colorado depends on how you want to spend your time in the Centennial State. From world-class skiing and snowboarding in the winter to picturesque hiking and mountain biking in the summer, Colorado is all about outdoor recreation, which is largely seasonal and weather-dependent.

Terry and Al Hershey can afford to live anywhere they please after their successful careers—she in the corporate offices of Time Warner, he running businesses in medical device manufacturing and contract research and development. So, when they loaded up their 34-foot RV at their Bonita Springs, Florida home and hit the road to scout a second retirement locale, they headed to what might sound like a surprising place: Traverse City, Michigan, a small town (population 16,000) 250 miles northwest of Detroit, that sits on a bay opening to Lake Michigan. In 2021, the Hersheys moved into a 132-year-old, 5-bedroom Victorian three blocks from Grand Traverse Bay, where they spend six months a year with their goldendoodle and Aussiedoodle. Now both 76, they hike, bike, kayak and motorboat and can choose from scores of musical performances a year at the nearby Interlochen Center for the Arts and by the Traverse Symphony Orchestra. “We wanted a summer base,” Terry explains. Why not spend all year in Traverse City? They don’t mind the cold (they lived for many years in Colorado), but find the lack of sunshine during the winters in Traverse City too dreary, she says.

Colorado is a large, geographically diverse state that’s best explored by car.

Colorado’s culinary scene is officially on the Michelin map: Five restaurants have earned Michelin stars and dozens more garnered recommendations from the esteemed guide.

Famous for its fresh mountain air, Colorado is a place to get high – in more ways than one. The mighty spine of the Rocky Mountains cuts through the west of the Centennial State, lifting the landscape up into a rugged tumult of towering mountains, high desert mesa and slot canyons. 

Colorado is justly famous for its breathtaking landscapes: mountain vistas, sun-drenched plains, red rock mesas and high deserts. All of which look especially fetching through a windshield.

Colorado is one of those places that appear on just about everyone’s bucket list, and for good reason.