Category ArchiveEverywhere Once |

The Great Cupcake Chase

by Brian on November 28, 2011 in Colorado, Travel, United States

Food has gone viral.

The surge in mobile bistros has given rise to the digitization of eateries. Sure, plenty of savvy restaurants have had a virtual presence for years, with slick websites promoting their fabulous fare. But when the kitchen has wheels, the entire establishment becomes virtual – here one moment and gone the next. Connecting with repeat customers isn’t as “simple” as providing great service and offering outstanding value; that’s a given. An even more basic neccessity is providing would-be patrons a way to find them.

A Moveable Feast

by Brian on November 21, 2011 in Colorado, Travel, United States

They may not have originated in Denver, but gourmet food trucks have recently taken the city by storm. An order of magnitude better than the usual hot dog carts and far removed from the “roach coaches” of old, these former delivery vans and RVs have been remade with snazzy paint jobs, state of the art kitchens, and top notch chefs.

At last count over eighty roving restaurants circled the city, with more joining their ranks everyday. Serving up everything from Mexican-Asian fusion at Mestizos, to artisan wood-fired pizza at 528˚ – that’s right, wood-fired pizza made in the back of a truck – the trendy street food craze is bringing a world of flavors curbside.

Fort Collins’ Bad Business Decision

by Brian on November 18, 2011 in Colorado, Travel, United States

Retail blowout is one way to describe our planned afternoon in Fort Collins, Colorado. We drove into town for the sole purpose of shopping at local stores, eating at local restaurants, and touring most of the city’s many local breweries. We ended up doing none of that. The City of Fort Collins is the reason why.

Photo of the Day: Sylvan Lake

by Brian on November 16, 2011 in Photo of the Day, South Dakota, Travel, United States

Sylvan Lake, Custer State Park, South Dakota

24 Hours in Custer State Park

by Brian on November 11, 2011 in South Dakota, Travel, United States

These granite spires, known as “needles,” are one of the signature sights in South Dakota’s Custer State Park

With 71,000 acres to explore Custer is South Dakota’s largest state park. Despite its size an excellent network of roads permit visitors to see most of the park’s highlights in a single day, although several weeks would be needed to fully canvas all of its lakes, creeks, mountains, plains and hiking trails.

Whether staying a single night or several, Custer is one of the more welcoming parks we’ve visited; with no fewer than four lodges ranging in style from posh to dude ranch. Choosing from among their 13 campgrounds was no small feat either. We eventually decided to stay at the excellent Legion Lake facility, but suspect we’d have been happy with any of the options.