Like last year, we stayed at the Grand Lodge.  This place had everything we needed: large rooms with plenty of storage, friendly staff, on-site restaurant, hot tub and pool, and most importantly, very close proximity to the lift lines.  We kept our skis in our car, and each morning just walked to the car, grabbed our gear, and walked to the lift.  No rush, no lines, no worries.

The snow conditions were not very good this year (last year CB had epic snow totals, so we were totally spoiled).  However, the snow was good enough to have a great time, and the complete and utter lack of crowds made the ski experience amazing.  We did enjoy a couple of lunches on the mountain, one at Paradise Warming Hut, and one quick lunch sitting outside on lounge chairs at the top of Painter Boy lift.

Our dinners in Crested Butte were quite good.  We had one quick and easy dinner on our night of arrival at the Grand Lodge.  It was OK resort food.  On Saturday night, we had amazing pizza and great beer at Brick Oven Pizza, definitely a local favorite.  And, on Sunday night we visited the ever-popular The Last Steep and wondered why we had never eaten here - we loved it! 

Attention all coffee lovers.  Camp 4 is still the BEST coffee in Crested Butte, and it may be the best coffee in Colorado.  We visited the Camp 4 in Mount Crested Butte (they have 3 locations), since it was across from the Grand Lodge.  Expect long lines (due to its popularity), but enjoy the ambiance and savor the expectations.  Amazing coffee without the pomp and snotty attitudes of a trendy coffee shop.  Camp 4 is just great coffee - and still very reasonably priced.

My favorite part of visiting Crested Butte?  The atmosphere.  This is a true mountain town.  It is all local, no chain restaurants, no chain hotels, no buildings in town over 2 stories high, nothing too fancy, and everything laid back.  The speed limit in town is 15mph - and no one drives that fast.  There are a couple of 4-way stops at intersections, and it is an exercise in politeness, to see who can let others go before them.  The town has loads of bicycles, even in the dead of winter with icy, snow packed roads.  Of all the bikes we saw in town, not one was locked.  Locals greet each other with hugs, and seem to put up quite nicely with the out-of-state tourists who flock here.  Sure, we are from Colorado, but we actually felt in the minority as most of the tourists we bumped into were from out of state.  

One of my goals is to eventually move to a small island in the South Pacific, where the locals are friendly and the pace is slow and casual.  Crested Butte is my favorite ski mountain town because it is as close to 'South Pacific Island' as I can get in Colorado.

Loads of people, very long lift lines, huge lines for food - and we avoided it all!  We went snowshoeing.  The Peaks trail, near Peak 7 and the Independence Super Chair, was brilliant today.  We practically had the trail to ourselves.  We saw three other small groups while we were out there for over 90 minutes.  The first group of snowshoers were bragging about just having seen a Moose cow and her calf.  They even showed us their photos as proof.  We just missed the two Moose by about 10 minutes.  Bummer.

A stunner of a day at Breckenridge.  And the best part? Ski lift tickets are $93 for the day.  Snowshoeing in the quiet, peaceful National Forest is FREE!

Some quick stats:  

Global Entry is a service for US citizens that allows you to bypass normal Immigration lines when arriving back into the USA.  Here's how it works:

- You apply online and apply through their website (beware: it is a government website, so it is not the easiest site to use and navigate).

- Pay the $100 non-refundable application fee.

- They (not exactly sure who 'they' is) do a background check on you.

- Once your application is approved, you need to schedule an interview at one of the Global Entry Enrollment Centers.

- At the Center, you get interviewed, they take your photo, and collect biometrics from you (fingerprints, and retina scans).

- Once you are approved, you will save LOADS of time.

As a Global Entry member, I can literally fly through the airport.  Whenever I arrive from an international flight, I bypass the normal Immigration lines, and head straight towards the Global Entry kiosk.  This is what it looks like:

You scan your passport on the machine, and it reads your information.  It displays your name and your Arriving Flight details, then asks you to place your fingers on the fingerprint reader.  Once confirmed, it will ask you a series of questions (the same questions that are on the little blue USA Customs form that they hand out on the plane).  Answer the questions on the touchscreen, confirm, and it prints out a 'receipt'.  Hold up the receipt to the nearest Immigration officer as you walk by towards baggage claim.  Once you have your bags, get in the Global Entry express lane, hand your receipt to the Customs agent, and you're done.

You don't have to fill out the blue Customs form on the plane. You don't have to wait in line and see an Immigration officer.  And, you get to use an express lane to depart through Customs.  For me, this was a no-brainer, and it has helped me get through airports fast and easy.  If you are a regular International traveler, I can not recommend this more.  

The tour of Sports Authority field was very cool!  We visited some luxury boxes, which cost $80,000 per year to rent - so, for 8 Broncos home games (not counting pre-season), the cost is $10,000 per year for you and 14 of your favorite friends.  You can also rent a party suite starting at $8,000.  And, this doesn't even include most of your food and drinks.  Wow. I will happily take my crappy seat in the 5th level and not complain. . . .

The tour also took us through the Press Box (huge!), a couple of clubs, the visitor's locker room, and then finally on to the field.  Travel Boy got his photo in front of the locker where Tom Brady was for the Broncos/Patriots game (Go Pats!), as well as on the field.

Our tour guide was great and very knowledgeable.  This tour compares very favorably to the other amazing sports facility tour we have done at the Colorado Rockies stadium, Coors Field.  If you are traveling to Denver, are a big sports fan, and have a couple hours to blow, consider visiting these stadiums.  Even if you are not a fan of the teams, the facilities are amazing.

The main street is 5th Ave., which is chock full of fun bars and great restaurants.  Tough to choose which one, but we ended up at Searsucker.  Wow. Great cocktails, and amazing food. There is no shortage of places to get a drink or enjoy dinner, and the next time I visit, I will probably stay close to this very cool street.

I must admit Long Beach is not one of my favorite areas, but we had a very good time there.  Some good bars and restaurants within walking distance of the Convention Center.  Not many places available for breakfast, but good lunch options, and some excellent dining options.  The Yard House always delivers with their huge selection of draft beers, and L'Opera was a very nice evening (excellent seafood risotto).  A good Irish bar called The Auld Dubliner completed the weekend.

The Queen Mary was purchased by the city of Long Beach and permanently moored across the harbor from Long Beach.  It is now a hotel, convention center, and an amazing historical artifact.  

 

Driving past LongBeach towards the piers, the majestic Queen Mary appears.  It was actually dwarfed by a huge Carnival cruise ship moored next to it, and it was very interesting comparing the two enormous ships.  One was historic and regal, the other enormous and modern.

Walking aboard the Queen Mary, you are immediately hit with its history.  I assume much of what remains on board is original (or amazing reproductions).  The cabins are historically accurate, with a touch of modernity.  They still have the old hot and cold fresh air vents (they do not work, but look cool), and there are four silver handles in the shower (hot water, cold water, hot salt water, cold salt water).  The salt waters are turned off.  The porthole 

allowed for amazing views over to Long Beach and the city lights.  

The major appeal for me is the chance to walk this amazing ship.  The hidden corners, long hallways, the amazing decks, and all the historical spots on view (captain's quarters, control decks, etc).  I was lucky enough to walk the decks both late at night and very early in the morning (don't miss the chance to see the sunrise from the ship).  I practically had it to myself.

I met some friends at the Observation Bar, which was a true throwback to the 1930's.  Amazing d

ecorations and a great view of Long Beach.  If your travels ever take you to Long Beach, you will find no finer experience than aboard the Queen Mary.  Very cool.