I love Labor Day weekend in Steamboat and prefer a ‘stay-cation.’ I always encourage my friends and family to come visit me for a long holiday weekend excursion. Labor Day falls at the end of Steamboat summer, right before the kids head back to school and the night air gets crisp enough to don a sweater. A visit to Steamboat is a great way to beat the heat and get out and enjoy some mountain air with the family before getting back to the daily grind.
Last summer my girlfriend, her husband, and their son Asher came to Steamboat to visit me. Steamboat over Labor Day weekend was a little boy’s paradise filled with cowboys, airplanes, fishing and rock skipping. The crew arrived on Friday evening, cruising up to Steamboat after finishing out the work day in Denver. They arrived in time to join me for dinner on the patio at Mountain Tap Brewery to enjoy hand-crafted brews and world-inspired appetizers including local favorite, tuna ceviche. They even had hand crafted root beer for the wee one.
On Saturday morning, we woke up early and headed out to the Steamboat Springs Airport for the Wild West Air Fest. Wide-eyed and a completely awed Asher inspected each and every aircraft. He stood and gazed into the air with sheer delight as a radio controlled airshow took to the sky. Later, Asher had the opportunity of a lifetime and got the chance to go aboard the Douglas C-47 along with Dad, for an action-packed plane ride. Asher shrieked with pure joy upon returning, claiming he was going to be a pilot someday. After the airshow we headed further out Elk River Road with a stop at the Clark Store for some picnic supplies. We went up towards Steamboat Lake where we went for a quick swim and taught Asher to fish. Tuckered out and dreaming of planes and fish, Asher fell asleep on the car ride home.
Sunday morning we woke up and we walked Lincoln Avenue in its entirety and checked out all the Labor Day sidewalk sales. Mom got a new straw cowboy hat and Asher got himself some swanky new cowboy boots at F.M. Light. We stopped by the Chuckwagon Chili Cook-off and tasted a plethora of chili before voting for our favorites. We finished our downtown adventure with a visit to Lyon’s Corner Dug & Soda Fountain for an old fashioned malted shake.
That evening, we scored some tickets for the Rocky Mountain Bull Bash at the rodeo grounds right downtown. It was amazing to watch the pro bull riders hang on for their lives as they rode their bucking bulls. Asher proudly stomped around feeling like a cowboy in his new boots, and has visions of participating in the lamb scramble at his next rodeo.
On Labor Day, everyone slept in and I made delicious lemon white chocolate French toast from the bread we had purchased from Styria Bakery at the Farmers’ Market on Saturday morning. After breakfast, we biked along the Yampa River Core Trail downtown to the Old Town Hot Springs for a soak. Then the crew headed back to the Front Range, smiling ear to ear after an amazing Labor Day weekend getaway. I know that little Asher is already requesting that they visit Sara again where the planes fly and cowboys play.
Sara Tlamka
Membership Director
Steamboat Springs Chamber Resort Association
