This week is the last week in my visiting Denver and suburbs series. Loveland and Greeley are so north of Denver, they are closer to Ft. Collins and you can tell that as the cityscape gives way to a rural landscape. I noticed that the new Buc-ee’s rest stop just opened and was only an exit before our planned exit. This summer, on a family road trip to Florida, my sons made us visit two Buc-ee’s rest stops. Claiming they are the best thing on the highway! We were truly shocked by how much traffic these rest stops bring, there is no “convenience” in these places or a “quick bathroom break,” going to Buc-ee’s is a destination in itself. It has everything from home decor to pastries and everything in between.
I did get off the exit and spent 45 minutes waiting through lights, roundabouts and laps around the parking lot looking for a space. At a certain point, we just left. My daughter didn’t even get her cup of cookie dough because I didn’t want to waste our whole day looking for parking. I’m glad they didn’t put it closer to where we live, the traffic and congestion isn’t worth it. Northern Colorado doesn’t seem to be able to handle the masses either with their constant roundabouts. I know lots of people love the place and get excited when they see the buck toothed beaver. The food options seem endless, there are meats being smoked, BBQ, friend foods, pizza and fresh pastries being baked all day…yet I’ll always be loyal to Wawa and have yet to find another spot to rival it in the USA.
Loveland
My first experience with Loveland was during our first Christmas in Colorado and I went to the Winter Wander Lights after hearing lots of people say how much their kids enjoyed it and to expect a whole experience with Christmas shopping, special food and drinks and an ice skating rink. The light show is a free, walkthrough light show that is held nightly from Black Friday until January 1st. The 200,000 light display is located just East of the Promenade Shops in Loveland. I remember driving up to Loveland, over an hour away and when we got to the parking lot, all of my kids were asleep in the car! Since it was not a drive through activity I didn’t even get to enjoy the lights and I had to drive home with sleeping children the whole way! The experience has been a joke source ever since, but we have not gone again, maybe we’ll try it again this Christmas.
We finally made it to Downtown Loveland, a cute town area with lots of restaurants, cafes, and boutique shopping. One of those cafes is Northern Colorado’s first cat cafe called NoCo Cat Cafe. My daughter has been hooked on cat cafes ever since my mom took her to one in Pennsylvania and now we visit them all over the country and possibly in Europe this summer. This cafe is an adoption center to help socialize the cats and bring potential owners straight to them. I heard this cat cafe had some kittens, recently arrive and kittens are my daughter’s true weakness. She wants a kitten so badly… our puppy, my mother-in-law’s 3 small dogs, 2 guinea pigs and our own rescue cat isn’t enough!
There were 21 cats, most up for adoption with a few pending adoptions on the day we visited. These cafe’s charge an entrance fee and also have some drink options, but the main attraction is playing with the cats, not an extensive drink selection. I ordered a coffee and had to work around a spicy cat who had just been hissed at by another cat, that was now laying over the sugar and creamers. There are tables and chair pairs located around the cafe, some comfy, oversized chairs to share with a cat and a few larger tables to play cat themed games or puzzles. This cafe had a fish tank to amuse the cats (not sure how amused the fish are to be in there), a running wheel for exercise and tons of cat beds everywhere! There were hammock beds under some of the chairs, window beds to see outside and igloo beds for those who don’t want to be social. After playing for over an hour, Cassidy found some cat themed items in the gift shop (2 small shelves on the side wall) and I supported a local artist by buying a mountain necklace.
Cats aren’t going to be an attraction for everyone, but there are more things to do in Loveland including the following activities:
- Boyd Lake State Park
- Chapungu Sculpture Park at Centerra
- Rialto Theater Center
- Devil’s Backbone Open Space
- Loveland Laser tag
- Loveland Museum
- Sweet Heart Winery
- Wicked Tequila Room
Loveland could be a whole day trip itself, if you are looking to see a few of these attractions. It could also be paired with a half day of activities in Greeley too. Greeley is another Northern Colorado town, just about as north as Loveland, but far more west. These would be great towns to stop at on the way up to Ft. Collins or even when headed north to Wyoming. I still can’t believe I live this close to Wyoming…crazy for a girl who grew up in Philly.
Greeley
Greeley is known for UNC (the University of Northern Colorado) and its smell. The town smells terrible, especially on certain days and times of the year. It’s more than just cow manure, there is also a lot of meat packing and during the rendering of tallow process is when it smells the worst. Many of the original residents call it, “the smell of money” because of the agricultural business, but today’s residents don’t always share the sentiment. When we visited last week, it wasn’t bad, but I know there are certain times of year that the smell seems to permeate everything. There is even a saying in winter, that “if you smell Greeley in Denver it’s going to snow.” Sounds a bit like the farmers almanac, but it’s all part of rural life, on the farm.
I heard of this library up in Greeley called the Linc and wanted to check it out with Cassidy. She loves hands-on places like children’s museums and that is how the Linc was described, a children’s museum inside of a library. It is a huge building with plenty of space for the library sections as well as other educational shared spaces. As you walk into the large, bright lobby area, you see a shoe locker and lots of benches for parents to sit while their kids are climbing in the 3 story roped area. If you walk up the large stairs at the back of the lobby, you can get into another area with lots to climb and places to hide. There is a paper airplane making area and planes can be launched and tested in a special glass case. In the back there is a ball shoot that sucks up small balls and takes them on a long ride around the room using air currents to amuse the toddlers interacting with them.
There was a great art room where kids could create their own art projects or get inspiration from a few age appropriate suggestions. Coloring pages and books have never been Cassidy’s thing, she is too much of an artist and creative to not create her own original idea. Even at a year old, I’d bring a coloring book to a restaurant and she’d color on the inside covers instead of the pictures. She loved the atmosphere, the supplies and feeling like she was in an artist’s studio. There is an additional studio space that is much larger for holding art classes or hosting visiting artists for community events.
The maker space room (which have become more popular in recent years in schools, community centers and other creative, shared spaces like the Linc) is located in the front, near the adult library sections. In this maker space there were many people creating projects and using the 3D printer. In fact, Cassidy was so excited to see the 3D printer, and told me she’d always wanted to create something on one. I’ll have to take her back when she has a project in mind to give it a test run. Finally, in this library they have…well, a library. Even with everything engaging, educational, creative, scientific and techy there were still lots of families and young children picking out and sharing books in the children’s side of the library. The library experience at Linc was more like a children’s museum than a library, but it was great to see a space change with the times and engage young learners.
While up in Greeley, we had lunch at Doug’s Diner in Downtown, near the UNC campus. They are big into their bears up there, being that the UNC mascot is a brown bear. I can tell that lots of students frequent this breakfast & lunch location, by the inclusion of alcoholic drinks and the amount of signs reminding patrons of the 21+ age restrictions. The food was good, not fancy, but great for diner expectations which can really be hit or miss out west. We walked around the downtown area, looking for a candy store that had sadly closed. However, we found a great ice skating rink called Ice Haus (I love anything German) with a skating statue out front. Other fun activities to check out in Greeley include:
- Greeley FunPlex
- Greeley History Museum & Centennial Village
- Colorado Model RR Museum
- Pouder Ponds (sunset paddleboarding)
- The Midnight Oil
- Nerd Store
- Trinkets-n-Treasure
- La Petite French Bakery
- WeldWerks Brewing
Loveland and Greeley are both located in rural towns, about an hour north of Denver. The vibe of these towns is much more laid back (except at the Buc-ee’s) and relaxed. You’ll see tons of farmers in their trucks pulling horses or livestock and just as many “want to be farmers” in those same white Dodge or Ford pickups. Greeley will always hold a sweet spot for the Myers family, since our 8 month old golden retriever puppy came from up there and she has brought us all a lot of love, laughs and joy. I’ll have to give the light show another chance this year during the holiday season.
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