Ski Trip to Vail, Colorado

Vail would always carry special meaning to me. In 2002, I flew there to learn skiing and loved it. In 2006, I returned, and this time with K. My skill level then was blue/single black diamond (recovering from a skiing-accident caused knee surgery in 2004).

We stayed at a grand log cabin style inn away from the mountain: Savory Inn. Although it is 5-8minutes away from the mountain, it's worthy of the distance. (You take a free bus to the mountain.) The Inn sits behind Gore Creek, and has only a dozen rooms, each uniquely named after a herb/spice and uniquely designed. It's intimate and warm. The Inn owns Vail Cooking School on site. Not only the breakfast tasted good, the complimentary apre ski snacks were generous and delicious. It's rated the highest 5 star by Vail Resort. And our room was $290 per night+tax (vs $500-$1,000/night for the same rating hotel room inside the Vail Village on the mountain), very good value.