Colorado's Best: The Essential Guide to Favorite Places

Rating:
Summary: Personal, Thoughtful and Useful
Review: Colorado's Best By Bruce Calighey and Doug Whitehead

Reviewed by Curt Peoples

With so much travel information on the Internet, I sometimes wonder: Why do authors continue to write travel books? Colorado's Best answers the question by showing that the best travel authors still write about places they've personally visited and enjoyed. If you like Colorado (or think might like Colorado), you should buy this book.

The authors are well qualified. Bruce Calighey has written The Colorado Guide, now in its fourth edition. Doug Whitehead produces Colorado Getaways, a weekly travel television show in Denver - he's like the Charles Kuralt of Colorado.

The authors take you to every corner of the state, with over 200 entries of the best cultural and historical places, outdoor activities and events, and places to eat, drink and stay. The book entertains because the "bests" listed are truly remarkable, sometimes bizarre and not always on the beaten track. My three favorites: Best Way to "Get in the Mood" at the Glen Miller Festival in Fort Morgan, Best Hot Springs at Mount Princeton, and Best Drive-In Without a Car in Monte Vista.

Most atypical, compared to many travel guides, is the writing style: personal and thoughtful with a tone that says, "I really like this place, I think you will too!" I want to take my daughter to the Kit Carson County Carousel because the authors have done it themselves, stopping for a short rest and staying for hours. I want to go to Crested Butte because it's apparent Mr. Calighey and Mr. Whitehead have been there, sampled the restaurants, and now recommend the four best in town. They suggest a few hills they've skied that I've never seen in the slick brochures.

Best piece of writing in the book: the description of the Sand Creek Massacre Memorial. It starts, "Certainly 'best' isn't the most precise word to describe this simple, yet hauntingly affecting memorial to the brutal and unjustified murder of American Indians by U.S. troops, but the event without question merits consideration." In four poignant paragraphs, you'll be compelled to learn more about the lost ways of traditional Native American life. This is what travel writing should be.

Rating:
Summary: Lots of great information
Review: I bought this book when I first moved here. I wanted to find some fun things to do. I was suprised at all the different events that this book covers. Some are more interesting than others but all in all a great book I have tried a few of there reccomendations and would agree with the author's conclusions.