Aspen’s breathtaking alpine backdrop is known to intoxicate, tempting visitors into staying in the Roaring Fork Valley much longer than originally anticipated. Many well-seasoned Aspenites call this geographical magnetism the “Curse of the Ute” and one of the reasons so many visitors-turned-residents have a difficult time returning to the rat race of their previous lives outside Colorado.

Nonetheless, some Aspen vacationers can grow restless with Aspen’s ritzy image as a mountain retreat for the rich and famous. Sometimes a stay over in Aspen’s rustic opulence is part of a larger journey, not necessarily the final destination. If you’re craving the need to breath thicker (or, in Leadville’s case – thinner) air outside the Highway 82 roundabout, a change of scenery and elevation is just a quick road trip away. For residents, visitors, and vacationers dealing with a bout of freeway wanderlust, the best way to soothe itchy feet is to fuel up a land shark, turn on some driving music, and hit the road to discover the quaint frontier charm of other nearby Western Colorado towns. Perhaps the late comedian John Belushi – who married his high school sweetheart in Aspen in 1976 – hit the nail on the proverbial head with two simple words to inspire this kind of spontaneous, off-the-cuff adventure: road trip.

Top 10 Places to Road Trip Around Aspen, Colorado

If you’ve never been on the river with a professional whitewater raft guide, there’s really only one part of the trip to mentally preparing for: bad humor that makes one smirk, then cringe:

What’s the difference between a raft guide and a large pizza?

A large pizza can feed a family of four.

What’s the difference between a raft guide and Bigfoot?

One’s a big, hairy, stinky animal and the other is a mythical creature.

How can you tell if a raft guide is lying?

His mouth is moving.

What do you call a raft guide without a girlfriend?

Homeless

You get the point. However, there’s nothing funny about the vital service a good raft guide provides to safely navigate you down a rocky river while you’re giggling in delight, screaming in white- knuckled fear, or clenching your paddle for a watery roller coaster ride.

Aspen Whitewater Rafting: An Overview of Rafting Trips on the Roaring Fork and Arkansas Rivers

Despite a hushed murmur, most of the crowd nodded in mutual approval. Beah continued. “It’s exhausting to write and talk about myself all the time.” The Doerr-Hosier Center was filled with a consortium of accomplished authors, curious wordsmiths, book buyers, and retired benefactors who appeared to be hanging onto his every word. As a public speaker, Beah’s 1000-watt smile, electric charm, and enduring message can regal almost any crowd, be it college students or hard-line international diplomats. However, he’s not in Aspen for the summer to necessarily focus on humanitarian issues around the globe or to entertain; he’s here to write.

As the first ever writer-in-residence for the Aspen Writer’s Foundation, Beah is spending the summer in Aspen to get serious about writing a novel.

Aspen Summer Words: An Interview with Ishmael Beah

Whether conquering the coals of a casual backyard barbeque or relaxing over a romantic four-course treat, one of life’s simple summer pleasantries is dining outdoors. Feasting on a delightful meal while lounging on a patio or deck in the warm sunshine and fresh air is nothing short of an obligatory pastime. Time seems to whisk away with sweet nonchalance into dreamy oblivion when dining outside with good-humored company. Here in Aspen, the epicurean nirvana is heightened when enjoying a tableau vivant of regional specialties like blue agave margaritas, a warm brie paired with the perfect merlot, a main entrée of fresh Colorado lamb, or a palate cleansing antipasto before dessert.

Using a little imagination, dining al fresco in Aspen’s thin Rocky Mountain air is like dining in sylvan realm of Fairyland, the fictitious setting of Shakespeare’s classic romantic comedy A Midsummer Night’s Dream . Many bistros and cafes in this charming Victorian ski town pride themselves on well-appointed porches, patios, and decks in woodsy settings with postcard-perfect mountain panoramas and menus of artisan haute cuisine.

The Top 10 Places to Dine Al Fresco in Aspen, Colorado

The Food & Wine Classic in Aspen: An Exclusive Interview with Mario Batali

While the pool scene in Vegas and Miami is hardly under-the-radar, Aspen’s pool scene is one of its best-kept summer secrets.

Aspen Hotels: The Top 10 Aspen Pool Scenes

In the context of ski town slang, “Go big” is the type of gnarly, half-baked euphemism usually reserved for adrenaline-fueled physical prowess on the slopes or throwing back one more shot-and-a-beer before last call. Yet the Aspen Institute’s annual Ideas Fest elevates the collective IQ of this cliche snow-shredding colloquialism. Every July, a sundry assumable of corporate bigwigs, accomplished cultural icons, foreign diplomats, professors, scholars, experts-in-the-field, and media savvy opinion-makers gather in Aspen to discuss big ideas during a week of cerebral stimulation. On the surface, the overall purpose of this event appears to have ambiguous auspices: a dialogue-driven presentation of original ideas celebrating multiple points of view, often without a common aesthetic thread, in an idyllic alpine setting. Nonetheless, Ideas Fest brings inside-the-Beltway discussions to a town known for absurd affluence and endless recreation. Many audience members willingly dole out big bucks for the opportunity to witness the lively discussions, heated debates, and forums on ambitious umbrella topics dominating national policy discussions like education, clean energy, Darwin, and the future of Middle East policy. These conversations are shepherded by prestigious social, environmental, economic, political, and media power players, with audience members getting an opportunity to mingle and participate by asking questions.

Aspen Ideas Festival: A Guide to Who Said What at the

2009 Aspen Ideas Festival

Here in the remote alpine resort town of Aspen, a confluence of factors like astronomical real estate prices, short attention spans, and an inflated cost of living makes the town – for better or worst – unpractical for prize-winning authors or best-selling novelists looking to establish and settle down in a comfortable stomping ground. Even degree-holding newspaper writers are pigeonholed into employee-mandated housing because of sky-high rents. Nonetheless, the river of literary tradition and cultural significance in our quirky mountain community of 6,000 runs wide and deep – perhaps just as deep as any significant college town chockablock with erudite scholars, a research library, and bookish intellectuals with bombastic vocabularies.

Aspen Literature: Ten Great Books putting Aspen on the American Literary Map

I’m mighty proud of this piece. It received an honorable mention in the Travel Channel’s illustrous World Hum blog. Eva Holland wrote:

When most people think of Aspen, Colorado, I doubt if the words “literary pilgrimage” pop all that promptly into their heads. But that’s going to change—at least if Aspen.com’s Brandon Wenerd has anything to say about it.

It also received a nod from the Elegant Varitation, a great literature blog that I read almost daily.

Aspen Spas: A Guide to the Spas of Aspen, Colorado

Aspen Golf: A Guide to the Golf Courses of Aspen, Colorado