Hubby went to Jared! (Loooooong post!)

Here's the ring I got, the anniversary ring below my engagement ring! LOVE IT!

Ah, where do I begin? The Broadmoor was HEAVENLY! And well-deserving of the proudly proclaimed "First hotel in Colorado to receive the Five Diamond rating." I guess I'll go day by day and I'm warning you, this will be a LONG post! :-D This is partly to help me remember everything when I get around to scrapbooking the weekend in a couple years or so. Ha! I must admit, it's the best weekend we've ever had in our 22 years of marriage! Hubby outdid himself and spoiled me ROTTEN all weekend long. I think I'll keep him for another 22 years. We'll reevaluate then. ;-)

Friday we checked in. Had a bottle of champagne and an anniversary greeting from the CEO in our room, which was gorgeous!



Well-stocked mini-bar.

Spacious, luxurious bathroom!


Nightly turn-down service with luscious chocolates


Friday night we ate at the Tavern. (Before dinner, my hubby gave me a pair of BEAUTIFUL sapphire and diamond earrings. And yes, they were from Jared. My daughter helped my hubby pick them out and I guess they really enjoyed their shopping trip!)

At the Tavern, they had a table in a somewhat secluded corner for us. And every time we went to a restaurant or the spa, the staff greeted us with Happy Anniversary! For appetizer we had Yukon Potatoes and Goat Cheese Ravioli with Shiitake Mushrooms, Fennel, Pearl Onions and Pine Nuts (oh my!) I had the Roasted Chicken Breast with Sauteed Orzo, Jicama and Fennel salad (tenderest chicken EVER! and I love orzo!) Ken had the Rib Eye with wild mushrooms. They had live music, so we got to do some ballroom dancing, too. It was a very fun evening.

Saturday morning we got room service for breakfast. I was mad at myself that I didn't take a picture of the pretty table! I had cranberry juice, oatmeal and yogurt - I ordered a banana but it was a little too green so I saved that. Ken had a Breakfast Quesadilla with sausage. After eating we walked around the lake twice at an aerobic pace. Took about 30 minutes and was 1.5mi. The grounds are just gorgeous at this place, especially with the backdrop of the mountains. (We saw three bridal parties while there over the weekend. One of them was having the ceremony outside.)

A little after 3pm we checked in at The Spa. HEAVENLY! We had some fresh fruit and cucumber water in the Mountain View room with lounge chairs looking out the windows at the mountains and overlooking one of the golf courses. Ken was a little uncomfortable at first. He'd never been to a spa and doesn't really care for massages, but had only had a chair massage before. We had a 50 minute Swedish massage in the Couple's massage room and he LOVED it. :-D I knew he would. In the respective locker rooms, there was a sauna, steam room, aromatherapy room, private bath and shower rooms and several vanities with hair dryers and curling irons (I'm assuming they didn't have those in the men's locker room, but ya never know.) And there were gender specific fireside waiting rooms that had trail mix and lemon water. This place was really amazing. And it's touted as one of the best spas in the country. It wouldn't surprise me!

Once we got done, there was just enough time to shower and get ready for dinner. Have to make a side note here. On Thursday after I got my nails done, I thought I would stop at the fine consignment shop in the small adjacent town to see if they had any pretty, formal dresses in my size. They had a gorgeous deep blue dress with silver sequin design down one side and a swing skirt perfect for dancing. It looked GREAT with my new sapphire earrings and was a terrific bargain at $17! (Unfortunately, I didn't get any photos of Ken and I together this weekend. Doh! But I really don't trust other people with my camera and I forgot my tripod.)

We had reservations at The Five Diamond-rated Penrose Room. The first and ONLY restaurant in Colorado to receive this rating from AAA. My husband said that if anyone asked how it was, he wasn't sure he could talk about it because it wouldn't do it justice. But I'm gonna give it a good try here! :-D (I didn't take my camera this night. Just didn't want to worry about it, but kind of wish I'd had it to take photos of all of the spectacular food!) We were greeted by the hostess with a "Happy Anniversary" and when she took us to our table, looking out over the city of Colorado Springs, she asked if I would like a pillow for my back. 'Why yes, that would be quite lovely!' The hostess also mentioned that the brilliant blue of my dress matched the glasses and china of the dining room! Our waiter told us that the table was ours for the entire night and they would be there to get us whatever we wished. The service was STELLAR! You can certainly understand why they received that Five Diamond rating after you've dined there. At first I thought I'd rather be looking out at the mountains instead of flat Colorado Springs, but after it got dark, the full moon rose in the east and the lights of the city were gorgeous. AND we got to see the hot air balloons glow in the distance at the Colorado Balloon Classic. So they knew what they were doing when they put us there!

After we got our drinks, Ken put ANOTHER jewelry box on the table and said he had something to go with the appetizers. I was totally shocked! I was thrilled with the earrings (AND the weekend at the Broadmoor) and did NOT expect anything else. Opened it up to find a diamond anniversary ring! Someone went WAAAAY overboard this year!
He wasn't sure of my ring size, so it needed to be sized up by one, so I couldn't wear it yet. Well, I tried it on my pinky, but it flew off when we danced, so it went back into the box!
THE FOOD!!!!!
First we were brought a tiny rectangular plate with small square bowls at either end with compliments from the chef. One held some Foie Gras thing, one held a chilled carrot soup and in the middle was a tiny puff pastry filled with goat cheese. We had teeny, tiny spoons to taste these delicacies. They were all incredible! The goat cheese filled pastry was definitely my favorite! I had a Penrose Sunset non-alcoholic drink that included Pomegranate juice. Ken ordered wine and the sommelier brought him two different kinds to taste that would go well with chicken.

For the appetizer, I ordered Warm Goat Cheese Salad with Pistachios, Golden Beets and Bowtie Arugula. Honey, there are no words for this. I will never have a salad that is comparable, I'm sure. Ken had Dungeness Crabmeat Bisque with Black Trumpet Coulis. I have no idea what any of that is, but he loved it! :-) (OK, I do know what crabmeat is! LOL)

For an entree, I ordered Carrot and Ginger Ravioli with English Peas, Caramelized Pearl Onions, Verjus Gastrique. Ken ordered Meyer Lemon Glazed Breast of Chicken with Baby Fennel, Zucchini, Petite Heirloom Tomato, Rosemary Jus. Both were absolutely delicioso! Two waiters brought each a dish and removed the covers with a flourish! (You can watch them do this to anonymous people if you watch the video on the link I provided for the Penrose Room above.) :-D

For dessert we both ordered the "Pure Caraibe" Chocolate Parfait with Praline Nougatine and Licorice Whipped Cream. A waiter and waitress each brought a plate to us that had a candle burning and "Happy Anniversary" written in chocolate on the plate. STUNNING! I did whip out my phone and take a picture of that. I couldn't resist! When I figure out how to get that onto my computer, I'll post that. All of the food items were pretty small portions and brought at fairly nice intervals, so we never felt uncomfortably stuffed and considering it was only our second meal of the day, I probably didn't do too bad calorie-wise! After all this, they also bought us a small plate with tiny lemon cookies compliments of the pastry chef. Ken had a cognac with dessert and a little later, I had a white chocolate martini. (That's where my calorie count went WAAAAY over!) But, oh, so worth it!!!!! ;-D

The Penrose Room has a live band, too and the singer there was outstanding. Our waiter had asked us what we wanted to hear, so Ken requested a rumba, which they did and wished us a Happy Anniversary once again. After we danced to that, she asked if we wanted a waltz, (Yes, please, my favorite!) so we got to do both of those with the floor pretty much to ourselves. It was a small dance floor, so that was nice. We danced off and on all night long. There were several people who complimented us on our dancing.

Later on, we went downstairs to the Tavern since they played later than the band in the Penrose Room. There was an older couple there and the gentleman was quite small, wearing an oxygen cannula. He and Ken started talking and he told Ken that he thought every man should take his woman out on the dance floor when she is bouncing in her seat. Ken asked why he wasn't out dancing, so he went and got his wife and took her out and he was quite the dancer himself. Afterward he told Ken never to challenge him, he'd do it. He was so cute, they both were! Later on, he saw us doing the cha-cha and when we came off the floor motioned us over and said he was embarrassed about saying what he did to us seeing that we were the best dancers out there! It was so very sweet. Later when almost everyone else had left, the band leaders asked us if we could do the tango, so he played the violin and we tangoed and then waltzed to the next song. I think I might have danced off the white chocolate martini by that point. LOL Once again we closed down the place!

Sunday morning we had reservations for brunch in the Lake Terrace Dining Room. This was quite the spread of food! I really don't eat enough to justify the prices at these kinds of things, but the food really was outstanding. This entire room was FILLED with all kinds of food.

Loved the ice sculpture and big bouquet

They had live piano music and I have always loved a good pianist on a quality grand or mini-grand piano!!!!

A gentleman came up to our table and said he'd seen us dancing in the Tavern the previous night. When I thought he was going to say something about our dancing, I was startled when he told me that I looked beautiful in blue! Ken just loved it! I thanked him for his kindness while Ken enthusiastically agreed. (And I was dying to tell everyone that I got that dress for $17 at a consignment store! LOL Just wasn't the place to admit that though.)
I ordered an omelet with mushrooms, tomatoes and swiss cheese. I also got one small cheese blintz - oh how I love those things! and lots of fresh fruit.

Ken also got an omelet and couldn't resist the chance to eat oysters. (Yuk)

The fruit bar

Crackers and cheese and veggies

The dessert bar (I didn't photograph everything. They also had a chocolate fountain and pastry chefs making heavenly but sinful dishes on the spot!)

My tiny desserts of choice. The tiny tart is a Key Lime pie, the square one is Hazelnut creme, the oval is creme brulee, the other is a thin chocolate cup filled with cake, fruit sauce and a whipped cream topping, the garnish was chocolate, too.

After I got back from the dessert bar, our waitress brought us this Grand Marnier mousse. Oh, mama! This was definitely the best of the desserts!!!! The "crust" was solid chocolate.

After brunch we walked alongside the lake and found some lounge chairs to relax in for a while. There was an outdoor wedding going on at that time. Clouds started moving in, we heard some rolling thunder, and the golf course sirens went off indicating nearby lightning. There were also people out on the lake in paddle boats occasionally shouting. I'm thinking that will be one interesting wedding video! :-D

We went back and relaxed in the room for a while, then got ready to go to the spa again. First we went to the fitness room. I did 10 minutes of abs stuff on a stability ball, then 30 minutes on the treadmill, then lifted a few weights. We then swam in the lap lanes a little while. Then up to the spa. I had an app't for a bath soak and Ken had one for a serenity shower. We had some trail mix and lemon water while sitting in the Mountain View room, then went to separate locker rooms. I did the sauna, a steam, the sauna again for a bit, the aromatherapy room with lavender scent, then showered. On the way out I bought a book called Juicy Tomatoes about life after 50 for women. It's hilarious! (OK, I'm several months shy, but can relate to a lot of things!) We were both feeling like wet noodles after that so we chilled out in the room, watched a movie and ordered room service for dinner. I got a Grilled Vegetable wrap with blackened chicken and monterey-jack cheese with Roasted red pepper and cilantro dressing. WOW! This was quite yummy, too. And as humungous as it was, I ate that whole blessed thing! I couldn't stop myself. It was sooooo tasty. Ken had a pastrami rueben, but was wishing he'd have ordered the veggie wrap, too!

I just had to take a photo of the tiny bottle of Tabasco!!

We were both so mellow after the spa day, we laid around in the room. Ken watched TV and I read my Juicy Tomatoes book. We went to the Hotel Bar for a drink - I just had Sleepytime Tea - then contemplated going to the Tavern since the band was playing again, but decided against it and went to bed early. I'd thought about getting up for a 7am aqua class in the fitness center, but then decided not to set my alarm.

Got up this morning, took a long, hot bath, then went to the Lake Terrace Dining Room for breakfast. It was a smaller buffet than yesterday. But I basically had the same thing except for the desserts. And I had a small portion of scrambled eggs instead of an omelet. We went to one of the shops where I got a birthday present for my niece, a cool black shirt and black & white jacket. Then we strolled around the lake and I took some more pics, mostly of the swans on the lake. We saw a couple sitting on a bench, hubby asked them if they would like a photo taken of both of them. So I did that and the gentleman said "You are the one who wore the blue dress in the Tavern the other night." It was the same man who approached us at brunch. I guess that dress really made an impression on him! LOL They said they were there celebrating their engagement and came from Texas (they were probably a little older than us.) She had a VERY nice rock that she loved showing off. They were very sweet. Then back to the room to pack and check out. Sigh. Back to real life. It felt like we were so far away, but it was nice to only have a short drive home (with a stopover at Jared!) It was nice to see the kiddos again - and the kitties! :-D

Did you read all the way through? You DID???? You deserve an award if you made it without falling asleep. Ken and I both said that this will definitely be tough to top. But we're discussing an Alaskan cruise for our 25th. ;-)

(Update on Tuesday - I did get on the scale this morning and was only up 2 pounds. Quite a relief actually. The scales at the hotel had me up by 9 pounds. The last day I finally figured out that when I hit the scale to turn it on, it said 6.0lbs, then went to zero. I usually didn't have my glasses on so I would just get on, then bend down to read it. Was having heart failure at that much of a gain - 8lbs instead of 2! But I also started my period last night - finally! So that's a factor this week, too.)