A quick trip to Aspen

In June I took a quick trip to Aspen for work. I've been to Colorado a few times, but never to Aspen. June was a perfect time for great weather (a little bit of rain, but not bad). Aspen is a beautiful mountain town with a very walkable downtown and lots of historic buildings. It's also incredibly expensive - by some measures the most expensive city in the US. It's worth a visit, but bring your wallet! Since I had such a short stay here, I'll let the pictures do the talking:

The view of the slopes from downtown Aspen.

Fantastic built environment!

Lots of historic buildings in downtown.

Very expensive iced coffee and pastry.

Early morning views.

This stuff was all over town - I think from Cottonwoods.

One of the walk/bike streets.

A little trail right next to downtown.

Beautiful weather!

A very expensive cocktail.

A cool hotel lobby.

Fancy food at Duemani. It was delicious.

Gotta have ice cream, of course. From Paradise Bakery.

The Snowmass gondola.

Of course I found the local alpine coaster! :)

It was a decent ride.

The second chairlift up to the very top of Snowmass.

Views of the "maroon bells."

It was chilly at the top!

Going back down toward Aspen.

Aspen is full of cute houses. But real estate is extremely expensive.

Early morning with great views.

Another great dinner, this time at Acquolina.

Aspen has a large bike share system. 30 minute rides are free.

Breakfast on the last morning.

Lots of nature right next to downtown.

A farmer's market on Saturday morning.

The Aspen Art Museum.

One last ice cream before leaving!

The VelociRFTA is adorable and great for getting to the airport.

Summer coastering - both Busch Gardens!

After a long couple of years with very few roller coaster trips, this spring/summer I've ventured back to parks as COVID cases remained relatively low. I signed up for two events with the American Coaster Enthusiasts (ACE) - one at Busch Gardens Tampa in Florida, and the other at Busch Gardens Williamsburg in Virginia. These events are fantastic because they offer exclusive ride time and a lot of other perks.

The first trip was the annual spring conference, a three-day weekend in Tampa and Orlando. I drove down on a Thursday, and the next day began bright and early at Busch Gardens Tampa. Their newest coaster, Iron Gwazi, had just opened recently. What a ride! This is an intense and breathtaking coaster, and quickly moved in to the upper echelon of my coaster rankings. I enjoyed two days at the park, mostly with good weather - the rain held off, although it was hot and humid.

Iron Gwazi is the new kid on the block.

Some nice theming in the Egypt section.

Cobra's Curse spinning through Egypt.

Montu has been going strong since 1996.

Cheetah Hunt is a cool looking coaster.

We had several behind the scenes tours.

We got to tour Sheikra's maintenance bay.

Getting up close and personal with the Sheikra train.

I also did a tour of the animal nutrition center.

Backstage view of Iron Gwazi from the animal nutrition center. 

Scorpion is a classic. We had ERT on this ride too.

It really is a photogenic park.

I thought this was interesting - they label walking routes for exercise.

Having a local beer - kind of. It's actually a Georgia brewery. :)

The last day of the Florida ACE event was at Sea World Orlando, focused around their new coaster, Ice Breaker. We started off the day with some great ERT, and then rode some more and had a behind the scenes tour before enjoying the Seven Seas Food Festival. It was a very hot and sunny day, and the park got relatively crowded because it was the last day for the food festival. Unfortunately I had to leave in the early afternoon to drive back to Atlanta.

No lines during morning ERT.

Coaster-themed drinks in the food festival!

The new Ice Breaker coaster on a sunny Sunday.

Just hanging out with Manta!

Our behind the scenes tour of Manta took us on to the break run.

About a month later, I visited the other Busch park - Busch Gardens Williamsburg in Virginia. This was another great ACE event, complete with more ERT. Once again the weather was beautiful. The new coaster, Pantheon, is excellent, and we had some pitch black night rides. Between Busch Gardens Tampa and Williamsburg I'm not sure I could pick a favorite. Both are beautiful parks with great roller coasters.

Coasters for days!

The newest coaster, Pantheon, seen from the river cruise.

Of course we rode the log flume!

On Sunday I spent a few hours at nearby King's Dominion (yay, more roller coasters!), before briefly heading in to Richmond to eat lunch and see downtown. It was a nice wrap up to a fun weekend. Hoping to make it to another ACE event soon!

Welcome to King's Dominion!

Lunch at ZZQ in Richmond. Would recommend!

Gotta try the local ice cream. Gelati Celesti was delicious.

A cute mural in the Scott's Addition neighborhood.

Downtown Richmond.

A civil rights statue.

Buildings around the capitol grounds.

The capitol grounds were under renovation, so this was the closest I could get.