Day 56: What it Means to Experience The Baldpate Inn (National Encourage a Young Writer Day)

Being a 100-year old inn, The Baldpate has many unique qualities! It may be unlike anything you’ve experienced before. While there are many modern conveniences at the Inn (such as wi-fi and cell phone service), a visit is reminiscent of a charming step back in time. 

There is simply too much to fit into one blog, and since it’s National Encourage a Young Writer Day, I challenge you youngsters and young-at-heart to write your own experiences of The Baldpate Inn, with all its unique attributes (and I’m sure I’ve missed a few!) and share them with us. Here’s a few prompts. Haven’t had a chance to visit us yet? Check out our video tour. 

World famous Key Collection and curiosities

Fresh and healthy Soup and Salad Buffet, enjoyed on beautiful handmade stoneware

Rustic lodging (My favorite description comes from an early brochure, “All rooms in the Inn are equipped with hot and cold water.  We believe in “roughing it” with a degree of comfort. The relative enjoyment of a bath is not necessarily a matter of geography.”)

Three-course breakfast! (Do the cinnamon rolls need their own composition? Probably!) And if you’re not a Bed & Breakfast guest, don’t despair! Just make reservations for a special celebration of Breakfast at Baldpate!

Evening snacks and Peachy-Keen (Are you noticing a food theme? It is a Love Language, right?)

Views from the front deck and the porch swing

Library and movie time

Sun deck parties

Aspen autumn glory

KeyThedral Theater Productions

Photo and art collections (Stay tuned for more on our photo collection!)

Gift shop

Hand hewn log furniture

Fireplaces: the warmth, sight, smell, and sounds of wood crackling ablaze

Hummingbirds, wildlife and bears

Your own memories! 

While The Baldpate Inn means something different to each guest who visits, at the heart of it all is a desire to serve all with excellent hospitality. Your experience is certain to be a memory you will cherish especially if you write it down.

Written by Liz Rodgers

Day 48: Summer Enchanted Evenings

Our Summer Enchanted Evenings series was started as a collaborative effort with our local history researcher, John Meissner, of Estes Park Archives.  Our idea was to sort of follow the long past tradition of park rangers giving talks at various lodges around the area. 
 

We chose Wednesday nights at 7 PM for one hour because it seemed mostly available on town calendars, and began our free programs. We wanted to keep our options open, so went with the tag line, “Part history, part nature, part lecture, part show and tell.” We advertised in the area, even took our cinnamon rolls to the local radio station to bribe them for a mention. That worked so well, that to this day, we offer free snacks to our Summer Enchanted attendees.

John was our hero in providing imaginative talks, with topics as varied as kings who have visited Estes Park to quiz show games on local history. We began in our cozy Library, and attendance those first couple of years varied by topic and temperature, sometimes two and sometimes forty two!   We took the show outside for Hummingbirds and Visiting Yaks which proved to be crowd pleasers.

Over the years John recruited a fascinating variety of speakers, and spent hours helping them share their stories with wonderful presentations.  Within a few years it was necessary to move our Summer Enchanted Evenings events from the Library to the Key Room because of the size of the crowds.  Loyal guests returned each week from June to September to learn a vast spectrum of subjects and hear about places & adventures they themselves might never have known. Mountaineering, bears, book writers, postcards, and coins.

We even got in the act and our Key Museum curators now are included in the annual schedule, sharing stories about Baldpate and especially our Key & Photo Collections.

Which has been your favorite Summer Enchanted Evening program? We are in the process of setting our Summer Enchanted Evenings 2017 schedule  so let us know your ideas and stay tuned. 

Written by Lois Smith

Day 15: Hummingbirds at The Baldpate Inn

When you visit The Baldpate Inn, you’ll be delighted to see that you are not alone – quite often, a “charm” of hummingbirds is present. Yes, a group of hummingbirds is called a charm, and it is quite appropriate!  These tiny birds charm many guests as they dart and hover with tremendous agility, flashing their jeweled colors. 

Hummingbird feeders surround the deck and are suspended outside the windows of the Sun Porch dining area, adding great entertainment and fascination for guests of all ages. Six species of hummingbirds frequent the area each summer.


Out on the front deck, if you can stay very still, these tiny birds will allow you to get quite close as they enjoy their sweet meal. 


If you’re the one who is hungry, you are in for a treat with a window seat in the Sun Porch dining room. To enjoy a scrumptious meal, with views stretching into the picturesque Estes valley, serenaded by aerial acrobats – this is truly an experience to treasure. 

Guests and staff have enjoyed observing and learning about hummingbirds during Enchanted Evening presentations. Presentations by bird experts include catching, banding, and releasing the hummingbirds while sharing knowledge about these beautiful “flying jewels.” Stay posted for future Enchanted Evenings topics and more on our Events page.

The hummingbirds will soon head to Baldpate; somehow they always know to arrive on Mother’s Day and depart on Labor Day.  You can join them on opening day, Friday, May 26^th.

Do you have a favorite hummingbird memory at The Baldpate Inn? Tell us your story in the comments below.

We would like to thank Bill Boyce for taking and sending many of these awesome pictures!

Written by Liz Rodgers