Day 85: Back to School Daze

What do you think of when it’s back to school time?  A new box of crayons, new clothes or weekend parties!  Like most of our promotions, this idea came from our staff one fall.  The first few weeks of August, we often say farewell to a good number of our seasonal team as students return to school. Just those who have just graduated or are taking time off, and our international students, remain to complete our season.

We didn’t want to feel left out as those returning to classes eagerly planned their upcoming semester.  So Back to School Daze seemed just the thing!  Wanting to cover the complete experience, we decided to celebrate Fat Tire Friday, Sporty Saturday and Sleep in Sunday!

Since we really didn’t have enough staff for any team sports on those cool fall weekends, we struggled to come up with an individual sport that might work for a competition, when low and behold, we found this 1929 news story that answered our dilemma!

So we brushed up our skills for game on!And the good news is that so far, we haven’t broken any windows or put out any eyes!

Being from colleges and schools from around the world, we also love testing our guest’s skills with a Pop Quiz trivia game about our various mascots, countries and school logos.

So just saying, start practicing your yo-yo skills now and plan to join us in the fall for throw back memories of your school daze and lots of fun!

Written by Lois Smith 

Day 75: Summer in The Keys

Summer in the Keys, celebrating Summer Solstice, was one of our first promotions. As much as we love the traditional look of our dining room, sometimes it is just fun to change it up a bit, do a special focus and get a new t-shirt! 

If you ask a college student about summer, beer is going to enter the conversation somewhere! Since we serve Fat Tire and had a former employee working with New Belgium brewery (and especially appreciate their sustainability efforts), Fat Tire Friday was a natural fit for our promo celebrating summer.

Over the years we have had to stay even more creative depending on the actual day Summer Solstice falls. We have enjoyed such clever options as Travel Tuesday, Wine Spritzer Wednesday, Touring Thursday, Flipflop Friday, Sunglasses Saturday, and Sunday Sundae.

Let’s face it, who doesn’t smile to see a mini umbrella on their piece of pie?  Or a grass skirt on a bathtub?

So around Wednesday June 21, 2017, think of celebrating Summer in the Keys with us!

Written by Lois Smith

Day 71: Christmas in July at The Baldpate Inn

What is more fun than decorating for Christmas? Since we are closed during the winter, we didn’t want to miss out, hence Christmas in July! Noting this 1922 news story, our recent promo is not a new idea.

Our dining promotions have always been sort of a marketing idea, but intended as fun for the staff as well. An initial aspect of our Christmas in July celebration was our behind the scenes staff competition (who can sell the most gift shop items). When our cooks commented that they really couldn’t compete, we brainstormed how to get them involved.  Competition for specially decorated Christmas cookies for our B&B guests' nightly snacks was the first plan.

Somewhere along the way we decided on an even better idea ~ Gingerbread Houses!  With a cook or manager heading each team, the competition took on a whole new level.  Not to be left out, we decided our guests could be the judges to join in the fun. (Our resident Santa seemed perhaps a little biased!)

Our cooks are responsible for the basic shape, then only imagination is the limit! 

Yes, we have added some basic rules over the years, to limit size and edible-ness, along with, "Don’t eat the gummi bears off your opponent’s house."

Team bonding happens for sure, but also it has been a fun culture-sharing event especially for our international staff.


Of course the winning team loves the special bragging honors!

Written by Lois Smith

Day 70: Enchanted Autumn Gold

Autumn is such a gorgeous time at Baldpate, with the aspens sparkling and often cooler weather demanding that comfy bowl of soup and some warm muffins. 

Perfect time for a food focus, so for our Enchanted Autumn Gold celebration, we decided to go all out with three days of immersion for your favorite fall flavors: Pumpkin Passion, Corn Crazy and Awesome Apple Days!

Think Apple Soup, Apple Salad, Apple Muffins, and Apple Pie, or a day with Pumpkin Soup, Pumpkin muffins, Pumpkin Pie, or guest favorites of Corn chowder, Cornbread, okay no corn pie, but how about candy corn?

Naturally, our special recipe Hot Buttered Rum or some Minted Hot Chocolate are the perfect accompanying beverage for enjoying the views of this golden season or just taking the chill off as you relax by the lobby fire.

Come see us this fall!

Written by Lois Smith 

Day 53: Rodeo Days

One of the many traditions that the guests and staff of The Baldpate Inn enjoy each year is attending Estes Park's Rooftop Rodeo. The rodeo may be small, but it packs a punch and has won several PRCA awards for being the best rodeo in the nation. 

The much-loved rodeo parade winds through town, filling the streets with horses. Children compete in Mutton Bustin’, much to the delight of all. (Unfamiliar with Mutton Bustin'? Imagine small children hanging onto bouncing sheep, attempting to stay onboard for six seconds!)  The evenings are capped off with a professional rodeo.  

Rodeo events in Estes Park have been around at least as early as 1908, so we are certain that many guests and staff throughout the years have enjoyed this event. Undoubtedly, bravado horseman Chuck Malone, who operated the Baldpate Stables would have put his rodeo skills to the test. 

As you may recall from our Celebrities post, famed Hollywood actress Lana Turner visited The Baldpate Inn in 1941 to commemorate the opening of the Rocky Mountain National Park for the summer season, with a key that was donated to The Baldpate Inn. During that visit, she was named Honorary Rodeo Queen 1941. 

            Lana Turner, Hollywood movie star with MGM, was to be the honorary queen of that 1941 Rooftop Roundup. She was named by local cowboys in May when she visited the area for a LOOK magazine travel feature. Humphrey Bogart of Warner Brothers was named honorary parade marshal.

-         Source: Rooftop Rodeo History        

Do you have a rodeo memory to share? 

Dust off your boots and join us at the rodeo for an impressive display of agility and skill. The 2017 Rooftop Rodeo runs July 5-10. Make your B&B lodging reservations at The Baldpate Inn now and plan to be in Estes Park for this special adventure! 

Written by Liz Rodgers

Day 52: Days with Dad

Baldpate would definitely not be what it is today without my dad, Sam Hoke. As mentioned before, from the beginning of our tenure here, my dad was not only a financial backer, idea man, but also creative engineer and super handyman when things just did not fit!

Looking even further back in time, William Mace, father of the Mace brothers who founded Baldpate, was known for his contributions even as early as 1922.  Folklore says each time he trekked in the forest, he would pick up unusual pieces of wood to be later transformed into a door handle or stair railing. He is also given credit for promoting the growth of the aspen trees along our driveway, saying he wouldn’t be content until the entire side of the mountains was covered in aspens.

So with such a heritage of helpful fathers, our Baldpate Days with Dad salute is clearly demanded. In honor of my father, we had always given free ice cream à la mode on Father’s Day, but wanted to do more. 

To promote spending time with your dad (probably what he wants most) we decided on the idea of you bringing him to lunch on Father’s Day AND then back once again to enjoy our Key-thedral Theater plays.

Start planning now, get your reservation for Father's Day, Sunday June 18^th, bring your Dad to lunch, get him free à la mode on his pie, and a free ticket to our Seven Keys to Baldpate play. 


Argyle socks, crazy bowtie, optional! 

Written by Lois Smith

Day 51: 4th of July Celebrations, Baldpate Style

The Fourth of July is a holiday celebrated in rich tradition and style at The Baldpate Inn. 

Both the Smith and Mace families have a strong history of military service, and we are all very grateful for our nation and the service of our troops.  We've always tried to honor our active duty military with a discount when they visit, but July 4th calls for even more Baldpate fun.

To celebrate, staff dresses festively and quite patriotically! 

We add a few decorations, think flags and lots of bunting on the front railings and special snacks (think jigglers in the shape of stars!)  for our guests as well.





Not sure how many gals have had the honor of wearing what we call the "Betsy Ross" dress, a polyester holdover from the nations bicentennial in 1976!

As dusk deepens over the Rocky Mountains, guests and staff gather on the deck to enjoy special 4th of July snacks, and gaze down into Estes valley, where fireworks are launched over Lake Estes.

In the early days, once we got the guests in bed, the staff enjoyed a smaller scale pyrotechnic celebration: a shared moment of childlike delight, twirling sparklers against the darkening sky.

Come join us for the festivities this 4^th of July!

Written by Liz Rodgers