Saturday Sweetness Vol. 3

Hey, Sweet Friends!

Bri, here, and I'm back with this week's Saturday Sweetness!
I love to travel, so I thought I would share some of my favorite places I've ever been. Places I have returned to and/or plan to return to. We all have those places we randomly find on a roadtrip, that we come across, make sure the doors are locked and immediately think of the nearest escape route, as the banjo music starts playing in our heads. These are not those kinds of places, sweet friends.

This week's topic:
Bri's 3 Favorite Places in the World

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Estes Park, Colorado


I first visited this town when I was young. My parents used to take us camping in Colorado every summer, and one year we camped outside of Estes Park. A few years back, my husband and I went to visit my dad, who lives in Denver, and we took a drive up to Estes Park for the day. We visited the Stanley Hotel, where The Shining was filmed (yes, we had a lot of orbs in our photos!), had lunch in town, walked up and down the main strip to go souvenir shopping, admired and photographed the elk, who walk freely among the town, but kept our distance. (I'm not going to try my luck at seeing if I can outrun an elk.) It's a beautiful little town, with fantastic little shops, cozy restaurants, hosts campsites nearby, sits outside the entrance to Rocky Mountain National Park (which is gorgeous in and of itself - you really must go see the beauty that park has to offer!), and is simply a little gem just hidden in the mountains of Colorado. Every time we visit my dad, Estes Park is on top of our to-do list. And it is most definitely my very favorite place in the world. What can I say? I'm a mountain girl.

Haleiwa, Hawaii


Ah, Haleiwa... (Pronounced Holly-ay-vuh). My second favorite place in the world and completely opposite from the mountains. The beach! On the north shore of Oahu, Hawaii. I fell in love with Haleiwa, when I was stationed there. It soon became my very favorite place to go on the island. The water on that side of the island wasn't as choppy as the rest (or I should say on the particular beach I went to, it wasn't as choppy), so there wasn't a lot of surfing going on. And the main attraction on the island was Waikiki, so Haleiwa was a pretty chill place to hang out and relax. I got a chance to people-watch a lot there. I really missed my family, and I got to see a lot of Hawaiian families hanging out together on the beach, having cook-outs and birthday parties, etc. There was also a family who set up a tent and roasted chickens. You could buy a whole chicken, which were amazing, by the way, and a to-go carton of sticky rice, and drive to the beach and have a great lunch. Yum! Miss that beach!

Las Vegas, Nevada


You knew I would have to throw in a big city, right? I have only been to Vegas once, and that was almost 10 years ago. Back in the day, when a friend and I would buy concert tickets to see Billy Idol play at a hotel in Vegas and decide to fly out and make a weekend of it. What else do you do, when you're newly 21, with no cares in the world, and dying to see your favorite 80's icon? Duh... So, is Vegas the city that never sleeps? The city of lights? The city where they supposedly pump oxygen into the casinos, so people get high on life and don't need to sleep? I'm pretty sure it's all of the above, and that makes it fan-freakin'-tastic! Or is it sin city? They did have a ton of baseball-card-like nekkid lady calling cards for escort/hooker/whatever you want to call them ALL over the place, even folded up in the fences. I was like, really? On a baseball card? We almost started a collection, haha. Anyway. We had a blast! Everything is bright and colorful and exciting! Food is cheap, souvenirs are abundant, casinos are loud, the air is dry - I loved it! Plus, Billy Idol was there! Make it all happen again, and I'm down!

What cities or towns make your Top 3 list? Are any of my 3 on your list?