My husband needed to travel to Colorado for an annual solar conference and I decided to tag along!  The conference was held a Cheyenne Mountain Resort and the sponsor of the event gave us the option to choose a day excursion — spa treatment at The Broadmoor Hotel or a group hike to Pikes Peak and Garden of the Gods.  If you haven’t noticed, my blog is based on luxury and fine dining — so of course, we chose the spa treatment!  When my husband initially mentioned  that we were staying in Colorado Springs, I immediately thought about the episode of “This American Life” that we fondly remember hearing a few weeks ago.  If you are a fan of national public radio (NPR), then you may already be familiar with this program.  It’s a radio show that features true stories that I find so compelling.  It touches on human life drama and comedy.  We have recently downloaded the app onto our iphones so now we can listen to any episode on demand during long road trips (which are often done visiting family in Stockton and Marin)!  For the past few years,  I’ve listened to each weekly program during my commute to work, and I find it addictive enough that it can disrupt my schedule.  Even though I know I could pause the podcast and pick up where I left off, I still find myself sitting still (either in the coffee shop on my way to work), waiting for the story to end before walking into the office.   If you’re not a regular listener of TAL, I suggest you download the app now!!  It’s so worth the $3.99 fee!  You will not regret it!!

The segment that refers to Colorado Springs is episode #459 “What Kind of Country.” In the months following the ‘Great Recession’ in 2008, Colorado Springs faced an immense budget shortage. The city cut public parks maintenance (including trash and mowing services) and stopped watering medians. The severity of the situation brought national attention, which quickly reshaped the debate into a polarizing discussion on the merits of big vs small government, conservative vs liberal values, social safety nets, etc., etc.  This American Life tackled the underlying question behind polarized political fights and asked “what kind of country do we want?”   The show featured a thirty-minute long segment on Colorado Springs, focusing in on the city’s unique solutions to the crisis. City services were being cut left and right. Then one man, up on a hillside mountains watched this whole drama unfold from above, decides to write a manifesto—a blueprint for how the city could solve its problems. This man is Steve Barolin, President and CEO of the Broadmoor Hotel in Colorado Springs.  Why not run the city like a resort?!  Yes, I fully agree!  All cities should run like a resort – especially San Francisco!

Here’s a brief segment of This American Life episode: “Welcome to the Broadmoor; the place that you may have thought existed only in your grandest dreams and fondest imagination” – introduction of their promotional video.  The Broadmoor has a 3,000 acre property, three championship golf courses, 13 restaurants, 24 stores and their own transit system. It not just a resort, but it’s more like a small city.  Plus the whole place has this fragrance that hangs in the air. They pump it in. It’s like lemon sage something. And when asked, they were told the perfume has a name. The smell of the Broadmoor, and I’m not making this up, is called Optimism.”

My husband and I were in tears of laughter when we heard this episode of This American Life on our way to Sonoma one afternoon.  When he mentioned that we were travelling to Colorado Springs, I immediately thought about “optimism” and I was full of excitement to actually witness “The Broadmoor” in person.  So here we are, at one of the snazziest hotels in the nation.  As our shuttle driver from Cheyenne Hotel drops us off at the spa, I realized why this property is consistently awarded star ratings “Five-Diamond” and “Five-Star” for 50 years.  The décor is so “old world” and the spa service was spectacular.  Inhale deeply and you feel like you’re floating on cloud nine.  I’m known to be a happy and optimistic person already, so perhaps I was on optimism overload.  This is just what I was hoping for a nice little weekend escape in Colorado.  Please consider listening or reading the full segment of This American Life.  It will give you a better appreciation of Colorado and the “kind of country” that we live in!  God bless America!