Telluride is a magical place- the kind of place that offers you its beauty and charm both in winter and summer seasons. While we’ve skied here several times, this was our first foray into summer at Telluride and hopefully, won’t be our last.Because it is a more newly-developed, everything is aesthetically pleasing and well planned. That’s not to say that the town isn’t rich in history. Snuggled into a box canyon in the San Juan Mountains, Telluride, once known as the City of Gold, is now a National historic District. Spanish explorers came in the late 1700s, followed by fur traders and the Ute Indians, and later persevering miners in search of riches.
Today the town is still sprinkled with historic buildings and charming renovated miner homes. Nestled alongside these quaint structures and dotting the hillside are opulent stone and wood homes for the town’s wealthy residents (Tom Cruise lives in our “hood”. No Suri sightings yet!) Top-notch hiking trails and bike paths snake along the downtown creek and up the side of adjacent Bear Creek Mountain. The hot yoga studio doesn’t publish fees, but asks you to pay what you can (although they suggest you “can” afford to pay between $12 and $20 a session) and the local medical marijuana stores appear to be doing a healthy business. Somehow, it all just “works” to make Telluride a highly “livable” location with a young, laid-back, healthy vibe.
But who rules this quaint town with its main street dotted with flower boxes and local hardware store coexisting side-by-side with trendy shops and organic restaurants?
It’s the DOGS!
I’ve come to realize that there are probably more dogs than humans in this town. And they appear to be revered by its residents! Telluride would put Paris and New York to shame. On our first day of hiking, on the trail we noticed that almost everyone we encountered had their dog with them. Since then, we see them everywhere- on the gondola, reigning over stores, and my favorite, quietly sitting on a bar stool with his human at a trendy mountainside bar last night- watching the sports channel.
Now for my plan- Telluride Rent-a-Dog! For those visitors or those new-to-the-area who want to immediately fit in and have an instant friend an status symbol (without the worry of crating and airplane travel.) And these can’t be normal sized dogs. The bigger, the furrier, the slobberier the better. Lolling tongues and panting are a plus. Labs and Goldens will be our specialty . And they will have “immediately friendly” names to match- Rusty, Bo, Buddy, Mac and as a nod to my Southern heritage, Dixie. These new friends will serve as hiking partners, provide entry into any and all local establishments and be great for picking up members of the opposite sex. And they will even come with a tennis ball for play!
Investors, anyone?
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