Beaver Creek Village

Last week’s post talked about how I found a last minute Labor Day Deal to Beaver Creek, a ski village next to the town of Avon, CO and only 8 miles away from Vail. Despite living in Denver now going on 5 years, it was my first visit to Beaver Creek. We arrived at our destination, The Park Hyatt Beaver Creek around 3:00 p.m. on Sunday. The drive in being relatively smooth with sparse traffic and the occasional brief rain shower to cool things down and give an autumn-like feel to the air. Even some of the trees had began changing colors, which is quite early for this time of year. I attribute this premature phenomenon to the rather hot and dry Summer we have had and are still experiencing. 
Upon pulling up to valet at the Park Hyatt (which was included free in this smashing deal), the attendant welcomed us and advised us that we still had a few hours left to enjoy Beaver Creek’s rendition of Oktoberfest. What an added bonus! My wife and I thought as we surrendered our car to the attendant,grabbed our bags, and gave the gentleman a small tip for his services. My wife waited in the lobby as I checked in at the front desk. The front desk attendant, a nice young lady, found my reservation instantaneously but was trying to assess me the $25 resort fee, contrary to what the travelzoo deal had offered. Thinking ahead of time that this may occur, I pulled out documentation of the offer displaying in print the waived resort fee, with which the attendant happily obliged. My wife and I took the elevator up to the third floor, locating our room with ease. While freshening up and getting ready for the Oktoberfest, I took pictures of the room and of the view for this blog. Nowadays I make sure to do that first as it is a hassle to make the room look presentable later on. 
It was so great to eat German street food! The little village square was littered with booths selling everything from bratwurst to Göstl, a sort of hot salad with potatoes, pork, and cabbage. There were also traditional German pastries of which I cannot recall the names at this time and of course hundreds of people carrying around traditional steins of German and local Colorado beer. For those that don’t know, Colorado is a mecca for great local craft beer!
In the center of the square a covered stage appeared, where traditional German music and dances were being held. Many in the crowd danced to their heart’s content and the general vibe was one of tranquil enjoyment I must say. I couldn’t think of a better way to wrap up this Summer season. The most amusing part of the festival for me happened when children competed to make the best sound on the long Swiss horn, called an Alphorn. It surely looked like you needed a lot of wind to make that thing blow! The culminating event of the Oktoberfest involved a performance by the Bon Jovi cover band called Bad Medicine. I am not a cover band aficionado per se, but to me the band played well, sounding and looking eerily like John Bon Jovi. I wonder if they were local or actually toured nationally as a cover band. So all in all the Oktoberfest was a great kick-off to our Beaver Creek Labor Day Weekend festivities. Next time I will discuss our accommodations at the Park Hyatt Beaver Creek Resort and Spa. I leave you with this question to ponder; When and where was a memorable Oktoberfest you spent?