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Welcome to Springs and Things, the podcast where two close friends spill the tea on all things Colorado Springs! From culture and community to hidden gems and neighborhood lore, we’ve got it covered. Join us as we sip our coffee (or maybe something stronger) and dive into the stories and secrets that make this city so unique. Whether you're a local or just passing through, our fun, light-hearted, and always entertaining take on the quirks, hot topics, and insider tips will keep you coming back for more. Discover what’s really happening in the Springs—beyond the mountains and parks!
Bike rides to Hotel Polaris, yoga and garden of the gods, a nostalgic family restaurant off Highway 115, llamas on a hike, and so much more it's our summer must do list and it's a good one. And this episode is brought to you by Vanguard Aesthetics. While you enjoy summer in Colorado Springs, don't forget that sunscreen. Hey, everyone. I'm Carly.
Carly Ries:And I'm Lauren. We're two Colorado Springs locals who love uncovering everything that makes the city special.
Lauren Ferrara:If you're the kind of person who wants to know where to go, what's happening, and the stories behind it all, then you're in the right place. Welcome to Springs and Things, your insider's path to hidden gems, local flavor, and unexpected moments that make The Springs one of its kind.
Carly Ries:From secret spots and can't miss events
Lauren Ferrara:To arts, eats, and those you've gotta hear about at Local Stories.
Carly Ries:We've got you covered.
Lauren Ferrara:So grab your coffee, settle in, and get ready to fall a little more in love with Colorado Springs.
Carly Ries:Let's dive in to Springs and Things. I mean, I can't start a summer episode without doing something like Summer summer summertime.
Lauren Ferrara:It feels like summertime right now. Oh my gosh. I was in San Diego yesterday. It is warmer here now than it was in San Diego. Which is
Carly Ries:so funny because the episode that we released last week was all about the snowstorm we had and how rainy and cold it was.
Lauren Ferrara:Oh, that was so funny. And you so oh, I listened or I was, like, using the heck out of Matt Meister's weather app, Peak to Plains, during that day because I had to be in Denver during this, like, snowmageddon situation. Quickest trip to Denver I've ever made because, like, it did not freeze. I was so paranoid about, like, not getting there in time, and there was a school delay and everything. And, like, the everybody stayed home.
Lauren Ferrara:I got to Denver in record time that morning.
Carly Ries:It is crazy. But now, it really does feel like summer. I'm looking at the ten day forecast. It looks like it's gonna feel that way for a while. So we should probably do like our summer bucket list episode.
Lauren Ferrara:Yeah. Let's do it, Carly.
Carly Ries:Do you wanna go first? I'm I'm so excited.
Lauren Ferrara:I've been very excited about this episode. I like, some nothing makes me happier than summer in Colorado. Like, this I'm so wimpy. You know, I'm from Texas. It's my, like, dirty little secret.
Lauren Ferrara:But, yeah, I I live here for summertime. Like, I survived the winter and it's really not that bad. But this is this is what I live for.
Carly Ries:Okay. So give me your first one.
Lauren Ferrara:Okay. So my first one, I'm so obsessed with Venetucci Farm, Gather Mountain Blooms. They have so many cool activities, and I feel like I don't take advantage of it enough. And I've gone like last summer, I went to one of music I went to music in like, the very last music in blooms, and I was so mad at myself because I was like, I could have been coming here all summer long. So they have so many cool things.
Lauren Ferrara:Fridays, they have like, you can go and pick flowers, and then they have music in blooms on Tuesdays through June and July. And, yeah, there's just somebody like playing the fiddle. You're in this beautiful environment. Kids are playing and dancing. There's food trucks and they're so fun.
Lauren Ferrara:So gather mountain blooms. Summer on the farm is like my I am going to be there every week. That's my plan.
Carly Ries:It just sounds so dreamy and so like quintessential Colorado Springs. Totally. Right?
Lauren Ferrara:And they even have like these brunches. That's not till September, but they have dahlias, which you know what that flower is. They're like the I don't even know how to describe them. They're just so beautiful. But they have these dahli brunches.
Carly Ries:Did you, when you were a kid, subscribe to Delia's? The, like, clothes magazine?
Lauren Ferrara:Delia sounds yes. I mean, it was a catalog. Right?
Carly Ries:Yeah. It was a catalog. But every time I hear about that flower, I think of that magazine. And I get, like, taken back to, like, like, say you will, say you won't. Like, I I remember listening to that in a friend's room looking through that mag that I
Lauren Ferrara:wonder if it still exist. Like, I can't even picture the clothes. So you weren't a Hot Topic girl, Carly?
Carly Ries:I don't strike you as a Hot Topic girl.
Lauren Ferrara:You do not strike I think Hot Topic does still exist.
Carly Ries:I think it is too. I don't think Delia's does.
Lauren Ferrara:No. I I need to Google that. Okay. What's what's top of your summer bucket list?
Carly Ries:Okay. I'm going rogue here. And this is something that I ran by my husband last year that we haven't done yet. Provided the trail reopens at some point, I really wanna ride my bike on the Santa Fe Trail and go all the way to Hotel Polaris, like all the way. Mhmm.
Carly Ries:And do like a happy hour there and have food, like just enjoy the hotel and then ride my bike back. And we have one of those cargo bikes where we could literally put our dog in our bike and we ride long distances with her. And we could do a yappy hour because they have a yappy hour at Hotel Polaris. So I really wanna take a nice day and ride my bike to the north end of town and enjoy Hotel Polaris on a bike tour.
Lauren Ferrara:Oh, that sounds lovely. That sounds like a long bike ride. I'll my e bike.
Carly Ries:I would take my e bike too. Okay. I feel better. Okay. Mine doesn't have a throttle.
Carly Ries:Like, have to pedal. It's not one of those that
Lauren Ferrara:you can just
Carly Ries:sit and cruise.
Lauren Ferrara:Oh, I can sit and cruise. Mine's like a little motorcycle.
Carly Ries:It's like a pedal assist. Oh. So I still get a good workout.
Lauren Ferrara:Yeah. I can I try to do that and then I'm like, yeah, I'll just
Carly Ries:Yeah? And I can't really on my high horse. Like, we'll be like, oh, you have a new mic? And I'm like, excuse me. I don't have like a sit and go.
Lauren Ferrara:I feel like such an asshole when I like pass a real biker and I'm like, bye.
Carly Ries:Okay. What is your next one?
Lauren Ferrara:Okay. So Hillside Gardens. I feel like we've talked about them before. I've been there before for events. I haven't been there for their events.
Lauren Ferrara:And, you know, they're under new ownership as of a couple years ago. And every summer I'm like, oh, I'm gonna go to their concerts. And then I just like, life happens and I'm like, oh, it's raining or something, you know, like it's always on my schedule and then I haven't gone yet. So this is the summer that I'm going to go do all their cool things. Did you know they have
Carly Ries:a coffee shop? I've been to their coffee shop.
Lauren Ferrara:What? Without me? Yep. Kinda met you.
Carly Ries:And it's the quaint cutest little coffee shop. You would love it.
Lauren Ferrara:So yeah, I think I'm gonna like try to commit to the whole season and that's gonna be my my outdoor outdoor fun. That and gather mountain bloom.
Carly Ries:So in our last like reintroduce ourselves episode, some of our friends commented and they're like, what do you have against Garden of the Gods? Because we were asked to rapid fire like Garner the God. Like, what are we to question about Garner the Gods? Yeah. K.
Carly Ries:For the record, folks, we love Garner the Gods. It is our local gem. We just don't go there as much as we should. Is that is that accurate? Yeah, yeah.
Carly Ries:But in fact, one of the things I love to do there is yoga on the rocks. What's doing yoga and Garden of the Gods? I mean, by yourself
Lauren Ferrara:or is that a class?
Carly Ries:It's a class. Oh, yeah. So it's like so and you can go to Garden of the Gods website to find it and find the class times. But yes, folks, we love the attraction, and I love yoga. And it's the perfect way to kick start your day.
Carly Ries:It's yoga on the rocks.
Lauren Ferrara:Ugh. I love that. I wanna come with you. You do all these cool things without me, I'm learning.
Carly Ries:I have a whole secret identity.
Lauren Ferrara:Apparently, I'm very hurt. So, okay. This one is one of those like embarrassing that I haven't done it yet things. My children have, my husband has, everybody on the planet has. I've never been to Cave Of The Winds.
Carly Ries:Have you? Do you know that? Yeah. But I mean, not
Lauren Ferrara:It's like a school field trip.
Carly Ries:I didn't cheat on you and go with somebody recently. Yeah. Mean, when I was a kid, I went quite a bit. But my husband took our daughter last year and she still talks about it like she did it yesterday. Like, obsessed with it.
Lauren Ferrara:Okay. So, yeah, I've never done it. I'm going to do it this summer. And then also the cliff dwellings, the Manitou Cliff dwellings haven't been there. And I think I told you I was very inspired by this friend of ours who picks a topic to study every year for an entire year and takes herself on field trips to all over the country and all over the world, I think.
Lauren Ferrara:But she yeah. Like, she studied things like soul food. And she, like, takes herself and learns how to cook things. And she she reads everything she can about it. So I was doing Colorado history as my study for the summer.
Lauren Ferrara:And so I'm gonna go to the Manitou Cliff Dwellings for that.
Carly Ries:Well, speaking of Colorado history, some Colorado Springs history, earliest historical businesses. Have you been to Juniper Valley? No. Lauren Ferrara's.
Lauren Ferrara:I've never even heard of this. What is this? Are you going with other friends that aren't me?
Carly Ries:I'm just gonna pause for creative effect. I Okay, so it is the cutest family owned restaurant just South Colorado Springs is on Highway 115. Like you're heading down in Canyon City. They have a fixed menu, you can like choose different things like you get a choice between like, broth and like this cherry juice, and then you can have ham, or fried chicken and like they have this okra thing. And it's just the cutest little restaurant.
Carly Ries:It's on this little ranch off 115. They're only open a few days a week. Really just on the weekend, you feel like you're going to grandma's get a home cooked meal. And it's just that's what I'm saying. Oh my gosh, I'm dragging you there.
Carly Ries:We're putting a date on our calendar like after this interview. I'm doing it
Lauren Ferrara:when you like I'm on line googling it right now because I'm like, sounds so adorable and cute.
Carly Ries:Lauren, it's so wholesome. I used to go there as a kid and it's just it's you just remember it. Like we didn't go frequently as kids by any means, but I remember those dinners more than any other restaurant growing up.
Lauren Ferrara:That sounds amazing. Let's do it. So, Lexi Llama, we're interviewing them pretty pretty soon. So look forward to a podcast about this very quirky, cool, awesome business that has very cute animals, but wine and cheese with llamas. So this is starting this month.
Lauren Ferrara:They have happy hour filled with wine, llamas, and unforgettable moments. So I don't know exactly what it entails, but it goes from May through September. And, you know, I just got back from Peru, so I'm very into all things llamas and alpacas and yeah. They look really cute. And I've seen them all over Instagram and I'm like, I just wanna go on a hike with these cute animals.
Lauren Ferrara:We we're talking about like
Carly Ries:a highly anticipated episode with our skincare episode, which we should pivot in a second to talk about our sponsor. But we also I feel like the luck this llama one is also one we've been talking about for like a year now, but we wanted to wait until peak season and
Lauren Ferrara:like Yeah, the right I don't want to go hike with llamas in January.
Carly Ries:Yeah, me neither. Okay, so another one that I had was to a Manitou Day. So I'd start with the incline. And then I told you a place that I've heard so much about that I have not been to yet is the loft. They're like coffee shop.
Carly Ries:Apparently they have insane bagels, which I'm a bagel person. And then I would kind of look through some storefronts in Manitou, go to Sunwater Spa for a soak, and then go to Crystal Park Cantina because that's like the best restaurant ever. And then I think it'd be fun to go see a show at Iron Springs Chateau Melodrama dinner theater, the one at the base of the incline, know, And just like run out a whole day in Manitou. I just think it'd be really fun.
Lauren Ferrara:So the last time I was in Manitou, I went to the Red Dog Cafe, Coffee and Cafe, and got a cookie. They had like this cute little bakery and cookies, and I bought a cookie, and I I brought bought three. I bought one for me and for the girls. We're eating our cookies. And, you know, the girls were like, this is the worst cookie we have ever had.
Lauren Ferrara:And I bought dog biscuits. They were not cookies. I feel like somebody should have told me that like, ma'am, you know that because it, like, looked like a cookie with icing, but no, dog biscuits. And I ate, like, probably half mine before. Was like, this is not meant for heat.
Carly Ries:Do they taste good for dog biscuits?
Lauren Ferrara:I've it's the only dog biscuit I've ever had. But, yeah, the girls were like, yeah, my kids obviously have like munched on a dog biscuit just out of curiosity and they were like, this is a dog.
Carly Ries:Touche. Okay. I'm glad you had a sample size of one with that because I was kind of a setup to be like, well, no. Like in comparison to other ones I've eaten. Okay.
Carly Ries:Another thing I wanna do and you know the new zoo exhibit is opening this summer, which, oh my gosh, so excited for. Have you joined Tales, Tunes, and Tastes at the zoo?
Lauren Ferrara:I have not.
Carly Ries:It is delightful. It's adults only. Uh-huh. And it's kinda, I mean, usually, like, just me personally, when I go to the zoo, I have the kids. Uh-huh.
Carly Ries:And love going is like a traditional zoo day. I've done the bring your dog like dog days at the zoo. But it's a cool way to like have a glass of wine, listen to some awesome music, and enjoy the zoo. I just have never experienced lit like that except for like what you can do at Tales, Shoes and Takes.
Lauren Ferrara:I've gone to the zoo ball a couple times and that is so fun. So I yeah, if it's anything like that, I'm I'm down.
Carly Ries:Let's give a quick shout out to our amazing sponsors. So if you've been following in the show, you know that Lauren and I have been on a bit of a skincare journey together. And we have to give a big shout out to our friends at Vanguard Aesthetics for making that happen. I just had my second IPL treatment and full transparency, everyone's results are going to be different. But mine have been really noticeable.
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Carly Ries:Use code springs and things all caps, no spaces at checkout to get three classes for just $30. That's just $10 a class, which is unheard of. Their link is in our show notes as well. And you guys, Lauren's company, Why Wait Stories, creates legacy films and brand films that capture the stories that matter most, whether that's your family's history, a milestone in your life, or the story behind your business. The whole idea is simple.
Carly Ries:Do not wait. The best time to preserve these moments and these voices is right now. If you have been thinking about it, just go to whywaitstories.com and start the conversation. Trust me, future you will be so glad you did. I think the only other thing I have is the okay.
Carly Ries:You were saying I've never done this. And so this is kind of in the vicinity of the cliff dwellings in Cave Of The Winds. I have never been to Wines of Colorado, the Creekside Patio.
Lauren Ferrara:I had never been there. Okay. I'm so excited to go with you.
Carly Ries:Did you go with other friends?
Lauren Ferrara:I did go with other friends. I went several I think like it was it was like, you know, when we were like preschool mom friends, like, just saw each other in the preschool line and didn't actually talk to each other because I was probably wearing headphones. But I I went for my birthday a couple years ago because I was like, it's my day and I wanna go to this place that I've always wanted to go. And it is so delightful to sit by. Yeah.
Lauren Ferrara:Like, it's just like on a sunny Colorado day during the summer. It's amazing. I'm coming with you.
Carly Ries:Okay. No. I want you to because I I'm so excited. I've supposed I've been I've tried to go a few times and I just haven't. But, that's my big one.
Carly Ries:Do you have any, like, family traditions you do in the summer or anything?
Lauren Ferrara:It's so one of the reasons we do our world schooling adventures in March is so that I can be here during the summer. Like I am not willing to take a month out of Colorado summer to go elsewhere, especially because everything's, you know, it's high season. There's too many people. Everything's too expensive. Like I would rather go actually.
Lauren Ferrara:My tradition is probably the little dipper pool. I am obsessed with that little pool. It makes me so happy. It feels like Caddyshack. It feels like summertime.
Lauren Ferrara:Yes. Like Sandlot, like spending as much time at the dipper as possible is like just makes my heart happy.
Carly Ries:So, I did that question because my kids wanna do something that I did just a couple of times as a kid, but I talk about it like it was every summer. But I literally think we did it two summers in a row. But my mom is apparently like coolest mom ever, and she did bad manners night for me as a kid. So we take a summer night, I bring I get a couple friends. And she makes spaghetti and we do a food fight.
Carly Ries:My god. On like she did on a blanket. Think if I did it be a tarp so I could throw it away.
Lauren Ferrara:I I know your mom and I cannot visualize this. But that's really cool.
Carly Ries:We would do a spaghetti fight. And then if we were bathing suits to get all over us and then at the end we do, she got us cream pies and we did. We put a stuck our faces in the pies and we were just completely disastrous after and she'd hoses down in the shower and this whole thing and my kids are like, let's do that. But again, I think I do a tarp. And like, leave no remnants for bears or anything.
Carly Ries:So responsible, but I don't know that might happen this summer.
Lauren Ferrara:And I have the perfect I have the location. I'm so excited. Let's do it.
Carly Ries:What's the perfect location?
Lauren Ferrara:So my kids started, they call it Tumbleweed. They have built this like wilderness fort that's really freaking cool. And they just go out every day after school and like build this fort.
Carly Ries:Okay. I'm so glad you said that because when we were at your house for an event that was a couple weeks ago, I saw your oldest just wander off into the mountains. And I was like She was at Temple. Am I supposed to
Lauren Ferrara:come get you? It's great. Like they they for the last couple weeks after school, they're like, we you know, they just like take a bucket full of like supplies. They've built bows and arrows and they've like created their own tumbleweed language. They've made ink from burnt trees because that's where the yeah.
Lauren Ferrara:The fire, a couple years ago, there was a fire there. And so, yeah, we've got got everything you need and a little like, it looks like a little igloo made of sticks.
Carly Ries:Done and done. Yeah. Okay. I think it's time. Pick a doo.
Lauren Ferrara:Okay. Oh, this is like I am so freaking excited. I have we've talked about it before and you did a podcast with them with the Fine Arts Center, but Jagged Little Pill is my expectations were high. And my expectations for the Fine Arts Center are high because they deliver. So it is the best show I have ever seen at the Fine Arts Center.
Lauren Ferrara:And that is high phrase because they've had so I've I feel like I've said that a lot. And they had In the Heights and they you know, Cinderella and Little Mermaid and all these cool shows. But Jagged Little Pill, best show I've seen and one of the best shows I've ever seen. And I you know, I'm a theater geek. I've gone to the West End in London and Broadway, and I go to DCPA all the time.
Lauren Ferrara:One of the best shows I've seen in my life.
Carly Ries:I really hope that when I go, which I have tickets for, I really hope that when I go, I don't hit a traffic jam when I'm already late.
Lauren Ferrara:Well, you know what? I didn't realize about it. Like, I thought it was the story of Alanis Morissette. It's not.
Carly Ries:It's like mama Mia. Like, it's their her music, but for a different
Lauren Ferrara:tied into another person's story or another family's story. And it's just so apparently and you'll know it when you see it on I don't think they call it opening night. On one of the preview nights, there was a seven minute standing ovation after a certain song, and you'll, like, you'll know exactly when you go. You will know what I'm talking about. Seven minutes.
Lauren Ferrara:Not at the end of the show, just in the middle of the show. Like, it is that oh, like, just thinking and it stays with you for days. Like that show, I was just thinking about every single day for yeah. I'm still thinking about it. I'll I would go again.
Lauren Ferrara:So this show ends on May 24. If you don't see it, you will regret it. Like, get online. Like, stop listening to this podcast and get online and book tickets because it is it is fantastic.
Carly Ries:Well, listeners, that's all we have today. Thank you so much for tuning in. As always, leave that five star review. It helps us spread the word to other Colorado Springs locals. Subscribe to the show on Apple or Spotify, and share this episode with a friend if they're looking for summer plans, and we'll see you next week on Springs and Things.