My granddaughter is using my house as a honeymoon suite, so Charlotte and I are staying at our apartment in Delta this week.  Last night, we drove to Montrose for a romantic dinner of our own.  We went back to Garlic Mike’s.  I last posted about this restaurant on December 4, 2008, and it’s high time I reprised it. 

If you’re having trouble finding the place, go east on Main St. until you see the Rose Bowl on the right.  (Yes, it’s a bowling alley)  Turn in there, and a couple of twists will bring you to the best Italian food for miles.  I can testify that the picatta  sauce would make cardboard taste good, and it’s even better over a chicken breast. 

The first time we went there, we met Amber, who was serving, and acting as host–the place is too small for a maitre d’.  It was her skill and grace that first got our attention, even before the food came.  This time she recognized us, and told us she was now the assistant manager.  Good for her, and good for management that recognizes talent when they see it.

The supply of good restaurants in Montrose is growing, but if you want a romantic evening with good food, and attentive service, Garlic Mike’s is still hard to beat.

Tags: Montrose, Resturant

Monday was our 51^st anniversary.  We chose to stay closer to home this year, so we rented a cabin at Mesa Lakes Resort just above the Powder Horn ski area.  On the whole, the resort was great, but as in life, there are pros and cons.  Let me start by saying I would be proud to own that particular cabin.  It was cozy, the fireplace was great, and it slept six in two bedrooms and a sleeping porch with a killer view of the lake.  It would have slept eight if one of the two couches was a hide-a-bed, but six is about right for the single small bath. 

There are pictures at http://www.flickr.com/photos/davidleeshort/sets/72157622405605139/   

If it were mine, there are some repairs and improvements I would make.

• A section of the log exterior is rotted. From my time at Breezy Point Resort I can tell you log repair is not cheap or easy, but it’s something that simply must be done to keep the building intact.
• Two of the windows are cracked.
• Two of the tiles have been removed from the shower, and the hole covered with duct tape.
• As far as I could find, the entire cabin hat 4 electrical outlets. The one in the bath was a GFI, but the others were ungrounded, and so worn that phone and camera chargers simply fell out.
• The building had been freshly stained, and looked great, but no one masked the windows so the spectacular view was considerably marred.
• The arm cover on one of the couches was tattered.

If all of this sounds a little picky for a mountain cabin, remember I’ve managed a resort, an up-scale mobile home park, and two apartment complexes.  I leave a maintenance list at every hotel I visit.  Still, the accommodations at Mesa Lakes run as high as $295.00 (ours rents for $185.00, and they gave us a nice discount).  That rate puts them in competition with places like the Hotel Telluride with its granite baths and cooked-to-order breakfast.  (If you go back a year in my ramblings, I wrote a review.)

So, would I recommend Mesa Lakes Resort?  As my friends in the legal profession would say, that depends.  As the name implies, it is nestled among some of the finest clear lakes you could ask for.  There are both downhill and cross-country skiing close at hand.  If it’s a cabin you want, then the answer is yes.  The owners are friendly and easy-going, the lodge is beautiful, and the food is simple, but very good.  If you are looking at the word “resort,” and expecting elegant you’d be disappointed.  If you live on the Western Slope, you owe it to yourself to check the place out.

Tags: Colorado, fishing, Grand Mesa, skiing