Taking the Kids: Summer fun and July 4 at Vail Mountain
Lemonade, anyone? We were among the gaggle of parents, kids, grandparents and dogs decked out in our patriotic best, milling around on the pedestrian path in Vail, Colorado, waiting for the traditional Vail America Days Fourth of July parade to begin.
"Half the people in town march in it, and the other half watch," laughed Ellen Grady, who has vacationed here with her three kids for more than a decade.
There were kids marching while playing the drums, cheerleaders, gymnasts, hockey players -- puppies being trained to be companions for those with challenges, firemen and the local bookmobile in a decorated school bus. I especially loved the Precision Lawn Chair Demonstration team. And like most small-town parades, there were veterans in vintage cars, dogs wearing colorful red-white-and-blue bandanas, locals on skates and bikes and horseback, all throwing out candy to the waiting kids.
Kids who are veterans of this parade have brought bags for the candy and sunglasses tossed by marchers.
The lemonade stand located along the pedestrian path of the parade is being run as a benefit for a local nonprofit at the Four Seasons Resort Vailwhere we're spending the weekend. The resort is about halfway between Vail Village and Gore Creek where the kids love to splash and where there are a lot of restaurants. In the other direction, Lionshead Village offers a gondola to the top of the mountain.
Later at the Four Seasons, there would be a free kids' carnival for guests, and a short walk away a rousing, free patriotic concert at the Gerald R. Ford Amphitheater where there are free concerts all summer long.
"I feel like Vail is a hidden gem in the summer and especially around the Fourth," said Andrea Grohman, who counts herself lucky to live here. "There is just so much to do."
These days across ski country you'll find not only plenty of old-fashioned celebrations for Independence Day but also a growing number of mountaintop and mountainside activities -- everything from zip lines and Alpine coasters to adventure courses and guided hikes. The best part -- lodging is considerably cheaper in summer (as much as 30 percent off at the Four Seasons, for example; more than half off winter peak prices in Snowmass, Colorado, and Park City, Utah) and there are plenty of free activities -- hiking amid the wildflowers, biking on rail trails, cooling off in creeks and concerts.
In Aspen, Boogies Buddy Race on July 4, now in its 32nd year, offers everything from a five-mile race to a one-mile family and canine run/walk, attracting more than 1,000 participants, half of them tourists. Hundreds of others watch and cheer.
Aspen has an Old-Fashioned July 4th Parade and Community Picnic and "America's Birthday Carnival" that offers carnival games, bounce houses and face-painting. And everyone turns out for the Aspen Music Festival & School's Free Fourth of July concert.
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