Fields Trip: Snow Edition

The best of everything in Telluride

Blizzard! But Jay and I are on an altitude high.
One of many dinner destinations, Cosmopolitan, just steps from the gondola
Take in shopping at the tiny and trendy Two Skirts boutique.
For the best fondue al fresco, hang up your board for a barstool and hit the HopGarden in the Mountain Village core.
When off the slopes, make sure to take the gondola into town.

Dear CultureMap,

I am on an altitude high! Greetings from the marvelous Bonnaire House in Telluride, Colorado… While defrosting my thinking cap after a full week of hitting the slopes in negative degree weather and turning this old mining town upside down, I‘m taking a break while sipping a Snowy Owl and wanted to fill you in on the all the essentials we discovered at 9,545 feet.

- For the ultimate ski and snowboard rental, make sure to use Black Tie Ski Rentals. The super cute ski concierge team arrived on time and fit all of crew in the comfort of our home.

- For dinner, our rambunctious crew hit the Cosmopolitan, just steps from the Gondola and dined on a smorgasbord of lobster corn dogs, sushi and rock shrimp. My husband Jay went nuts over fish stew with lobster tail and a tomato saffron broth.

- For another dinner favorite, be sure to try Excelsior Café and ask for Josh as your waiter. If you are with a big group, ask for the room upstairs and get ready for an eclectic menu of pizza and lamb chops with baskets of the cheesiest cheese popovers.

- For on-mountain après ski, we hit the slope side slice of heaven, Crazy Elk Pizza. The wait -worthy hand made pies were enough for us to call it a day and relish in the gooey mozzarella and thick and airy crust.

- For the best fondue al fresco, hang up your board for a barstool and hit the Hop Garden in the Mountain Village core. Order an over-stuffed Bloody Mary or Baileys & Cream all under an assortment of heated lamps.

- If a driver is ever needed whether it be to the airport or a in our case, a big night out to the new and swanky Sheridan Chop House and their historical bar make sure to use Alpine Luxury Limo and if you’re lucky, you will get Jim Denny as your driver.

- When off the slopes, make sure to take the gondola into town. While the guys hit Brown Dog Pizza for football and beers, the girls took in shopping at the tiny and trendy Two Skits boutique. Accompanied by a fireside lunch at Rustico Ristorante filled with handmade antipasto and an overdose of more hand made pizza.

- With our skin and muscles in major need of some TLC from battling the mountain, we slipped into The Spa at The Peaks Resort. On the menu? The 02 Repair facial and Hydro Stone Therapy Massage. Make sure to take advantage of the Oxygen Inhalation Room to help combat the effects of high altitude and insomnia.

See you guy’s back at sea level,
xo
Allie

unspecified

look up

Houston airport's massive new art installation celebrates Texas flowers

A field of glass flowers above the new terminal at IAH

Photo provided by Houston Airports

Dale Chihuly's beautiful new art installation at IAH

Holiday travel in Houston just got brighter. A gargantuan new art installation will welcome flyers at George Bush Intercontinental Airport (IAH).

The piece is called Coastal Prairie Fiori. Inspired by the famous wildflowers of the Texas coastal plains, the construction is made up of 537 colorful, hand-blown glass elements and stretches nearly a third of a football field over the 17-lane TSA screening area in the new International Central Processor (ICP). Suspended on five custom armatures, the piece adds both color and a sense of adventure to flying to and from the city.

Coastal Prairie Fiori is the work of Dale Chihuly, arguably America’s best-known glass artist. He started working with the material in the 1960s during a weaving class, working shards into tapestries. Chihuly then moved into glassblowing, growing in expertise in the art even after being blinded in the left eye in a 1973 car crash. In the last several years, he has been specializing in airport installations, including Denver International Airport (DEN) and Will Rogers Airport (WRWA) in Oklahoma City, Oklahoma.

“The way an installation interacts with a space — its light, dimensions, energy — is important to me as an artist,” Chihuly said in a statement. “The relationship between art and its environment is key. Coastal Prairie Fiori embodies that relationship; it’s hundreds of elements, when combined with the natural light that pours in through Bush Airport’s atrium, transforms the space. The way this shifting light interacts with the glass is incredibly dynamic.”

The ICP checkpoint will be fully operational by summer 2025.

Chihuly’s installation is the latest in Houston Airports’ commitment to enriching the travel hubs with various art. In February, Houston Airports installed two art cars in IAH and William P. Hobby Airport (HOU). These cars honored famous Texas musician Stevie Ray Vaughan and the legendary late singer of Queen, Freddie Mercury. The airports have increasingly become a space to display the work of artist both local and international as travelers pass through.

“The installation of Coastal Prairie Fiori represents our commitment to enhancing the international passenger experience through art that captures Houston’s natural beauty and cultural vibrancy,” says Jim Szczesniak, Director of Aviation for Houston Airports. “As a key part of our larger IAH Terminal Redevelopment Program, the new International Central Processor provides an ideal space to showcase this impressive installation, which we hope will inspire and captivate travelers from around the world.”

The Houston Airport System is renowned for its art, winning World's Best Art in the Airport from Airport by Skytrax in 2023 and 2024. Both Bush and Hobby were highlighted in the award for having exceptional art displays that celebrated Texas culture.