We visited Laramie in May 2016 during Big Trip #1.

We didn’t do a whole lot in Laramie. It’s a sleepy Old West city, home of the University of Wyoming, a couple breweries, a charming little crossroads of a downtown, and not much else. Except for the first hour we were in town, the weather was terrible–snow and cold rain–so that kept us from exploring much, but Bugsy and I went for a run from the campground, past the historic Ivinson Mansion, to the University in search of the ONLY memorial to Matthew Shepard in Laramie: a bench. A bench!? A bench that his family and friends sponsored, not the city. We expected some sort of city-initiated memorial, but no. Disappointing, Laramie.

Speaking of running, there are sidewalks all around town, including west of the the river, downtown and the University, so running is easy. If you’d rather hit the gym, like J, the no-frills Laramie Fitness offers a day pass for only $10.

Campground

Are you gonna make me say it? We stayed at the KOA. IT WAS THE CLOSEST CAMPGROUND TO TOWN. It was pretty empty, very quiet, not very internetty.

Eating and Drinking

Our favorite drinking establishment in Laramie was in the historic downtown area; it has a coffeeshop on one side and a brewery on the other, with an open door between the two. We had a coffee-and-wifi morning and a beer afternoon at Coal Creek Coffee and then Coal Creek Tap next door.

We had a local beer at Crowbar & Grill, a funky bar downtown, and tried the pad thai fries. Peanutty slop on top of fries, yum!

On our last night in town, we had a dinner date at Altitude Chophouse & Brewery. The food was tasty, but the service was lacking. They’d just finished some sort of remodel and overhaul of the place, though, so they were probably still working out kinks.

This is a turning point on our trip…

Literally. From Laramie, we head east (well, northeast at first) to start the long arc toward home. Our original wish-list map had us going all over Wyoming and Montana, but this early in the season there’s still too much snow and passes and National Parks aren’t yet open. We’re planning a return trip late next summer to see more, but wanted to at least pop into Wyoming before turning for home. Our wish-list map also had us going up the west coast, which we decided to peel off into a trip of its own as well. There’s so much to see!