Home

Whether you call it mud season or social season, this is the time of year when downtown Steamboat businesses are going through the annual transition from the winter to summer mode.

Jamie Jenny at Harwig's/L'Apogee can't bear to close for more than a couple of days every other year to replace the restaurant's carpet.

"We never close," Jenny said. "I love the shoulder seasons. I generally don't travel in the shoulders; I'd rather travel in winter."

Jenny is promoting "mud season" in Steamboat as "social season." He relishes that time of year when friends and acquaintances aren't frenetically busy, and there's time to reconnect.

"I can drive down Lincoln Avenue and say, 'There's George's car or there's Suzie's car, I think I'll pop in there and see if I can find them,'" Jenny said.

Don Silva at the Old West Steak House said that, for the first time in 25 years, he'll close for an extended period this month to catch up on some mechanical refurbishing.

"I used to suck it up and do those things at night, but I'm getting too old for that," Silva said. "I've always said locals aren't chopped liver, and you need to stay open for them. But now, there are enough restaurants in town that it isn't as big an issue."

He used to stay open throughout spring because of a sense of civic duty -- there just weren't many restaurants to choose from.

Silva said he communicated with several other restaurant owners this spring to make certain they stagger their mud-season closure dates. The Old West will be closed until April 30, when it reopens for high school prom night.

Other restaurants are offering special deals during mud season.

Brett Lee at Straightline Outdoor Sports has been watching the seasons change on Lincoln Avenue for more than 15 years. He said mud season isn't what it used to be.

"It's not like the old days," Lee said. "That two months of deadness -- that's really shrunk down now. In the '80s, we had a lot of ski bums. Once their (winter) job was done, they were out of here. Now, those ski bums have kids in school, and they stick around."

Linda Petet at Steamboat Shoe Market said she and her husband, Rick, have relaxed their evening hours, closing at 6 p.m. instead of 8 or 9 p.m.

"Usually, it's Rick and I who work those evening hours in the shop," Petet said. "In spring, we can both be home for dinner."

The shops in the Franklin Mall, 833 Lincoln Ave., closed April 10 and will remain closed until Thursday. A few doors away at the Homesteader, Steve Kennedy said his store sees a dramatic dip in sales between April 5 and June 1. However, after working long hours all winter, closing the shop for four Sundays in spring isn't all bad.

Jeff Little at the Ore House at the Pine Grove said his restaurant is shifting its spring closure a little later in the season than usual. The hardwood floors on the second floor of the restaurant are being refinished, and the restaurant will reopen the first weekend in May.

Little said a spring break is important to his staff.

"I couldn't keep my staff otherwise," Little said with a smile.

Silva agreed that a break to recharge the batteries is a healthy thing for ski-town restaurant workers.

"I don't think the staff could maintain the pace," Silva said. "They work two to three jobs all winter, and they need that break. You have to put your game face on every night" in the restaurant business.

-- To reach Tom Ross call 871-4205

or e-mail tross@steamboatpilot.com