As some of you know, I grew up in a small town in the Pacific Northwest and I have a real affinity for communities where the cows — or in Meeker’s case, the sheep — outnumber the people.
Meeker is located about one hour and 40 minutes north of Grand Junction and three hours and 45 minutes northwest of Denver. When they asked me to be a judge for this year’s Jammin’ Lamb Festival, I answered a resounding “yes” because I’d been looking for an excuse to visit the town ever since we stayed in Rangely, Meeker’s neighbor, and one of the friendliest Colorado towns that I’ve ever encountered.
Jammin’ Lamb Fest, a culinary competition, is part of the Meeker Classic Sheepdog Trials, which I previously wrote about here.
We pulled into town in early September and despite summer drawing to a close the town’s proximity to the White River had kept it green. The area surrounding the town of approximately 2,300 is really quite lovely.
Our first stop in town was Meeker Drugs, where they’d created a HeidiTown milkshake in preparation for my visit. As kids clamored onto the stools next to us at this old-fashioned soda fountain, Ryan and I realized that Meeker Drugs was the perfect introduction to this Norman Rockwell town. The milkshake, a pumpkin spiced fall concoction was delicious and you should order it if you visit this fall.
A big thank-you to Meeker Drugs for creating this spectacular shake.
We stopped in at three more downtown establishments after filling up on sugar and sweet memories. First up was Nana Goose Interior & Gifts. It’s a gift and interior decorating store with everything for the Colorado home.
We’ve been looking for a new chair for our living room for a long time now and we actually found an affordable wing-back chair at Nana’s. Thankfully, it comes apart for transport so we bought it and managed to fit it into our car for the trip home. I’d take a photo of it, but my house is a little messy, so I chucked that idea out the window.
Stop three was Country Raised, a shop I immediately loved because this painting was leaning against the doorway when we arrived:
As I wandered around Country Raised, I knew that the store owner Makala Barton and I were kindred spirits. I loved everything in the store, from the Country Raised t-shirts to the apron featuring a cow, and I wanted to buy all the things. Makala is always adding fun finds to her collection, so keep an eye on the store’s Facebook page for details.
Our last stop was unexpected. After all, who expects to find a wonderful wine store and cheese shop in a tiny town in Northwest Colorado? Or, for that matter, a tiny town anywhere? Even medium-sized towns usually lack a cheese shop.
Lucky for the folks who live in Meeker or visit, Blanco Cellars & The Little Cheese Shop are tucked into the corner of 645 Main Street. If you’ve followed me at all here or on social media, you know that cheese and wine are pretty much my favorite things in the world followed closely by beer and baby goats. So did I like these two little shops? I adored them.
Vanessa Trout opened the wine shop in March of 2016 and opened the attached cheese shop six months ago. Vanessa, an accomplished foodie, wine aficionado and chef, has enjoyed educating shoppers about wine and cheese and the citizens of Meeker have embraced both. I understand completely because when I discovered good cheese, cheese beyond cheddar and pepper jack, my life became more fulfilled (and you think I’m exaggerating, but I am not).
We were genuinely surprised to discover such an interesting array of shops in downtown Meeker. There are other stores in town as well including several art galleries, a general mercantile, a sporting goods store and more.
Here’s a map of Meeker’s dining, shopping and lodging from their Chamber of Commerce.
Stay tuned for “Meet Me in Meeker, Colorado, Part Two: Staying & Dining in Meeker.” Afraid that you’ll miss it? Subscribe to HeidiTown.com here and never miss a thing.
A Note from the Mayor: #MeetMeinMeeker was a hashtag I came up with after spending the weekend in town. You are welcome to use it when sharing this article or sharing anything else about Meeker.
Thank you to the folks in Meeker who invited me to be a culinary judge for Jammin’ Lamb Festival and for covering our lodging.
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My mom was born in meeker,back in 1930.annabell,was stoumbaugh.thomas and mabel,were here parents.
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I grew up in meeker.
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