Estes Park 2025

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On September 20, 2025

In golf, travel

Josh, Phil, and I returned to Estes Park this summer after a one-year hiatus, and it was as glorious as ever.

I arrived via modern-day Conestoga wagon (pictured below) after a serene drive through Washington, Montana, and Wyoming, including stops along the way to reconnect with old friends in Missoula and Billings.

Josh and Phil arrived shortly thereafter, and we spent a few action-packed days hiking in Rocky Mountain National Park and sampling the area’s golf courses.

On our way up to The Loch, Josh and I spotted a massive bull elk. We gave it a wide berth while it kept watch over its harem of lady elk grazing a few yards away.

Despite our caution, the big fella still ended up chasing us up the trail when some other hikers startled it from the opposite side. I’m not sure we were in any actual danger, but the alacrity of the thing over rough terrain was deeply impressive. As Phil noted, it’s got natural four-wheel drive.

Another highlight was traversing Trail Ridge Road en route to Grand Lake Golf Course, a surprisingly upscale routing through the hills just west of the namesake lake.

The East Troublesome Fire in 2020 charred the surrounding pine forest, leaving the course with a distinctly lunar feel. This was echoed by the insane carry of the ball at over 8,000 feet in elevation, which no doubt helped me to record one of my all-time longest drives at 339 yards.

I’m pleased to report that the WesTex BBQ food truck is still in operation in Estes Park and is still as tasty as ever. We also enjoyed a fancy dinner at Bird & Jim (thanks, Mom!), which did not disappoint. Pro tip: try the elk sirloin; it’s incredible (sorry, Mr. Elk).

On the return trip, I piloted the wagon via I-70 through Glenwood Springs, where I spent the night in the Hotel Colorado. Built in the 1890s by silver magnate Walter Devereux, the grand sandstone structure sits across from the world’s largest hot springs pool.

For scale, note the guy climbing the diving board in the image above. Unfortunately, I arrived too late to take a dip in the healing waters, but I made a mental note to come back.

The rest of the trip, via Utah, Idaho, and Oregon, was pleasantly uneventful, and the trusty wagon now sits, freshly washed, in the garage, awaiting our next adventure.

Thanks for reading!

Mexico City 2025

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On March 23, 2025

In architecture, travel

Jason and I traveled to Mexico City in late February. It was my first time visiting the massive and ancient capital—home to more than 20 million people and with a history stretching back over 700 years.

Growing up, I was told a consistent narrative about Mexico in general and Mexico City in particular: that it was poor, dirty, scary, chaotic. But on this trip, I discovered just how far off the mark that was.

Mexico City is, in fact, one of the most civilized, welcoming, beautiful, and culturally rich places I’ve ever been.

Here are some highlights from the trip.

We stayed in the charming La Condesa neighborhood, where I fell completely in love with the Hipódromo area. Originally a horse racing track, it was transformed in the 1920s and ’30s into a ring-shaped marvel of Art Deco and International Style architecture, bordered by lush parks and tree-lined boulevards.

I could have spent the entire week walking the loop along Amsterdam Avenue, sampling each of the dozens of tiny, delicious coffee shops and bakeries.

Just a few blocks west of us lay the vast Chapultepec Park—a 1,700-acre wonderland of museums, gardens, and historic sites. Its centerpiece, at least for me, is the National Museum of Anthropology, which documents nearly 1,000 years of regional history and is itself a masterpiece of mid-century modern design.

We also loved exploring the excellent Museum of Modern Art, which focuses on Mexican artists of the 20th century, and the imposing Chapultepec Castle, once home to Emperor Maximilian I during his short-lived reign.

Another day, we hopped on cheap city bikes and rode along the surprisingly bike-friendly streets to Coyoacán, where we met up with my mom and cousin Susie for a tour of Frida Kahlo’s family home.

Equally fascinating was our walk to the city center, where I was floored by the murals of Diego Rivera, José Clemente Orozco, and other Mexican greats at the Palacio de Bellas Artes—an Art Deco gem in its own right.

I could keep gushing, but instead, I’ll just let some additional photos from my reel do the talking.

Kerry Hall

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On November 24, 2024

In architecture

I’ve long admired this historic Spanish Revival building in our neighborhood. Designed by prominent Seattle architect Abraham Albertson, it was originally built in 1921 to house what is now known as the Cornish College of the Arts.

Over the last century, many notable artists-to-be passed through its hallways, including dancer Merce Cunningham, actor Brendan Fraser, drag icon Jinkx Monsoon, and Ann Wilson, lead singer of Heart.

Ever since Jason and I moved back to Seattle, we’ve enjoyed strolling by its gleaming white stucco walls, which are adorned not only with hand-carved woodwork but also with the names of Romantic thinkers and artists such as Whitman and Thoreau.

In delightful contrast, the punkish clangings of budding rock bands would sometimes waft from its high windows on long summer evenings.

Recently, though, we got word that Cornish was consolidating its footprint downtown, and the building would be sold.

The school kindly allowed the public to tour the place before its new owners took over, which is how I managed to capture this smattering of images.

Roaming its largely empty hallways felt like passing through lifetimes of creative sweat, tears, and joy. Even devoid of people, it was full of imagination and life.

Fortunately, we hear that the building will be passing into the hands of a local theater nonprofit. Hopefully, it will continue to bring creative life to the neighborhood for years to come.

Enjoy a few more snaps below.

Palm Springs 2024

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On March 27, 2024

In golf, travel

Jason and I made our annual sun pilgrimage in March, returning to Palm Springs for the first time in a few years. Palm Springs may not be the most adventurous choice for a getaway, but it sure is easy — just a two-hour direct flight from SeaTac.

This time, we splurged on a neat William Krissel-designed house with its own pool and hot tub. On the south side of town, it made a great home base, with easy access to the city, hikes, and golf.

Somehow in our prior visits we had overlooked the fantastic Indian Canyons hiking area, which was nearly walking distance from our place. It boasts a network of trails, many of which feature streams cascading down the mountainside and collecting in clear, palm-lined pools.

We also did an ambitious loop of the city, taking the South Lykken trail directly out the door of our Airbnb and heading north until it descended back into town near the art museum.

Our rental had a spare bedroom, so we invited friends over from LA to join us for excursions to watch the famed Indian Wells tennis tournament and play golf at the nearby Indian Canyons golf course, a lovely old Billy Bell layout lined with midcentury houses.

The Palm Spring sunshine seemed to follow us home, giving us an incredible view of the city from the airplane on our final approach.

Here are a few more snaps from the trip.

Christmas in Moclips

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On January 3, 2024

In travel

Once the terminus of the Northern Pacific Railway, Moclips in the early 1900s was home to large mills and opulent beachside hotels.

But it’s the rare place where economic development has largely gone backward for the last century. Today, there’s not much to it other than some modest houses along the shoreline and a charming old country store.

That makes it a terrific place for a quiet weekend with the pups.

We loaded them and all our gear into the old E36 hatchback, which seemed happy to make the trip, especially once we hit the two-lane blacktop west of Olympia.

Not a white Christmas but a rather wet one, complete with simple meals, long walks on the wide, deserted beaches, and warming up by the fire.

Here are a few more snaps from the trip.

Estes Park 2023

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On September 9, 2023

In golf, travel

My friends Josh and Phil met me in Estes Park for a little golf and hiking getaway. We stayed at my family’s cabin, which was built in the early 1900s by my great great grandfather, William Smedley. He was a dentist in the Denver area but came up to Estes Park in the summers to take care of miners who needed some teeth pulled. In fact, the structure was actually a dental office before it was converted to a cabin in the 1920s.

Like many in my family, I had been coming to the Estes Park cabin for at least a few days almost every summer from childhood through my 30s. Somehow, life got in the way, and more than a dozen years has passed since my last visit, when my husband Jason and I drove out from Santa Monica with our daughter, Rosie. She’s pictured below hiking with my mom and grandmother, representing three generations (four if you count me, the photographer). My grandmother was 92 years old at the time.

I can hardly believe it took me so long to come back. I suppose I wanted to explore other locales. But also, having visited so often throughout my childhood, I may simply have failed to recognize just how special the place is.

That magic all came roaring back these last few days. The mountains seemed more majestic than ever, the cabin more charming, and the local muni golf course more challenging and fun than I remembered.

Even the town, which had always seemed to me a kind of kitschy tourist trap, boasted a surprisingly level of culture. I’d never had a memorably good meal in Estes Park in all of my prior visits. But on this trip, we enjoyed several terrific outings, including one of the best pulled pork sandwiches of my life from a local food truck.

This was my first visit to the cabin since my grandmother passed away in 2021 at age 106. Going through her things, I found an old photo of her and a friend standing by the shore of Gem Lake, a picturesque pool of snowmelt hemmed in by the rounded granite of Lumpy Ridge.

On this trip, I dragged my friends up the unexpectedly steep trail to the same lake, where I took a rare selfie, not too far from where some of her ashes are scattered.

We also enjoyed hikes to Mills Lake, Dream Lake, and Emerald Lake, all of which are pictured below.

As I write this, sitting in the Denver airport, I’m already looking forward to my next visit.

Ozarks National Golf Course

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On August 12, 2023

In golf, travel

In August 2023, my brother Matt and I played Ozarks National Golf Course, an interesting and surprisingly challenging layout by my favorite contemporary golf course architects, Bill Coore and Ben Crenshaw.

Here are a few snaps from the round.

Hello (Again) World

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On August 1, 2023

In news

So, I deleted my social media accounts. For the usual reasons. Billionaires and algorithms. Blah blah blah. And I thought you might be wondering where the hell I went.

Here I am. I created this simple little website as a place to share news, photos, memories, and writing. Probably some other stuff, too, that I haven’t thought of yet. We’ll see.

Anyway, welcome. Have a look around. Drop me a line if you’d like. I always love hearing from you.

© 2025 mark holthoff & Site by Montana Banana