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Denver Airport
Tents resemble to Rockies. "Hey, are you going to be around this weekend?"
"Yeah"
"Ok..I'm booking my flights now, I'll see you in less than 24 hours"
"Okay!"
This was the phone conversation that I had with my friend Kristen literally a day before I headed out to Denver. I randomly landed an extra three day weekend, and I was not going to let it go to waste. Kristen had moved out to Denver back in October, and I told her that I would make my way out there at some point. You have to seize the opportunity when you can. I found really cheap round trip flights and I was on my way.
Besides seeing Kristen, I had always wanted to get out to Colorado. My parents had been out to Durango a couple of times, and have raved about the mountains and landscape. I just envisioned the state as a beautiful place. Flying into Denver International Airport, I saw the Rockies towering over what looked to be a tiny downtown. They were absolutely stunning. Covered in snow and standing tall, the "mountains" on the East Coast look like anthills compared to these things. The plane touched down, and
I made my way into the terminal. For those of you who have never been to the Denver International Airport, you're in for quite a treat. There's a train that connects the various terminals to the main hub. But this is no ordinary train. As it pulls up to the platform, this roaring guitar riff blasts through the air, welcoming passengers to Denver. Wait, didn't I go to Cleveland the weekend before? Certainly the coolest airport train I've ever been on. Once I got to the main terminal, I met up with Kristen and we were off. After stopping by her place for a bit, we met up with some of her friends and had lunch. After that, we were off to Fort Collins to the New Belgium brewery. After taking a couple of wrong turns, we made it. There was a small walking tour where you get to see the beer tanks, as well as a brief history of the brewery. After you ponder around for a bit, there's a bar up front where you can choose 4 beers to sample in little goblets. Can't really get a pint, but it'll do. I will say, this brewery confirmed every
stereotype of what I thought a Colorado brewery would be. Hard-wood floors, a design like a ski lodge, people walking around in sweaters and shades, and funky signs plastered over all the walls. It was then I coined the term "Colorado Cool", a began wearing my winter hat and shades for the remainder of the trip. After we finished our beers, we headed down to Boulder, home of the University of Colorado. Only a short drive from Denver, Boulder is a typical college town nestled in the Rocky Mountains. We ate at this large Mexican restaurant called the Rio Grande, where they had phenomenal chicken tortilla soup made with green chilis. Everything out there has some kind of green chili on it, and damn, they are good. We ended up going to another local brewery that night, and again, same setup like the last one. Only this time, there were dead animal heads on the wall! We also think we spotted the guy who invented Crocs, but that's not really hard to do out there. We had a couple of pints, and we headed back to Denver. Kristen promised me we were going to the mountains tomorrow, and I was
Chili Beer
Delicioso. stoked!
The next morning, we headed back to Boulder, only this time, we were heading up to the mountains. As we drove up, you could feel the change in pressure, but the cool breeze just felt great. We walked around for a bit and snapped some good photos, and took in the beautiful scenery. It really is breathtaking out there, and seeing photos doesn't do these mountains justice. Standing on top of a peak, looking down, you get the most amazing views. We headed back down the mountain, and headed into downtown Denver. Not going to lie, it's not the most flashy or stunning downtown ever, but they like things laid back down there. We walked along the main promenade and bought a few gifts, and then headed to the sports complex. No, I did not see Melo, but we did see where he and the Nuggets play. We then walked over to the Wynkoop Brewery (yup, same style as the other two) which is near Coors Field. I was told to try the "Chili Beer", being told that it was award winning. I'm thinking to myself, this can not taste good. But let me tell you, it was
phenomenal. Very light, but that hunt of smoked chili really gives the beer great flavor. I had to have two! We then walked over to Coors Field, which I flipped off (go sox!) and then headed out to dinner at a Colorado institution. Beaujo's makes special "Rocky Mountain Pies", and when I say they are huge, they are not f*cking kidding. They are HUGE! In fact, the restaurant offers a challenge for 2 people, where if you can finish an entire 14 pound pizza in one sitting, they give you $100, a free pizza, and 2 t-shirts. To date, no one has completed the challenge, and I wasn't about to. We got our delicious pizza, and honey for the crust (I'm telling you, it's damn good!). After dinner, we headed back to Kristen's place for a few hours, and then I was back off to D.C. Time does fly when you are having fun.
When I got back to D.C., I just couldn't stop talking about how cool Colorado was. The atmosphere, the scenery, the food, the people, it was all awesome! It's very tempting not to drop everything and move out there, but I need to go in
What a Diva
Good reading in the tattered covered bookstore. the summer months and rip it up on an atv or whitewater raft. Gotta keep up my status of "Colorado Cool"
Until next time, safe travels
-Kacz
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Colorado txpl
Colorado transplant
Let the good times roll
Sounds like you packed a lot into a short trip! Mary- Denver