Day 48

Day 48: 7/4/15 (Castle Rock/Denver)

98 miles

We left the house this morning after wishing Susan a Happy Birthday and having a bite to eat.  Our first stop was the Red Rocks Amphitheatre which functions as an entertainment venue on most evenings, but before noon it seems to be Denver’s largest outdoor gym.  We couldn’t stop staring at all the people lunging and crunching and running everywhere, especially the family that was visiting and deciding to join in for a quick cardio workout.  It was definitely weird to see so many people working out because we were expecting all the visitors to be like us, tourists.  We took a few pictures and then went into the Museum to learn about the history of the venue and look at all the paraphernalia from the artists who had performed there.  Clearly, they were proud to host The Beatles in 1964 because the pictures and props seemed to take up a lot of room.  Once we felt that we had seen enough, we headed back to the car.

 We wanted to take a tour of Coors Brewery but being the 4^th of July and all, they were closed.  Instead we went into town to find an event called Big Wonderful which was suggested by Rico’s sister Shannon who had lived in Denver for a while.  It ended up being a cool area with a lot of food trucks, local artisans, some live music, and of course, expensive beer.  When we arrived they had a few deals going on so we got some beers and pizza which were both buy one get one free, though our free beer was the bartender’s choice which ended up being Keystone.  It seemed that most of the crowd was Colorado natives so we got a good feel for the locals.  We didn’t stick around for too long – mainly because we weren’t going to by $12 beers all day.

After that experience, we went downtown to the 16^th Street Mall which is a pedestrian area with the exception of a free shuttle bus that carts you from one end to the other.  While there, we walked past several eateries, bars, and shops before finding the Hard Rock Café to pick up some more sticks for Jillian’s brother.  We weren’t in much of a shopping mood and we were trying to hold out for dinner so we just spent some time sitting outside enjoying the weather.  We had a few hours to kill before everyone was coming into town for Susan’s birthday dinner so we wanted to find a bar close by.  We knew it was within a block from where we were and after walking up and down the block a few times we found it just around the corner from Hard Rock – exactly where we started.  Once we had located the restaurant, we went to the Yardhouse just down the block.  Jillian tried one of their blended beers which was a mix of a chocolate stout and framboise which is a raspberry beer – so delicious!  Rico stuck with a Belgian beer which is his favorite, but at least this one was brewed in Colorado so he kept it local.  While we were at the bar, we caught some of the 3^rd place women’s world cup game England and Germany, as well as the men’s international Chile vs. Argentina game.

  

Once we finished our beers, we walked to Maggiano’s where dinner was scheduled and sat at a table outside watching some Netflix (Orange is the New Black) to kill some more time.  All of sudden it started pouring and although we were under an umbrella, it was pretty windy so we ran into the restaurant to grab a drink.  We started with an aperitivo which had gin and passion fruit in so we were sold.  As we finished our drinks, we saw Susan, John and Caitlin coming down the street – they also got caught in the rain.  When we met up with them, we found out the reservations got pushed back a little later so Rico’s cousin Johnny could make it after getting out of work. The five of us went to a restaurant next door to have a drink while we waited.  Finally it was 6:30pm and it was time for dinner!  We went into the restaurant and ate our hearts out –bread, bruschetta, artichoke dip, more bread, and plenty of salad and pasta all around.  Then to satisfy our dessert stomachs we all shared Susan’s birthday Tiramisu and a flourless chocolate lava cake that Caitlin ordered.

 After dinner, Susan and John headed to the Denver Outlaws game (Pro Lacrosse Team), which had started at 7pm so they were going to miss most of it, but at least they would see the fireworks.  Caitlin went to meet up with some of her high school friends while we went out for drinks with Johnny.  A lot of the bars were dead/closed so after a drink downtown we dropped Johnny off at his apartment and headed back to Castle Rock.  We were greeted by Holly, their lab, who seemed happy to see people.  After giving her some love we passed out for the night.

Fact:

Mixing Framboise with a chocolate stout makes for the yummiest beer

Lesson:

If you want an exciting bar scene on the 4^th of July, don’t got out in Denver until after the fireworks let out.

Eat Well; Travel Often

Rico & Jillian