Friday, November 13, 2009

Exactly what you would expect...

I had a work related conference in Denver, Colorado this past week. Since I had to be there 4 days, I thought I should take a friend! Jason was unable to go due to work, so guess who went with me!!
And..knowing the two of us..you can pretty much guess what we did.
Pretty much..I attend seminars, meetings and vendors in the mornings..reserving the afternoons/evenings for play/touring.
We arrive on Sunday..this was our view from our room!and before you ask..this was the most snow we saw while there..it was actually warmer/sunnier in Denver then Virginia.We make our way to the top floor bar the first night to enjoy a Colorado brew while enjoying the viewOn Monday afternoon, we head to Denver's 16th street mall. It was a little chainy but entertained us for the afternoon. Now..you probably can't see that Denver has 'killer curbs'.. don't feel badly b/c I couldn't see them either. This was taken about 1 minute after 'missing' the curb completely..the swelling didn't stop with the goose egg.
But I managed to hobble, literally, to the state capital building before going to Walgreens for ice bags and an ankle brace.that night, we went to the infamous Buckhorn Exchange. The bar was awesome and quite cozy considering all the wondering eyes. Kristen is actually perusing the menu..cleverly disguised as a newspaper!The state mascot watched over usAfter seated..this was my view to the front..and the rear..Keep with tradition of eating anything possible..we dined on Rocky Mountain Oysters, ostrich, yak, buffalo and quail. It was Monday night and to our surprise, Monday Night Football was being played in Denver between the Broncos and the Steelers..I had to take a photo of the stadium from our hotel room during the game.On Tuesday afternoon, we headed to see the stadium up close. So we conquered the light rail and rode to Mile High Stadium
I like this angle..Then we decided to dive in to the Denver culture and hit the multiple microbreweries in the city. We managed to hit Great Divide brewery, Breckenridge, Falling Rock and Wynkoop. I was able to snap a photo in Breckenridge..they had some good beer.Before bed on Tuesday..I took another photo of the ankle to show the progress. The brace and alleve were saviors. Had I not been in another city..I would have been on the couch with my foot up.On Wednesday, I 'play hooky' and we rent a car and head to Boulder, CO. I am very glad we did. Denver..well it is a city and really beyond the breweries had nothing other cities don't offer (with reduced oxygen). But Boulder..was a cool town. They had an outdoor street market too which had some really cool stores. Kristen was the navigator throughout the trip.Then..once it turned noon..we started with the breweries in Boulder. Which apparently has more microbreweries per capita then any other city in the US.
Mountain Sun Ales 'taster' tray.
Boulder brewing companies 'taster' tray..this about killed us.
and now.. you are probably thinking..WHAT?? No Wine?? Rest assured dinner included wine most nights and on Monday we visited a few wine tastings in stores..but really had no luck with wineries. And we are the first to admit we much prefer wine over beer...s0 on Wednesday on our way back from Boulder, we stopped at Balistreri Winery. It was great! This is more like it!

We bought a case. ;-}
On Thursday morning, we boarded the plane to head back to the wet and windy Virginia. it was good to see the kids!
I will leave you with my foot right now..It is Friday and I injured in on Monday. It feels kind of like it looks today..puffy and bruised.

8 comments:

IHateToast said...

i can't believe you zombied your ankle sober and didn't do worse while limping and sampling every beer in denver. you're both a mess and incredibly talented.

so how were the glorified nuts?

Trina said...

I was completely sober..maybe that was the problem? and I have a feeling had I not walked for 2 days solid it would not have become a zombie foot.
The nuts were ..the texture of calamari and mildly game-y. All in all..nothing too crazy.

genji said...

A microbrew tour of Colorado sounds like a vacation in itself. Glad you guys had a great time, sans ankle twist.

Amanda said...

man! you've got some nice color on that ankle of yours!! glad you were able to soldier through it and enjoy the rest of our trip. :o)

houndstooth said...

Looks like a great trip! I agree, Boulder is a cool town!

Gary said...

You sat in the exact same chair that I did on my visit. You shoulda tried the rattlesnake!

Life With Dogs said...

What a great tour! Very sorry to hear about the ankle - I have done the same about ten times now.

Amazing how much the weather there has changed in just a few days!

Scott said...

Yikes! Nasty bruising. Glad it wasn't worse.