Return to Virginia

Fortunately we have an afternoon flight.  The news shows a madhouse at DIA while they attempt to clear the backlog from yesterday's cancelled flights.  City roads remain snow covered while the Interstates are clear but slow moving. By the time we arrive at the airport around ten the airport looks normal. One of the suitcases is significantly overweight; the attendant can't be bothered to enforce the excess baggage charge and wishes us a Merry Christmas. We only have 27 bottles of beer, mead, whiskey, wine and sports.

We are lucky to get upgraded on both legs of the return trip. Carol is sleeping soundly on the flight to Norfolk. She can't be wakened to put her tray table up before landing and doesn't even wake on landing.  She really wants to check-in to the Residence Inn. She gets her wish when CJ finds the car has a dead starter battery and deems it far too late to resolve this evening.

We eventually arrive home around 1330 the next day after ordering CJ new glasses to replace those broken during the trip and getting food supplies to get us through the next few days before we leave for Upstate New York. Our final bit of "good news" on return is finding our downstairs heating system broken. CJ feels this is divine retribution for his not staying in Colorado and taking advantage of the fresh powder. When he was younger wild horses couldn't have gotten him on that plane!

Until the next unplanned adventure, hasta.

The Snow Cometh

Our incredible good fortune related to unseasonably warm December weather ends abruptly. Each successive weather forecast further upgrades the snow forecast until by the time we go to sleep they report a major snowstorm beginning overnight.

At 0700 there are whiteout conditions and snow covered roads on the streets below.

 

By noon CJ has cabin fever and decides to do a walkabout.  He checks out a quaint block in the downtown area before proceeding to walk to the other side of the river and try to find Denver Brewing. Downtown is snow covered and quiet for a weekday.

 

CJ opts to sit at the bar and sample five of their brews. If you're willing to drink outdoors you get two bucks off your beers.

The walk to Great Divide Brewery is an adventure.  Between CJ and the brewery are railroad tracks, a river, and a slightly inebriated fool with no map. Not only is there an extra bridge at 19th street but there's also a pedestrian river crossing. It takes our intrepid traveler three attempts to get across the railroad tracks and around Coors Field, the Colorado Rockies baseball stadium. Having passed up the obvious opportunity to go under the railroad, it takes numerous failed starts to get over the tracks.

 

There is a wild and crazy crew at Great Divide. The bartenders are trying to identify the brews  by taste; eyes closed.  One goes three for three.  The other leaves, possibly seeking a new line of work after guessing only one of three.

Following significant walking in deep snow and two breweries, CJ calls for the cavalry.  Carol dispatches Danny and the Renaissance suburban to the rescue. 

CJ's a bit late arriving for our departure for happy hour at Stoic and Genuine.  Like yesterday, more oysters and sea urchin.

 

 

 

We pass by Jax, purportedly the best restaurant in Denver.  It's not even as good as Stoic and Genuine. The fruits de mer offering is awful, the gumbo a bit off, and the sugar covered hush puppies indistinguishable from a cinnamon sugar donut,

Happy hour this afternoon will pass for this evening's dinner. The remaining Avery Uncle Jacob's stout and wine from previous evening will help us pass this winter's evening in the hotel. We leave the last of the growler with Danny.

It might be an adventure at the airport tomorrow. Hundreds are stranded and rooms at the airport are going at over $400 a night.

Return to Denver

We have a wine and beer cellar overflowing to the point one can hardly enter to make a selection and so what do we do? Purchase lots of incredible Colorado beer. We have a storage area with at least ten suitcases still at home.  And how does CJ begin the morning; shopping for a suitcase to carry home the beer. Can you say "shopping addict?

Packing the beer takes so long that we're racing to get the rental car back to Denver on time. Our last two Boulder brewery visits are a casualty of these purchases. Too bad that we'll be forced to return to try them out.

The manager had promised we'd get a better room this time. He delivers the best suite in the place. A desk, small dining area, wet bar, living room, huge bedroom with lounging chair and large bathroom with a TV embedding in the huge mirror over the sink.

 

 

We're off to happy hour at Stoic & Genuine for $2 oysters and reduced price wines. As a bonus treat, the whole fresh uni in the shell over lycheesake granita is incredible.

 

 

 

The city is once again showing off for Christmas.

 

 

 

Based on a number of independent recommendations, dinner is in the hotel restaurant; 4 dishes for home runs. Special renditions of a wood roasted stuffed artichoke, bacon stuffed jalapeño peppers, an incredible bison meatloaf over chipotle mashed sweet potatoes, and a rabbit stroganoff.

 

 

 

Avery at Last!

Dennis sent this late arriving picture of us at Southern Sun yesterday. This morning we can see the mountains from our hotel room. CJ discovers huevos rancheros for breakfast. It's one of the best preparations ever.

It's partly sunny and we begin the day with a return visit to the Pearl Street Mall. Today we photograph three more of the bronze sculptures; the bison, bobcat, and hawk.

 

 

There are many interesting shops.  The mall is pretty by day. We find some exotic teas and cute Christmas presents for the children. The animated T-rex with antlers is quite creative.

 

 

For lunch we return to West Flanders Brewery for brew and a good chicken guacamole burger. You have to love the attitude of the folks at West Flanders. Temperature dependent happy hour.

 

As most others in the state of Colorado on this Sunday we watched the Denver Bronco's game until we had to leave for dinner.

This evening we take a taxi to our favorite craft brewery on the planet, Avery!  They opened a huge new brewery earlier this year and we've yearned to visit it since it opened. Most breweries have rolling taps of their line.  Avery has everything on tap!  The taxi is going to be a very wise decision.

 

We picked Sunday for our visit since today is the release date for the new Vanilla Bean Stout.  It's delicious.  Following a short stint at the bar our table is ready.

It's been years since we ordered a BBQ nacho platter but the description of this one is too good to pass up; perhaps the best nachos ever. After nearly filling up on the nachos, the three of us split a dinner selecting the meat plate featuring their chorizo, brisket, and ribs.  The portions were large enough for one appetizer and one dinner among the three of us.  We've sampled most of their line by the end of dinner.

 

 

The brewery is huge and was purpose built for the conduct of tours.  Large walkways and a number of small sitting areas, one with a small bar, hover high above the brewery.  With this evening's purchases it appears another suitcase and more bubble wrap is in order.

 

It's been a fun two days with Dennis,. He leaves us with a bottle of his homebrewed mead.

Dennis and More

We are supposed to awake to many inches of snow.  There is no snow. A light snow begins and continues throughout the day.  Boulder gets at most two inches. It's not often one gets to regress to an earlier time.  By the time today slows to an end, we'll have returned to our college days; and why not when in the college town of Colorado University.

We organized to meet Dennis at the grand opening of Boulder's newest brewery; Vision Quest. We met Dennis and his wife Kathy at the O.B.E.R. Christmas beer festival in Essen, Belgium last December.  Actually we met them the evening before in Antwerp at purportedly the world's most incredible beer bar. Kathy is absent since she takes two year teaching assignments overseas.  She's currently in Armenia.

Arriving shortly after one, he's already there and well known to the owners.  The brewery is collocated with a home brewers supply shop and Dennis is a home brewer of mead. Their double chocolate stout and English porter are very good. Once again we purchase a small growler without having one with us.

Lunch is calling and we transfer the drinking flag to Twisted Pine. The Imperial Stout that we tasted in Denver is on the tap list as is its older brother the 2009.  The aged version is excellent. Their chili beer is the second best after Wasatch in Park City. Carol's white pizza and CJ's Mexican pizza excel. While there we sample a braggot for the first time.  Dennis has convinced us to try mead.

Our next stop is Redstone Meadery. We're walked through a sampling of a nearly twenty meads with expert commentary on quality from Dennis. We find the variety of meads to be varied and enjoyable.  Who knew?

 

 

Our final stop of the day is at Southern Sun Pub and Brewery.  CJ and their general manager, Michael,  have a discussion about our taste profiles. He returns with six very generous pours of complimentary samples; plenty for each of the three of us to sample more than once. We're tempted having nearly reached our capacity for the day to leave without buying a round. We enjoy a final round before going our separate ways.

 

 

 

The  "picture" above is a chalk drawing.  Every week someone comes in and changes the chalk drawing.

We stop at Hazel's, a huge beer, wine and liquor store. At checkout they inform us that we'll recognize more than a $16 discount if we have their club card.  Failing that, they ask if we know anyone local with a card. We offer up Dennis and sure enough he is a member.  What is the chance one comes 2500 miles across the country and then when asked if they knew a local offer up a name and hit the jackpot.

Aspirations of a fine dinner have long been replaced with fatigue and an afternoon of four breweries. CJ continues to wrestle with the idea of a trip up the road to ski at Eldora in the morning.  Stay tuned tomorrow to see how his dilemma turns out.