Monday Monday 5.19.2008

Good Morning All,

Maggie and I went on an adventure to the "not-so Wild West" this past weekend with a trip to Denver, Colorado. My first gaze upon the city of Denver impressed me little, but as my visit increased in length so did my appreciation for one of this world's most unique and modern cities. I'm certain that my harsh initial perception was a result derived only from my after dark arrival time. From the moment we stepped outside of Denver International Airport, Will (Maggie's cousin) began giving us the grand tour, which for reference didn't seem like all that interesting considering we couldn't see anything at 10:00 PM. From our condo window, Will pointed out Six Flags, the Rocky Mountains, the building he lives in, while we simply put on a grin and gave him a nod. Walking out onto the condo's patio the next morning gave us a little shock as we realized that six flags ended up no more than a stone's throw away. The snow capped Rocky Mountains in the distance made for an unusually gorgeous view. Most people enjoy looking upon a city skyline from somewhere out in the suburbs, but in Denver - the highlight is actually being in the city skyline looking out at the Rocky Mountain suburbs.

Every time I go to a major city, I make it one of my objectives to visit the local Hard Rock Café, have a beer, and pick up a tall pilsner souvenir glass. Denver marked my thirteenth glass joining the ranks of World's most renowned cities: Orlando, Chicago, New York, Detroit, Rome, San Juan, Washington DC, Baltimore, Atlanta etc. The discussion on this fine establishment doesn't end here because I must go on about the overall experience. First, we all placed our order and mine being the simplest should have been the easiest to deliver: not the case. I ordered the quote on quote "Heavy Metal Chicken Tenders" or in other less rock and roll style words "buffalo chicken tenders." Just to be clear on the simplicity of this order – I am going to divulge the secret recipe for "Heavy Metal Chicken Tenders." Please follow the instructions carefully:

1. Pull chicken tenders out of bag
2. Place in fryer
3. Fry for short period of time
4. Remove from fryer
5. Toss in wing sauce
6. Put on plate and deliver to my seat.
Now I don't want to divulge all the secrets and mysterious recipes of the Hard Rock Café, but I am assuming that everyone else's dish might have been a little more complicated. Even though my meal came out about 10 minutes later than everyone else's, I have to say that I remain a faithful and satisfied customer of this musical eatery. Perhaps that decision comes as a result of the no hassle free plate of food that I received. No questions or comments from me – they just volunteered to give me my plate to make up for my wait.

On the subject of free food, we went to visit another baseball stadium on Friday night. We watched the Colorado Rockies lose to the Minnesota Twins. It seems that every time we go to watch a baseball game, the home team loses. Regardless back to food because that is obviously where my heart really lies. We had the fortunate opportunity of watching the game from the baseball stadium's restaurant. I recognize how I could jeopardize the restaurant industry by continuously handing out recipes in these emails, so I won't tell you how quick and simple it is to make a salad in comparison to hamburgers, pulled pork, grilled chicken and other dishes that were placed around our table. Somehow and for some reason, Maggie's salad got assembled slower than it takes the democrats to decide upon a nominee – I know a salad six to eight months in the making. In addition, Fran's (Will's wife) burger was over done and everyone's french fries were cold. Will respectfully complained and got all drinks, Maggie's salad, and Fran's burger for free. Now none of us typically complain, but Fran couldn't even eat the burger, so it made sense to just mention it to the waiter. They volunteered to give us all the goods for free, so the bill ended up less than half the normal total.


On all three nights, we ventured out to the Martini Ranch where we indulged in a great selection of delicious beverages. Will runs the Martini Ranch bar in Denver, so even though he had to work until 3:00 in the morning – we were easily entertained until all hours of the night. Like all great vacations, I even have a T-shirt to show for it because along with a lot of free alcohol we were also given some free Martini Ranch apparel.

So far you might think my trip to Denver was all about beer and food, but I must correct that assumption as we also indulged in hard liquor. For example, we ventured out to Boulder, Colorado on Saturday. Upon arriving in Boulder, we began looking for a place to cleanse our palette. We settled on the West End Tavern due for the main reason that it had a covered deck and bar atop the building where we could watch the 10 millionth running of the Preakness where good ol' Big Brown dominated in true Barry Bonds and Roger Clemons fashion. Why has nobody questioned the diet of this horse that more than dominated the rest of the field in an unheard of fashion? As for the small city of Boulder, it seems to come straight out of a historic novel. The main street doesn't include the standard ugly pavement of most cities. In fact, you can't even drive on this brick covered street adorned with street performers, flowers, and local artisan shops. For those of you familiar with Quincy Market in the city of one of the teams bidding for the NBA Eastern Conference Championship: Boston Celtics.

P.S. In regards to the above paragraph – if you've never had a Black Eyed Susan cocktail – there is no time like the present. Go out now and try it. I promise; you'll be glad you did.


Moving right along, Denver has a similar but not so cute area in the center of town. The 16th street Mall cuts through the city of Denver and although you can't walk it, you can take the hybrid buses from one end of the mall to the other. Along the way you will see every chain restaurant known to America. From P.F. Chengs to Pizza Hut; they're all here on the 16th street mall.

Well I could go on forever, but instead I'll just stop here. If you want more, you'll just have to tune in next week to hear about my trip to Syracuse and our attendance at another wedding that involves yet another college friend.

Ryan