Welcome to Carmelo-rado

Welcome to Denver...

The wife had a conference in Denver over the weekend. So, I decided to take in the sights with her. On my way to the hotel, I found out that our Dodgers were in town as well. So, I picked up the bosslady and headed straight down to Coors Field. We decided to take our chances at the field's box office. The ticket lady went over our various options and price ranges. She told us if we "really wanted to splurge," we could get behind home plate tickets for $50 each.

We definitely weren't in L.A. anymore. This price would have probably gotten us somewhere close to a foul pole back home. Their park is really nice, and offers great food & booze like garlic fries (loaded w/ butter), FOOTLONG Brats, and Denver Cheesesteaks (they obviously couldn't call them Philly steaks). For more on that, go to The UnFoodie.

It was a great game. Dodgers hit 4 of their 6 runs in the 1st inning. So, by the 5th, we went toward right field where there is a Blue Moon Bar. We had to watch the Lakers whoop Utah again. Dodgers win, Lakers win... not a bad first night on the town.

Sunday, we met up with our old pal & Coloradan... Sarah. We checked out her brand new very sheik hotel-like pad, and met her cool pooch... Penny. Sarah is a packaging engineer who works on HotPockets. So, she got us some free shwag. Thanks for the shirts!!!


From there we got some really good (kinda foo-foo... well, very foo-foo) drinks at a spot called North. These are some champagne joints loaded with the fresh fruit puree of your choice. Not sure what the chicks had, but mine had pear. I know I know... extremely girly.

But, it got very Man-ly after this pit-stop. From North, we headed to the Oldest Restaurant in Denver... The Buckhorn Exchange (as seen on Travel Channel's Steak Paradise). As always, for in-depth coverage of this joint, go to The UnFoodie.

It's pretty eerie because of all the animals hanging on all the walls.

But, the grub doesn't disappoint. I went with the Elk and Buffalo combo. The buffalo tenderloin tastes just like a beef tenderloin. It's mild, juicy, and looks just like it's moo-ing counterpart. Elk was a little different. It turns greyish in color when cooked (medium rare, in my case). The meat is a little tougher and not as juicy. It is very much like a lean piece of beef sirloin. Bosslady went with the caesar and a bowl of their potato jalepeno soup (very tasty soup). Sarah went with a half rack of pork ribs. These ribs fell right off the bone.


Monday morning, Sarah & I went to the Denver convention center to look for bosslady.

Then we were off for some toursity activity around Denver. We went to Melo & Chauncey's house.

Checked out Buffalo Bill's final resting place.

Then made our way to Golden, CO where we took the free tour of the Coors Brewery.

You get to see everything from the huge kettles down to the packaging lines (Sarah & I were geeked out about that).

Now for the best part of this free tour... the free beer.

We "sampled" everything from the Coors Light (Super Cold Draft), to the Blue Moon, and even the Kilian's Red. This tour is a must for anyone coming to Colorado. Free booze... nuff said.

Next stop on our whirlwind through Denver was Happy Hour at Jax Fish House to meet up with Sarah's pals Melissa and Neil.

They're great people to hang out with. They know some pretty cool spots around town (including Jax). This happy hour is awesome. $1 oysters on the half-shell and $4 martinis... how can they afford to do that?

I've got the pinky up for the chick drink.

The next place was a real surprise. It's called the d Bar. It's a dessert bar owned by Food Network's "Challenge" host/chef... Keegan Gerhard.

It's a really small place with an open kitchen. So, it's kinda like teppan, where you watch the chef cook for you. In this case, you watch a Food Network star prepare your desserts. Chef Keegan is a really cool dude. Considering how busy the place is, he's still very personable to his patrons. You can pretty much ask him anything (he's a real straight shooter). He answers questions, gives really detailed cooking tips, and honest opinions about the culinary entertainment industry. His desserts are pretty fancy (as one might expect) and very tasty. The bosslady had the milk & cookies, and I went with the "molten cake thingy everyone has". Really good stuff.

This is a great place to visit especially if the Chef isn't off filiming for Food Network somewhere. We had a great time trying his creations and conversing with him.

Final stop of the evening... a Belgian Brewhouse called Cheeky Monk.

Now keep in mind, this is still the same day we visited a Brewery and had a bunch of drinks at Happy Hour. So, the wife & I just shared some beer Sarah recommended to us... called Kwak. It made for a great night cap.

Sarah's selection was a little more interesting. It tasted like a sweet & sour sauce beer. I never knew there was such a thing.

Sarah, Melissa, Neil... Thanks for the great hospitalilty. You're welcome to stay w/ us whenever you decide to visit L.A.


Because of the time difference, we managed to get back to the hotel and catch the second half of the Laker game. They beat the Jazz and took the series.

Who's next!?! Who Cares!!! Let's go Lakers!!!

Tuesday was when we headed back to the OC. Jan was flying directly to the OC through Frontier. But, expedia put me on United. I originally had to fly through San Francisco to get back home (making for an extremely long flight). But, as luck would have it... They moved me into a direct flight (which flew the exact same time as Jan's flight) and upgraded me to 1st Class. It was fun hanging around the booshie people on the plane. More leg room, free booze, and free dinner? Gotta love it.

Till next time... Peace Out.