The Menu Affair

Last night Sean and I attended an event at the Fillmore, a famous music venue, presented by Westword, a local newspaper. They featured over 30 of Denver's restaurants, ranging from all kinds of cuisines. At first it was a little overwhelming, so many tables to visit and dishes to try! Our first stop however...the bar! We both tried a new vodka by Finlandia, grapefruit flavored. It actually wasn't bad! I'm a big grapefruit fan, and mixed with a little soda water, it worked! On to the food! A small plate of hummus and vegetables, which was a nice start. We later passed another table with hummus and pita bread. I enjoy a good hummus, so it's nice to know you can find it here when you're eating out. A change from a heavier appetizer. Next we had a sampling of spinach salad with walnuts, diced apple, dried cranberry and a balsamic vinaigrette. Again, a nice starter. I was feeling good about the night because I had a feeling I was going to over do it. We passed on the chili table, which I think I regret, and moved on to the other side of the room. The place was packed too!! Lots of people, mostly younger. We had a sampling of beef tenderloin I believe with a BBQ sauce, which I wasn't too crazy about. Too much BBQ sauce I thought why ruin a good meat! My favorite food these days was next, Indian; chicken with rice and a potato ball. It was good, but the other Indian food we came across upstairs was even better! They served real jasmine rice and a nice blend of curried vegetables and chicken. We saw several BBQ tables but didn't try any, a burger table, home cooked Spanish food of some kind, and of course...a dessert bar! This was the best part! It was a layered mousse served in the perfect sized cup; chocolate crunchy niblets, whipped cream, chocolate mousse filling, really good. It came from a dessert bar in downtown, one that Sean and I will have to check out! Apparently the chef of the restaurant won a reality show on the Food Network. I heard a partial story on him and need to know more. Denver's celebrity chef! We met some great people that night too, a couple from the east coast and a friend of theirs. Overall I thought it was a great time! We tried some really good food, a list of restaurants we want to check out, and made some new friends!
Oh, and I decided I'm going to start blogging about my food findings here in Denver! Look for that to come!
And one last thing I forgot to mention, there was no quacamole!! I would have liked to have tried that.

The great housing crisis

September 10th was the magic day! It was suppose to be the day we moved into our townhouse and the day our things arrived. Perfect!! Not quite. We found on Monday that our stuff wouldn't come until Thursday or Friday. The night before our lease was to start we went to the townhouse office to sign the lease. Almost there until the dog came up. "And since you don't have a dog, you don't have to worry about this page." We do have a dog, a big one. When we applied for the townhouse back in May we put on our application that we have a dog. Appaerantly that was overlooked by someone on their part. We would have to wait 12 hours before they would tell us if we could live there or not. So, the search began! Sean started looking on craigslist and found a few apartments. The following morning we looked at 3 different places, all in Lakewood, all similarly priced. The third one we really liked. It had 4 floors, 2 patios, 3 full bathrooms and a really nice kitchen! Looks like that was the winner! We signed the paperwork, but it didn't prove to be over. The owners weren't so sure about a dog living in the house. After a few hours, we finally were approved! It was a huge relief. Now our things needed to come! That was another mess, literally!!

First Weekend

Our second weekend in Denver proved to be a fun one! We started out the weekend by heading out into the city Friday night. It turned out to be a chilly Friday, so Sean and I hit up the Gap for some warmer clothes before we went out. Our first stop was Pour House. I can still the plates of food we ordered that night since we hadn't eaten dinner. The bar reminded me of your typical bar in CT, same music, similar set up. After getting our fill there, we moved on to Sing Sing. I had heard about the bar from Sean and his friend, he has this picture of Sean sitting on a piano in what looks like a meditative state. I know realize he was probably channeling some famous singer, or really concentrating on hitting the notes. Its a dueling piano bar! In the center of the place, on a stage are 2 pianos and surrounding them, cabaret style tables. There was a good group of us and it was our first weekend in Denver so Sean thought it would fun it we all got in the spot light. After seeing the wait staff do their number, and other groups of friends get up to be embarrassed, it was our turn. You write your name on a piece or paper, request a song, attach a few bucks, and hope that you get called. After thinking I hadn't done a good job of delivering our request, with $20 inside, we were finally picked! (I had run up as quickly as I could and dropped off the goods in front on one of the piano players, but I didn't think he saw it) I'll spare you the name Sean gave us, but on his request he wrote there were 5 of us from CT and they were to choose our fate. It was...drum roll please...New York, New York!! So there we were all five of us in line, kicking and dancing to "Start spreading the news...." It was a lot of fun! Our 15 minutes of fame! I think the best part was after Sean and I left to go home, I decided to belt out a few more lines of the song, and someone yelled "Go home @#$&*!" (It really wasn't that bad of name, I promise)

Saturday there was a 5K, Skirt Chase, that my sister told me about. I thought it was a cool concept. The women start first and then 3 minutes later, the men. We decided to give it a shot! For some reason I thought the entry fee was only $10 day of race, turns out it was $40! There we were, paperwork filled out, the race starting in a few minutes and $80 to contemplate paying!! So we did. I felt awful! How could I think it was only $10, a race is never that cheap!! We had a great time though. It was a nice course, out and back, but with a slight incline on the way back but a downhill finish. I just missed my 25 min range, but I was pleased, since it was my first race being in CO and not having run in the higher altitude much.
After the race is was off to a Rockies game! We scalped some tickets and ended up sitting in the first tier by right field. Unfortunately the Rockies lost, but we didn't let that slow us down. We were off to The Tavern, if I have the name right, with Brian and 2 of his friends. It was a cool place, close to the stadium, so you had that in the back drop. We hung around there for a little bit then moved on to another bar, but at that point, we were done. We did meet 2 great girls though!

On Sunday we slept in, so no church for us. It was such a nice day, we decided to drive out to Boulder. It was something else to see! This town in right at the foot of the mountains. It's a college town and a really nice one at that! Lots of shops and places to eat. Kind of like a Westport, but more liberal in the mountains. I'm glad we went on such a nice day.

Labor Day Heights

On Monday we decided to get out and go for a drive. It was a beautiful day. We dropped Tahoe off to get a bath, since the previous one left him very dry and itchy, and headed west, to the mountains. I didn’t know exactly where we were going, thought we were just going to drive around for a bit. Sean surprised me by taking us to Mt Evans. He’s been before but he said it’s the one place that we need to take our close friends and family to see. It truly was something else. The way to get there was via Idaho Springs. It was funny to see a town down in the canyon, away from the city or suburbs. All they had around them was mountain. The drive up to Lake Echo was out of this world! Walls of trees surrounded us. It didn’t seem real. When we got to Echo Lake, the temperature was already in the 60’s, about a 10-15 degree difference from when we started our drive. There was the lake, surrounded by the mountains, really quite a find. I wondered what the water temperature was like, most likely a little to cold to swim in. We spotted to use the restrooms at the lodge, which I really needed, and made our way up even more. It was $10 to get to the top, and about 6 more miles of driving. Sean had warned me that we’d be traveling up some pretty steep and narrow roads. I was ready for them! It was really neat to see how the land changes from short trees to just brown and rock. Looking back at the pictures its looks like a desert planet, like Mars, only brown. Only about a mile or 2 from the top we spotted some Mountains goats! A solo one at first then a little further along a mother and baby. Now I wish I snagged a picture. We made it the top after climbing and turning up several bends along the way. The summit was breathtaking. I know I won’t do it justice describing it, but it was beautiful. I really felt this sense of adventure as Sean and I climbed to the very top. I felt a little lightheaded and my breathing was not the same. It made me feel like I was actually climbing a mountain, well I was, but from the base! I told him, it’s probably the closest we’d get to standing on top of the world. I couldn’t think of another way to start our new life in Colorado.

The first two nights we stayed with Sean’s friends Greg and Mike in their apartment in south Denver. Mike’s girlfriend was also staying there so there were 5 of us in an apartment made for 2! There area definitely has a college feel to it. It was like being back in the dorms! People seemed very friendly. We ate lunch at a really cute café, Star Café. I wish it were closer to where we’ll be living. I could see it becoming a favorite spot. The brunch menu was extensive and eclectic! I had a dish with polenta, butternut squash, pine nuts and a poached egg, a really good combination. I highly recommend it!
I had my first break down that night. I felt so bad for Sean, but I couldn’t hold it in anymore. I was exhausted from not getting any sleep, not being in our own place, and absolutely hungry!! It only lasted a short time though. Later Sean told me he thought that I hated Denver already, but he told himself it couldn’t be since we hadn’t even been there a day!!

Goodbye East coast

Saturday morning we let ourselves sleep in, even though the plan was to get an early start and make it to St. Louis for the night. We didn’t get on the road till 12 and ended up driving straight across country. Sean did most of the driving – Maryland, West Virginia, Pennsylvania, Ohio, Indiana, Illinois, Missouri, and Kansas. Whew! He did it on 2 rock stars! I wouldn’t even take a sip of it because the smell practically kicked in my gag reflexes. I did enjoy being a passenger though! I think everyone should take a drive like that. I imagined what it must be like for all those parents who drive their kids across country for college. West Virginia was beautiful with rolling, lush, green mountains. Ohio and Kansas were the toughest to get through, they were never ending! St Louis was nice at night. It was good to see the arch close up like that. We drove through around 11 and caught fireworks probably from the end of a baseball game. We stopped outside the city for gas and that was something else. We pulled into people screaming at each other, a police officer hanging out in the parking lot, and just a bunch of interesting people inside the convenience store.
After St Louis, the next big city was Kansas City. Smaller city, but nothing really to make me want to visit.
Right before I took over the wheel around 6:30 in the morning we drove into the sunrise, well away from it since were heading west. We were in Kansas and these massive windmill like things peppered the landscape. They looked like giant aliens in the morning dawn. An eerie feel came over me.
At last, our destination states! As we drove past the endless seeming plains, I anticipated the mountains. What would it be like to see them rising up for the landscape? About 100 miles outside of Denver we spotted them! It would be long before we were in Denver. We finally made it around noon. We did it!

More time in the capitol

Friday was going to be our last full day in D.C so we wanted to get in more museums. We thought the Smithsonian would be a good start! Little did we know that the Smithsonian isn’t one actual museum, it’s a collection of them. After eating at the café in the information castle, which I do not recommend, unless you enjoy getting ripped off ($33 for lunch for 2 that included water, sandwiches and chips, I’m trying to let it go still, leave it up to our government to squeeze you), we went to the Air and Space Museum. I’m not sure it was the constant rain and the two of us being really wet, but we weren’t as excited about the museum as we thought we’d be. It was really cool to the space exhibits, but everything else kind of fell short for us. Terrible I know because it’s really incredible how far we’ve come with flight and aeronautics!
It was still raining so we quickly moved on to our next stop, the National Gallery. I was excited to see what they had! The entrance was grandiose, several large marble columns surrounding a fountain enclosed under a dome ceiling. The first artwork we came across was from the 1600’s mostly catholic paintings. Sean was impressed on how these paintings were so well preserved. Next, Rembrandt’s work! That was exciting to see. His self-portrait was there. Onto impressionism! They had Monet, Degas, Cezanne, Gauguin, and of course, Van Gogh! Those were the really treasures, in my opinion. They even had Van Gogh’s self-portrait. Sean’s first time seeing a Van Gogh in person. He was wondering how much they go for. A whole lot! They have a great selection in their gallery.
The only other exhibit that really caught our attention was a modern art exhibit by Martin Puryear. He used various materials from around the world to create these large abstract works. They were very impressive because of the size, material, and shapes created. One was a giant wheel connected to a basket up side down. That is the best way I can describe it. It took up an entire exhibit room. The woodworking was very wowing, how he intertwined and connected things. No photography, otherwise I would have a picture to show. I asked a guard what the reason was and he said because this was the first stop and het exhibit is going on tour.
After a few hours of taking all the artwork in, we made our way out of DC. The sun had come out and the humidity was back.
That night we met up with Sean’s colleague and wife for dinner. I can’t recall the name of the town or the restaurant, but the pad Thai was good! Conversation ranged from the presidential election to vishlas. I don’t think Sean’s political views were swayed, but I think we found our next dog! And afterwards since we were staying next to a cheesecake factory, we got ourselves a little treat! This time Sean had milk!

Sights to see!

The next day we spent the good part of the day in D.C. Sean’s friend suggested we go to Old Ebbitts to get a bite, a restaurant from 1856. An American artist covered the walls with impressionist paintings; I don’t remember his name though. The food was really good too! Sean had a Maryland crab cake and I had the jambalaya. After getting some food in us we asked our host what museums were the closest. We wanted to check out the Spy Museum and Air and Space. After about a 10 minute walk we ended up at the International Spy Museum. At first I thought it was going to be more for little kids, but it turned out to be a really informative and interesting place. The over all theme was “Nothing is as it seems.” It was fun to know that gadgets from the James Bond movies were actually used. I liked the button camera and the bullet pen. I had a try at one of their interactive spy games. My mission was to find the Russian spy in disguise. I didn’t do very well, but Sean spotted him easily. I don’t think I’m cut out for espionage…I would get the wrong man. One of the more interesting facts was about a seal that was given to President Eisenhower by soma group of Russian school children. Turns out years later they discovered a bug in it! They pulled the old Trojan horse trick on us…kind of. Another reality that kind of made me think was after WWII how Berlin was divided and friends and family kept from each other. They used spies in that case to infiltrate any plans by either side. What was also crazy was how people would be moved from side to the other, cramped into cars, hidden under seats and trunks, they would do anything to escape. It just made me think why we would do that to each other!
Another little fact I learned was how in WWII the French underground would communicate via radio and poems! So a certain line meant something different than it sounded. Oh yeah! And at D-Day, to confuse the Nazi’s the allies created inflatable tanks and dummy weapons to make it think they were assembling there for the attack. It seems so juvenile, but they fell for it. Or maybe they realized it when it was too late.
Overall it was a great time! There was so much to learn and discover about the history or spies and espionage. I highly recommend it. As we were leaving they had some facts about covertness and surrounding the museum, there are 10,000 intelligent agents. Crazy
It was almost 5 by the time we were done with the Spy Museum, so checking out any others weren’t going to an option. We decided to walk around DC instead and see the monuments. We went to White House, but President Bush wasn’t home. Right next to that is the Eisenhower building that is really beautiful, some really incredible architecture. We strolled to the Washington Monument and realized we could go up to the top and that tickets were free. We had about an hour so we walked to the reflecting pool and then the Lincoln Memorial. That was something else. The statue of Lincoln doesn’t demand respect, but it’s a natural feeling that comes over you once you walk into its presence, and you can given nothing but it. Needless to say, it was beautiful.

The ride up the monument was 70 seconds. Our elevator man shared some facts with us. Bad weather will put the tours to an end since it is the tallest structure in the city. Fortunately for us it was only overcast skies, but no stormy weather. Once up there you can see out the small windows in all 4 directions. They had comparisons of the city, what it looked like form that point in the early 1900’s, then 50’s and then the current view. Dusk was just setting in, so we were able to see the city all lit up. That was a highlight of the trip.
Time for dinner! I remembered seeing a Rosa Mexicana next to the Spy Museum, so that was going to be our dinner spot. Dinner was delicious as usual! Every city deserves of those, but then again, maybe it wouldn’t be the same. It was on our list to go there one more time before we left CT, so we were happy we got to experience it in D.C.!!
That night Barack Omaba was giving his acceptance speech at the DNC as the presidential candidate. Sean’s friend Matt met us out and we listened to the speech, best we could, at a local bar. I thought that was pretty exciting, being in DC and hearing that speech. There wasn’t too much buzz in the air, but still, it was neat when you think about the history of it.

New beginnings

August 25th marked the start of new journey.  Sean and I left CT behind for Denver, CO.  I'm looking at is as a fresh start, a new beginning if you will, since I've never lived outside of CT, ever!  Before our CO living began, we did take a trip to Washington D.C., since I had never been.  I know right!?!?!  The drive was great and not as long as I imagined 5 and half hours to be.  Sean was my navigator, so that helped...time flies when we're together.  He was working while I was driving.  Oh, Tahoe, Sean's three year old chocolate lab was with us too, so he kept us company. Traffic was good and the weather was even better.  We made it to D.C. in no time and were able to drop Tahoe off at his doggie hotel for the next few days.  We spent our stay in McLean, VA, only about a 10 minute drive from the capital.  That night, after settling in we went out for a relaxing dinner not too far from where we were staying, Chimas.  It turned out to be quite the dining experience!  I'd heard of Brazilian steakhouses, just never been to one.  A vast salad bar stood before for us before our true feast began!!  We were told by the waitress the items available, but we needed to to a look through, a first pass, before we could fill our plates.  Cheeses, vegetables, meats, salads, dishes we wouldn't think to be offered at a salad bar.  We had to try the traditional Brazilian fare, black bean soup with pork, sprinkled with yucca flour.  That may have been my favorite.  I'd heard of it, seen in on menus before, just never tried one like this.  Excellent flavoring, the bay leaf came out nicely and the pork was so tender  it easily broke off my fork as I lifted it to my mouth.  The yucca flour added a nice crunch.  Once salad was started, the gauchos came around with the eye popping meat, skewers of it.  There was a round card placed by our plates that read "Yes, thank you" on one side, and "No, thank you" on the other.  We didn't know what these were for at first, but were told by our waitress.  We were suppose to flip them over for the men to read when we were read y for what ever meat they walked around with.  I don't think they paid much attention at that point in the night, since they were coming up to use one after the other offering selections.  Fillet, then lamb, sirloin streak, followed by chicken coated in Parmesan cheese, then brisket...it went on and on.  I really enjoyed the lamb, as did Sean.  I think that would have to be one of my favorites.  They served us polenta fries as a side that were very delicious, I want to try to make them!  We were stuffed, but saved room for dessert, of course.  I thought passion fruit mousse would be a good choice.  It was served with hot chocolate, in its own serving pot, miniature of course, that added just the right sweet touch to the tart mousse.  Needless to say Sean and I loved it all!!  We'll have to hold off for a bit before we try something like that again, because there was so much to eat!!!

After the restaurant, Sean wanted to take me to see D.C..  At night it was beautiful!!  As we drove closer, the Washington Monument appeared in the night sky.  "Wow!"  I said.  It was more stunning that I thought it would be.  We drove closer I could see what was so special about the city.  The architecture was incredible...it didn't seem like an American city.   We read the names on the buildings, treasury, department of agriculture...

Then we approached the Capital Building!  That was beautiful at night.  I wish we could have gotten a closer look.  It really was an amazing sight to see.  My first time seeing anything like that!  Thanks Sean for taking me!