Denver

It's time for another vacation! This time we are Colorado-bound. We arranged for my co-worker Jess to house sit and hang out with Loki for the week. She was also gracious enough to drive us to the airport at 3:15 am. Thanks Jess! 

We got to Logan airport with plenty of time to board our Delta flight to Minneapolis. The flight was rather uneventful. Rob slept for an hour or two and I dozed off for a short period of time. In Minneapolis we each got a breakfast sandwich as it was beginning to feel like a good time to eat. We had a short layover and made it to Denver at 10:15 am local time. We're visiting Rob's cousin, Brian, and his girlfriend, Emma for the first few days and they agreed to pick us up at the airport. Thanks you two! We made our way back to their apartment in Denver and dropped off our things before heading out to explore the city for the day. Our first stop was at La Chiva for lunch where we all got the Lomito sandwich. It was tasty but I think we all agreed that we were expecting better. It was served on a hoagie roll but a different bread option would have improved the sandwich.

After lunch, the four of us made our way down Broadway and found Alternation Brewery to check out. I got the Farmgirl which was an ale aged on mango and jalapeno. I really liked it. It had a strong jalapeno scent but not too much spice. I couldn't really taste the mango but I found the beer overall to be cool and refreshing. I got a Cooper Approved which was an oatmeal stout aged with vanilla beans and cacao nibs. It's quite good, the vanilla is very apparent. We made our way to the back patio to enjoy our beers and a game of cornhole. Rob and Brian were on a team and were strong winners against Emma and Mandy. After the game, we all decided to move on once our beers were done and made our way back to the apartment so we could hop in the car and drive to the zoo.

It was a beautiful day to visit the Denver Zoo. It was mostly sunny so although the temperature was only in the 50s it wasn't necessary to wear a jacket. Until the sun dipped behind the clouds. It was a constant game of layers. We made our way slowly through the zoo and had a fun-filled day here. Our highlights were seeing the elephants, the seals, and the spider monkeys.

It was about time for the zoo to close and Emma had dinner plans with a friend, so we all made our way to downtown. Emma split off at Union Station while the rest of us stopped at Pigtrain Coffee Co. for a pick-me-up. By this point Rob and I had been awake for nearly 40 hours with only a few hours sleep in the middle and we needed a chance to get our 3rd or 4th wind. I ordered a white chocolate mocha with coconut milk and thoroughly enjoyed this as we wandered around town looking for a place to grab a beer. Apparently there was a Rockies game happening at nearby Coors stadium so the surrounding bars were quite full. We eventually made our way to the rooftop bar of the Tavern and were lucky enough to snag a table in the sun as one group was just leaving. Brian went to the bar to order a round of drinks for us. I got the Princess Yum-Yum Raspberry Kolsch which I really enjoyed.  Rob wanted the Epic Tartastic Ale, however we found out that they had recently run out of this, so he settled on the Avery IPA instead. We enjoyed our beers and ordered some chips and salsa to go along with them. Rob was starting to get hungry for dinner and we all decided that we could eat but we wanted to head somewhere else for food. So we set out to the streets again to wander around until we found something that caught our eye. We wound up at Euclid Hall Bar and Kitchen. I got the duck ramen and Rob had the chicken and waffles. Both were delicious.

Just as we were finishing dinner, Emma rejoined our group. We paid our tab and agreed that we were all quite exhausted, even though it was still relatively early. We decided to retire to Brain and Emma's apartment to wind down before bed.