“Happy Anniversary, Now off to Boulder”
Our 7th anniversary was on Monday and we wanted to use our Avo gift certificate to celebrate. Avo not being open on Mondays, we chose Hungry Eyes for a smaller celebration on the real day. This place has very creative offerings and good drinks in a kitschy 80s themed space. We enjoyed a smoky eggplant dip, steak tartare and pavlova. And as Diana said, “It was a real pavlova,” with the meringue perfectly cooked.
It’s been years since we visited Avo, previously Martinique, and we weren’t sure what to expect. The restaurant has been beautifully updated and the food was very good. We have some money left on our gift certificate and look forward to returning soon. The octopus was a highlight. The pineapple worked nicely – who knew?
And, of course Diana had to have steak tartare again.
Yes, those are savoury churros on the side – interesting combination.
We flew to Denver on Wednesday afternoon – or rather were supposed to. Another “If You’ve Time to Spare go by Air” experience. Plane needs a part but we don’t have it in New Orleans. It’s coming on a plane that lands 3 hours from now. Well the part didn’t work, so we have a new plane. Get on the new plane. We don’t have enough fuel on this plane, should just be a few minutes. Over an hour later we were underway. By this time we had missed the last bus to Boulder from Denver airport. Denny and Anne were kind enough to come and pick us up for the 45 minute drive. We settled into their lovely new condo and had an early night.
Thursday started with picking up yummy sandwiches from Lolita’s and heading up to the top of Lafayette mountain – about 1500 feet higher than Boulder. We enjoyed a picnic and then headed out on what Denny billed as a “short, flat acclimatization hike.”
That last picture was taken just before I was sidelined by what we assume was altitude sickness – dizzy, wobbly, nauseous, high heart rate and achy bones. Turning around was shorter than continuing, so we did that and took the better part of an hour to cover the short distance back to the car, stopping frequently for me to regroup. Diana wasn’t sure she was going to get me off the mountain without some professional help. AND – this was NOT a flat and easy hike – it dropped steeply and climbed steeply with boulders to navigate – classic Denny trickery. I was glad to relax in the car.
I was sufficiently recovered to make the short walk to River and Woods for Happy Hour. This is a quaint restaurant in an old miners’ cabin, with a very tasty offering of food and drinks for Happy Hour.
The agenda called for a post Happy Hour ramble around downtown Boulder, but I was still a bit dizzy and didn’t think that would end well. Back to the condo for a relaxing night in.
Brunch at Snooze kicked off our Friday. I was feeling much better, but opted for some healthy choices – green juice and a vegetable and grains bowl. Look at all these colourful drinks. Everyone enjoyed their brunch a lot.
Brunch was followed by a walk (not a scrambling hike) along the creek side. There was a very pretty trail that offered excellent views of the fast flowing and well filled creek. No tubers that day.
The trail dropped us downtown and we enjoyed a refreshing drink at the Rosetta Mall – a great place with multiple food vendors around an open eating area. All the food looked yummy. We climbed up to the rooftop bar for a view of the mountains.
We met Todd and Lori (Todd and Denny worked together at EDS years ago) for Todd’s birthday celebration at Pizzeria Alberico. The pizzeria is next to the only Michelin starred restaurant in Boulder and shares a kitchen. As you might expect, the appetizers and pizzas were excellent.
After dinner Denny advertised going to see a band named Sturtz at the Gold Hill Inn, further up in the mountains. We weren’t sure what that entailed but went along for the ride. Unpaved roads at altitude were not what I expected.
Thankfully, we arrived safely in Gold Hill, an old gold mining town, and made our way to the Inn. The band didn’t sound enticing and so we just enjoyed a drink in the old bar. Here’s a selection of pictures I took in this little town that time might have forgotten:
We dropped Anne and Diana off for some early morning rooftop yoga on Saturday.
What a beautiful setting!
Dinner was “at home” and we enjoyed some of Chef Denny’s wonderful pasta. Then it was time to head over to the Boulder Theater for Big Bad Voodoo Daddy. The band is named after the way the famous bluesman Albert Collins signed his autograph. Their music is “modern swing revival” and they were very popular in the 90s, playing the Super Bowl halftime show in 1999.
The theater was perfectly sized and organized – terraced floor so everyone could see and just enough people so that everyone could move around easily, and some couples could enjoy swing dancing.
From the first couple of bars when the band took the stage I was thoroughly impressed. A great sound, precision timing from all players, professionalism and choreography – just an excellent experience all around. Here’s the opening song:
And a great song from later in the show:
We set off another expedition on Sunday. After tacos for lunch, we drove to Dillon in Summit County – gaining several thousand feet on the 90 minute drive. Check in wasn’t available when we arrived at the hotel, so we made a visit to a Tiki bar on the lakefront.
We checked into the hotel, had dinner and then walked down to the Dillon amphitheater to see Ryan Bingham. Todd and Lori joined as well. After some hassle about the tiny bags the ladies had being too big, we settled in for the show. I wasn’t very familiar with his music but thoroughly enjoyed the show and the gorgeous setting.
Here are a couple of songs:
I’ve fallen behind again and so will skip the music and book sections until next week – which hopefully will be published tomorrow.
Coexist peacefully, with kindness and patience for all!