Denver recap, part 1

I woke up at 4:30 on Saturday, May 3. I drove 45 minute to the Radisson near Rosemont. I took their airport shuttle since it was free. When Mom returned later that afternoon from her tour, she would just take that car home. I got on the shuttle without a problem, I'm sure it helped that the driver didn't see me so he never saw that I came in from the parking lot instead of inside the hotel. I got to the gate without a hitch and I was sitting feeling pretty relaxed. The fact that there were 19 open seats on my plane helped. Suddenly, the gate agent made an announcement that it was a "very full flight." I was like, "What in the world?" Eventually, I got seat 8B and I learned they were just referring to luggage.

I walked onto the plane and sat next to a 300 pound guy, who was chomping on Ritz crackers. I could see the crumbs in his black goatee, it was gross. Even worse, this guy had no armrest consideration. Here's what I mean. I don't mind if the other person claims the armrest, that's ok. But the elbow better not cross the far end of the armrest and violate my personal space. His elbow crossed. His legs didn't stop shaking even as he tried to sleep. When I took out my tray table, I may have lowered it on his side with a little extra strength just to shake him a little.

And there was this weird part of the flight too. Just before we took off, I was asked to come to the front of the plane. I froze. I was wondering, as a standby passenger, if I was getting taken off the plane. Thankfully, they just asked to see my boarding pass, checked my row, and everything was fine. We took off and made two loops around the Denver airport before landing. My father met me at the gate, I collected my bag, and a headed to the super shuttle. It took us about 45 minutes to get downtown to the Hotel Monaco, a small, but luxurious hotel in the heart of Denver. They have happy hour with free wine from 5-6. Their water fountains are always filled with fruit. The lobby furniture was all different colors and very bright. On the other hand, there is no swimming pool and the internet costs eight bucks for every 15 minutes of use. If I wanted to use Wi-Fi, it would have been $13 per day per device. The room was on the 7th floor, which is also the top floor. It was well furnished  two queen sized beds and some elegant southwest paintings. I really wanted to take the yoga mat with me though...

Our hotel was between 17th and 18th streets. In downtown Denver, 16th street is a pedestrian walkway with shops and restaurants. Dad and I walked eight blocks down that street till we got to Larimer, when we turned right and headed to Ted's Montana Grill. I had been there many times, but he had never had bison before. We started with their salt and pepper onion rings, which were excellent as always. And free half sour pickles always works for us. In the high altitude, I was guzzling Arnold Palmers and ice waters. I ordered an Americas Cup bison burger with cheddar cheese, bacon, onions, and mushrooms and it was great. the fries are fresh cut, which is so key to a great fry. I dipped them in the mustard remoulade and I can't emphasize how good that dip is. I also got some roasted asparagus, maybe so I wouldn't feel so guilty. He ordered bison pot roast with double garlic mashed potatoes and no green beans. Not the healthiest approach! But he really enjoyed the meal.

Then we walked a few blocks north to the Tattered Cover bookstore. This is one of the biggest independent bookstores in the country. As much as he likes bookstores, I knew he'd enjoy spending a while there. I think the decline of the bookstore is as sad as the decline of the newspaper. There are few indoor places left to hang out where you don't have to spend money and can just relax. In the cold of the Midwest, that matters a lot. OK, I'll leave the commentary aside. We walked around the west side of downtown of Denver, or LoDo and checked out the outside of Union Station, which is under construction. And I got to torture my father a little more.Within two blocks of each other and on either side of Union Station are Morton's steakhouse and Fogo de Chao. Probably my dad's two favorite restaurants. Each time, he just stopped walking and stared at me. I didn't plan it!

We walked west again by the Pepsi Center and Sport Authority Field, where the Avalanche and Broncos play. We headed back to the room to clean up before walking north to Coors Field. I was armed in my blue Matt Harvey Mets jersey. On the walk, two different groups of people cursed at me. Classy state...I thought they were gonna be more...mellow, for many reasons. Anyway, I had been told I should try the Rockie dog, a foot long Hebrew National hot dog with onions, peppers, and kraut. When the woman reached into a drawer and plopped a cooked dog on the grill, I should have walked away. but I ate it anyway and it was one of the worst dogs I'd ever had.

I watched warmups by the left field foul pole where the Mets were warming up. Mostly, I saw bullpen guys. I got pretty close to Daisuke Matsuzaka, Scott Rice, Gonzales Germen, and Jeurys Familia. We sat in the rockpile, which are the elevated center field bleachers. And they only cost six bucks a ticket. My view wasn't really obstructed, aside from the deepest part of center field. People were still showing up in the fifth inning, which is ridiculous on a Saturday night. I felt like I was at Dodger Stadium. As for the game, it was just another disaster. The Mets built a 6-0 lead only to blow it all in the sixth inning as Colorado scored seven runs. The Mets rallied back and ultimately lost on a walk off home run to some schmuck that no one has ever heard of. 10-9 final.

On Sunday morning, I used the 5th floor gym: about ten minutes on the elliptical and a half hour with the dumbbells. Not great, but it was something to get me awake. After my shower, we had a light breakfast at Bruegger's. Well, mine was light, I had a whole wheat everything bagel with light cream cheese, whereas he had a salt bagel and rosemary/olive oil bagel and had grape jelly on both. Gross. Anyway, we walked south to the State Capitol building and the Denver mint. Most of the roads were closed off since they were preparing a cinco de mayo fiesta. I got to see the "One mile above sea level" sign on the Capitol step. We headed back to the room to clean up for the next Mets game.

After a fight over whether or not the cleaning crew was going to clean the room, I took off and began walking to game alone. He eventually came and we went to Biker Jim's, which is like a Hot Doug's, in that they make all these fancy sausage from unique meats. I had an all beef dog wrapped in bacon served Sonoran style. It had pinto beans, diced jalapenos,  tomatoes, onions, mayo and yellow mustard. The quality of the beef was amazing. It tasted like high-quality beef with fresh ingredients on top. And they didn't serve it in a hot dog roll; it looked more like a Philly hoagie roll. It was soft, yet it held together even with so many ingredients. I also had a southwest Buffalo dog topped el diablo style. That one had tomattillo green chile salsa, bacon bits, and Sriracha lime mayo. I loved the spice of the buffalo dog and I'm a sucker for green salsas. The crunch of the bacon gave a great contrast to the mayo. I also had a side of baked beans, which were fine, but not great. The manager told me some other news. He said the Mets owner came in a few days prior and it enjoyed it so much that the restaurant was catering the Mets that afternoon! As bad as the series had gotten, I don't think the Mets deserved those hot dogs!

Anyway, I wanted to try some local beer. I went to Wynkoop brewery, the oldest brewery in Denver. I tried seven beer samples and to be honest, I wouldn't have ordered a full glass of any of them. The Patty's green chile was pretty good, you could actually smell and taste the essence of the chile peppers in the beer. Thankfully, it wasn't an overwhelming spice, but it was a lively-tasting brew. After getting inside the ballpark, I went up to the rooftop, the new hangout in the upper deck above right field. I found about the $3 Miller Lite, Coors Lite, and Coors original before first pitch. Suffice to say, I drank a couple more beers. After getting somewhat happy, I went over to my second row seat sat on first base side, which gave us a good view of the mountains past left field. I remember being nervous the whole game, since a four game sweep would be a total embarrassment. Thankfully, Dillon Gee pitched great and the Mets won 5-1. Unfortunately, since I left the room so abruptly, I hadn't yet applied sunscreen. All game long, the sun sat right on my left side. By the end of the game, my forehead, the left side of my legs, and my forearms were all bright red.

During the game, Mom arrived. Dad had actually left in the seventh inning, he apparently figured she wouldn't want to be alone. Anyway, I met up with both of them in the lobby. Despite the availability of the free wine, I just wanted to drink about a gallon of water. We planned our evening and I went back upstairs, where I washed up and put on blue jeans and a designer Tori Richard shirt. Around 6:45, we left for dinner at the Buckhorn Exchange, the oldest restaurant in Denver. Since we were so early, we were informed our table was not ready. The restaurant wasn't half full, but nevertheless. So we sat in their 150-year old bar. I drank a bourbon and apple juice blend, which is one of their signature drinks. It was pretty good, I wouldn't get it again though. We sat down surrounded by rifles and animal heads on the walls. Clearly, it's a very unique steakhouse and distinctly Colorado. We started with fried artichoke hearts, which were ok, but I've had better. The batter tasted a lot like cornmeal, and I just didn't like how it blended with the artichokes. The salad was embarrassing. It was romaine lettuce, three grape tomatoes, dried cranberries, and mandarin oranges. What are mandarin oranges doing on any house salad? Anyway, I asked for vinaigrette and I couldn't taste any dressing at all, so I added oil and vinegar.

All three of us ordered a 16-ounce New York strip steak. I ordered mine medium-rare and it came out grilled perfectly bright pink. It was nicely seasoned and it was one of the juiciest steaks I have had in a while. They also top it with a spoonful of garlic butter. I personally think that a great steak should be able to stand on its own, but a little bit of the butter did indeed add another layer of flavor. My baked potato came with butter, cheese, and a lot of green onions, which is exactly how I like it. Very good. Unfortunately, the waiter forgot our side of vegetables. We didn't mention this to him, so I'm not sure why the end of the meal went as it did. The waiter brought out a complimentary dessert: a Dutch hot apple pie with sides of cinnamon rum sauce and vanilla ice cream. Well, mom took care of the vanilla ice cream. I had no trouble wolfing down the pie. It was a good place to go, but I think I would opt for other steakhouses for an overall experience. Not to mention $50 for an NY strip is outrageously expensive.

I wanted to walk around all night; it was still 70 degrees outside. But we got back to the room a little after 9. We turned on the Food network and watched Food Casino and America's Best Cook before falling asleep around 11.