I will not let the rain damper my week, well at least not totally anyway..
Really I guess for me the rain started on Sunday night, I was in Minnesota and they were trying to hurry people on the plane so we could try to take off before rains came, that almost worked.. We got out on the runway and were 7th in line to take off, then 6th, then 5th and then RAIN!! We got to sit on the runway for a long time with the plane getting rocked back and forth before finally taking off, the only good thing about it was I was in first class for that flight so I got all the free drinks I wanted while we got pounded by rain. Got into the hotel WAY to late and had a hard time sleeping because I napped on the plane.
Monday was recovery night, I ended up going to a mall that is near the hotel. It's an old indoor mall that has been added to outside, so there is a outdoor Irvine Spectrum type mall with a normal indoor mall in the middle. It was a pretty neat juxtaposition, they had lots of really good food places and I ended up picking the Fish City Grill where I had blackened catfish and crab bisque. The bisque was amazing and the fish was very well cooked and spiced, the veggies were pretty bland and not really cooked enough. New Belgium Brewery (the guys who do Fat Tire) have a bunch of different beers down here, they are made about 90 mins from Denver. I had their Belgium Dark Ale (don't remember the name) at Fish City and was nicely surprised at how good it was.
Tuesday.. Well, I decided to skip past Denver and drive an hour west to Boulder, why you ask, what's in Boulder?
No, not Pabst, but the feeling was there.. Avery Brewery is in Boulder and was certainly calling my name. I was thinking even if the food sucks at least the beer will be awesome. Imagine my surprise when the food was actually REALLY good, I had a chicken bacon wrap which comes with avocado, greens, tomato and a pesto mayo. They offer tasting size glasses of beer which are $1 for most and $4 for some of the special beers. I got a flight of Dry-Hopped IPA, Eighteen Anniversary and the Reverend. For dessert I had a tasting of the Eremita which is a sour (think the Beast) that is aged in wine casks. I picked up a few shirts and was talking to the manager about getting beer shipped, while talking to the manager he asked which beers I've had and when I was poo-pooing the idea of Joe's Premium American Pilsner as just another pilsner he poured me a free taste and I have to say it was actually good, might be one of the first pilsners I've enjoyed, it had a nice hop finish. Avery cannot ship beer across state lines to a resident, but as expected I was making friends while at the bar and found a girl interested in a micro brew swap, I am going to see about mailing her beer and she will do the same. Gotta check CT/MA/RI beer shipping laws. On the way back the roads were VERY flooded and I ended up getting detoured off 25 onto a side street which was then closed about a block later, had to sit in the car for a while waiting for the rain to slow down and the water level to drop. I have a Kia Soul and the water was about half way up the door, it was window high on some of the other cars sitting on the street with me waiting.
Wednesday I decided to hit the 16th Street Mall in Denver which is a big walking street between Union Station and Broadway (about 15 blocks). I parked on 15th and then the rain hit as I was getting onto 16th. I ran into Rock Bottom and had a beer while I waited for the rain to at least slow down. Once the rain slowed a bit I ventured out and walked up and down the street, it's a nice walking street with lots of restaurants. For dinner I ended up at the Yard House because they had Avery on tap and their mac n cheese2 is amazing (had it before).
Last night I went to the Rockies game, they played the Brewers who apparently were still on the all star break. The Rockies gave them a sound beating 12-3 getting 20 hits in the game. I like to see offense in games but after a while it just gets old, especially if you don't really care about the teams and just want to see good baseball. The Brew Crew certainly did not play good baseball. The stadium however is as nice as everyone says, it's beautiful and the view as the sunsets is breath taking. I got out of work and the sun was shining, got on the train (the wrong way) and then switched trains at the next stop to the correct way, by the time I passed my original stop the sky opened up and before we got two more stops I could see rte 25 completely flooded again and the side streets were rivers. I'm so glad I decided on the train instead of driving. Got to the city and walked around the outside of the ballpark, no rain is going to stop my ritual of walking around the outside of a new ballpark! It maybe should have, I was so wet I could have pissed myself and nobody would have been able to tell. I did not partake in that however as my underwear were probably the only dry thing I had on. Before the gates opened I went to the bar across the street and had New Belgium Brewery's summer ale, it was ok. Gates opened and I headed in. Got a Rockies Dog which is a hot dog with bacon crumbles, blue cheese crumbles and blue cheese dressing! It was so good. Other food highlights (did not eat), a salad place where you start with a base salad and pay per ingredient you put in, a gluten free booth that had brownies as well as gluten free rolls, a gilato place and a rib joint.
Today, I'm going back to Avery for the brewery tour and to try their Double Dry Hopped Maharaja which is a special keg they are tapping today at 5pm.
- Diversion of the Day
