There are times when I feel a little tug in my heart. I think it's the universe telling me it's time to visit the west coast. I've been wanting to visit Portland, OR forever. I may have a trip to CA in June or otherwise, maybe I can make it over in the fall. It's funny because I just got back from a conference in Denver, CO. Denver was surprising. I had no idea what sorts of people lived there or what the food was like.
Last year the conference was in Phoenix and visually the two cities look similar - high rises downtown, nice wide, clean, solidly gridded streets, surrounded by mountains on the periphery. The one thing Phoenix didn't seem to have was people. I would see folks headed to the baseball stadium in the afternoon and at Starbucks in the morning and that was pretty much it. The streets seemed strangely desolate, especially in the evening. I thought it might make a nice set for a superhero comic book. Others thought it suitable for a zombie movie. Denver, however, was teeming with people day and night particularly on the 16th St. mall which had a handy free bus. I don't particularly like crowds, but I recognize how important they can be to a city.
Foodwise, the chefs of Denver are masters of comfort food. First of all there was macaroni & cheese and coleslaw everywhere. I had lunch at a diner near the hotel twice because it was so good. I want to go back and see how well they do pancakes. I have a feeling they would be awesome. Boon arranged a microbrew walking tour. I don't really drink beer all that often, but there were a couple that I actually liked (and one whose name I thought was a little too similar to a certain serial killer's nickname). I'm still laughing from when Katey was asked what her favorite beer was, she answered "Vodka!"
The best meal was at Euclid Hall, and actually it was the best meal I've had in a while. I had the chicken and sourdough waffles along with some grilled vegetables. Everything was perfectly cooked. Leah, who was sitting next to me, was kind enough to let me have a bite of her boudin. So amazing! I totally have to go back there.
I would say the only thing I didn't like about Denver was the dry air. I know some people had issues with the altitude, but I didn't really feel it. My skin, though, was not happy at all. I've never seen it so cracked and flaky, even in the hot Texas sun. I'm glad I'd brought some hand cream, but I really needed other reinforcements.
Besides the food, the other interesting part of Denver was outside of downtown. A small group of us made a bit of a pilgrimage to Plastic Chapel which is a nice little toy store. I'm not sure what the neighborhood was, but it reminded me of The Drag or South Lamar in Austin. Unfortunately it was raining (and then snowing) so we didn't really explore, but this is an area that totally warrants going back with a camera.
So a good trip westward and I'm looking forward to going even farther.
