Denver, Colorado - October 2024
Well, here we are again. I always wanted to come back here and bring my best friend. And as fate would have it, that's exactly what we did this year. To celebrate one year of surviving a wedding and life, Justin and I went to Denver for the fall. We arrive super early in the day (like, waking up at 3 AM to board a flight cause I'm a cheapskate, early), so this means we got checked in to our Air BNB to sleep in until almost early afternoon. When's the last time I slept until 11 AM? Probably never.
Eventually, we decide it's time to start the day, and in pure east coast fashion, Justin finds us a little path to walk through a nearby park on the hunt for sustenance (aka, an energy drink). On the way, there's the occasional local walking their dog or working on their six pack, but it's a nice and quite place with a calm reflective lake. We park it at a bench that sits a few feet from the water and talk about the future and think about how it would be nice to live somewhere we can actually walk to places again. We make it to our destination after a while, good ol Circle K to accomplish our mission. Like two kids given $20 t0 get snacks at the deli, we hit this place up with drinks and snacks galore to last us a few days. Also in good, east coast fashion, as we check out, they're out of bags. So we get to finish this memory carrying armfuls of delicious organ destroying crap back through the neighborhoods. It really made me smile.
Later that evening, Justin does his research and we land at a local tiki type bar known as Hell or High Water. With a menu of provocative drink names and questionable ingredients, including plastic roaches, we sip and chat over a blue waffle that rocked my world as I compare Justin to the pirate's code framed on the wall. With a spooky downstairs and a cast-off ready upstairs, this place is covered in lights and fun nostalgia. I also recall our Uber that was a Tesla that felt like a rocket ship and crazy sex. What a night.
The next morning, we sleep in again (YES 😭) and have a great brunch at The Olive & Finch. This has to be one of THE best breakfast sandwiches I've ever laid my tongue on. It had it all: pastrami, aioli, chimichurri, everything you want for lunch cramped into your mouth on a huge bagel before 11 AM. They also had a sick hot chocolate if I do say so myself. We talk more about the future and possible house hunting, which is so cool cause we never get to talk about this stuff. Justin tries his hand at coffee for the second or third time in the last few days, which is surprising and also kinda hot. Continuing on foot in the chilly mid day air, Justin says he has a plan and leads us down several blocks of incredible historic homes, each with their own character backstory I'm sure. They're huge, like 2.5 as big as houses in Queens.
With a brief sit in the park, Justin has another handy google search idea and we visit Stanley Marketplace which is this cool warehouse type building full of local restaurants and shops. We buy some cool shit and fill up on ramen, BBQ pork buns and egg drop soup served by a cat faced robot. It was awesome, her name was Bella. I would've preferred her cast in Twilight honestly. After relaxing back at the room with The Great British Bake Off for a bit, downtown awaits as we come across a heated rooftop Irish pub. Irish nachos are a thing my friends. AND, Maple Hot Toddys. It was all fire. Oh, and there were chicken tenders, so everyone was happy.
Day three and the sun is out. You can see the sky and the colors on the trees seem clearer. The way the sun hits the leaves and grass against a blue sky is just something you could look at endlessly. Driving from suburbia down the freeway, you can see the blocky Denver skyline appear. It's nice to reminisce the streets I walked when I was here solo and how things have changed so much since then. Today I'm noticing even more detail on the buildings in this area and how much brickwork there is. It's probably cause I'm not freezing my ass off this time. We wander down to Larimer Square and there are some cool stores here that weren't around last time. I buy dog collars with donuts on them that were way overpriced but worth it. Justin finds a wooden connect four game in the vintage store, so perfect and it's got a bar!! We finish another great day by wandering every which direction in the city and drink another coffee at a basic coffee shop with girls in leather dresses. It was so cool getting to share this place and have new memories with Justin in them. I wanna do this more.
Thanks Denver, you never disappoint.
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