Driving To Boulder: Flatirons

It was another bright and clear day when we hit the road for Boulder. Due north of Denver, it felt like a quick 30 minutes before we saw these beauties (the Flatirons) peering over the rise at us:

There was a convenient little look-out area where you could pull over and gawk to your heart's content - so we did:

What's that lurking in the distance? The city of Boulder, waiting to be explored:

Coming from the Northeast where we're kinda crammed in together (at least in Boston), it was just amazing to me have all this open land between the sprawl of Denver and Boulder:

Andrew and I are dressed to go hiking in the great outdoors:

And one last photo to commemorate our trip before hitting the road:

Dinner at Domo in Denver

Ben had been talking up the restaurant he wanted to take us to dinner and I admit I was a little skeptical - Denver and Japanese food didn't seem to be a likely pairing. And then we arrived and I saw this:

And fell in love with this charming restaurant - it's a little Japanese oasis found on the outskirts of Denver. And the interior was just as cool as the exterior, delivering on the perfect atmosphere to deliver "country style" Japanese food .  As you can tell from everyone's faces, we were all excited for the meal ahead (and for those of you who guessed that I forced everyone to pose for pictures all weekend, you are also right!)

With a 7 pm dinner reservation, I was surprised how empty the restaurant was. Not that I was complaining, it gave us plenty of time to soak in the atmosphere while we waiting for Miley and her boyfriend Curt to join us :

Once they arrived, we placed for our order for drinks - Andrew ordered his standard tall Sapporo but was pleasantly surprised by the metal tankard that accompanied it.  It kept the beer nice and cold although we felt like we were dining in medieval times!

Ben, Amy and I opted for a sake drink special that resembled a mojito and I loved it - I found it delicious and refreshing:

The best part about eating at Domo is that every meal is accompanied by seven free side dishes that are mean to be shared family style across the table. Considering that these were generously proportioned dishes, it was like getting seven appetizers for free and they were all yummy. It was a good mix between all veggie dishes, such as bamboo shoots, pickled radish and broccoli as well as proteins like a beef-stew mixture:

For my entree, I opted for comfort food - a Yamakake noodle bowl, featuring pork, grated Japanese yam and udon noodles. To tell you the truth, I didn't notice the yam at all and I found the pork to be kind of bland but I happily slurped up the noodles and broth. It was just tough to beat the amazing side dishes that were served before our entrees came out.

Domo also features an extensive outdoor patio (we opted to eat indoors because it was a little chilly), garden and a museum on the premises, so we decided to stroll around after our meal:

Did I mention that Domo also has a large Aikido studio?

The museum section was crammed full of collectibles such as vintage sake cups, clothing and cooking utensils. It was a lot to take in all at once:

This room could've been taken straight out of a samurai castle/museum I toured in Hiroshima:

As I was walking out the door, I noticed this display - mind you, it was in the restaurant section of Domo, not the museum half. It's supposedly two million year old salt from Mongolia and I believe the little vial on the right offered restaurant patrons the chance to taste it - I didn't try it and I'm torn now whether 1) that was the wise decision or 2) I missed out on an incredible experience...so for those of you who do end up going, try it and let me know! :)

After Domo, we headed to another section of Denver to enjoy a night of karaoke (Curt was brave enough to belt out a song for the crowd) and bar hopping.  Then it was straight to bed, since we needed to get up at a decent time on Sunday morning to head to Boulder!

Checking Out Cherry Creek, Denver

When Ben picked us up, he drove us to one of Denver's most charming neighborhoods, Cherry Creek, to meet up with another former Bostonian - Kat, and to enjoy brunch at a magical place called Syrup:



Bear with me, because I know the exterior is nondescript and doesn't reveal the wondrous food that serve inside - things like warm beignets that you can dip into syrup:

Not just any syrup - with our meal, we had a flight of syrups (why hasn't anyone in Boston thought of this) that included flavors like blackberry, maple-vanilla complete with vanilla bean flecks, strawberry, buttermilk and agave honey.  We all had a kick (as you can see in the picture above) pouring a little of each on our plates and trying each one. Surprisingly, my favorite was the agave:

Having satisfied my sweet tooth with the syrup sampling, I opted for a savory, glorious Cherry Creeker Eggs Benedict served on a croissant with mounds of  slow-roasted, tender corned beef hash like I've never tasted. It ranks as the best Eggs Benedict I've ever had.

Cherry Creek is filled with a mixture of fun and upscale retailers, ranging from places like Penzey's Spices (I made a pit stop and stocked up), West Elm and for those who are young at heart, The Wizard's Chest!

The first floor is filled with games and puzzles but the second floor is all costumes and props! Ben and Kat graciously modeled the latest in head gear:

Amy and Andrew were drawn to the classic Jaws look:

Actually, that picture has a bit of foreshadowing because what did we do next? Wander around Cherry Creek Mall to kill time before we watched "Shark Night 3D" in the movie theatre.  Needless to say, it was not my first choice to spend our first day in Denver watching a bad, bad movie.  However, it was the type of movie that Amy and Ben would watched as roommates for the three (?) years that they lived together so it seemed fitting in a way.

Afterwards, we headed for the hills - in this case, the outskirts of Denver to Ben's house so we could feed his rescue pit bull, Mandy (only the sweetest thing ever), enjoy a beer and enjoy the view.  This isn't the view from his backyard but it shows how close Denver's downtown area:

As dinner time rolled around, we wondered if anything could top brunch from earlier in the day...this was before we arrived at Domo... 

Best Nachos and Big Blue Bear in Denver

Andrew, Amy and I had the pleasure of spending Labor Day weekend in Denver, my first time in the lovely state of Colorado.  Our purpose was to catch up with our friend Ben (Amy's old roommate and Andrew's best friend from law school).  Our flight was originally supposed to get us to Denver at around 7 pm, but as our flight was descending, we were suddenly told that severe thunderstorms were preventing any flights from landing so we got re-routed to Amarillo, Texas.  Now, we didn't leave the plane for the time we were landed in Amarillo but I can safely say that based on what I saw from my window, there ain't much happening there.

Three hours and two fueling attempts (the first fuel truck ran out of gas while filling us), we made it into Denver past 10 pm. Of course, there was a backup at this point at the passenger pick-up area, because everyone and their mother was trying to get to the airport to pick up someone up, now that previously delayed flights were allowed to land.  So it was really almost 11 pm by the time we made it into Ben's car.

He was a good sport, and sensing how cranky/tired/hungry we were, he took us to a popular downtown Denver bar to unwind, and enjoy some beer and food.

We checked out Wynkoop Brewing Company, which bills itself as Denver's oldest brewpub.  Sidenote: we had a friendly guy sitting next to us on the Boston - Denver flight who chatted all the way through the 3 hour delay, and not only did he recommend Wynkoops but he also said it was started by a man who is currently Denver's mayor.

Wynkoops brews its own beers and after hearing Ben describe the Wixa Weiss as Blue Moon-like, I was sold. And it lived up to my expectations, so I would wholeheartedly recommend it to any weary traveler needing a pick-me-up! (Andrew also enjoyed his Rail Yard Ale, in case you were wondering what he ordered)

As an appetizer, Andrew was insistent that we order nachos and I'm so glad he did.  This is the first time I've seen nachos served this way and it's the most clever thing on earth! The pinto beans, green chili, queso, salsa, sour cream and guacamole were served "dip-style", accompanied by a big basket of salty, greasy, delicious tortilla chips. That way, there were no soggy chips and an even distribution of whatever topping you cared to put your chip into.  I still long for these nachos:

For an entree, I went with buffalo wings and rice (I need rice with all my proteins to fully enjoy them) but unfortunately, the wings were really dry despite being doused in sauce. A bit disappointing after the standout beers and nachos, but I was willing to settle for them considering it was midnight at this point (2 am in Boston - yikes!)

Ben dropped us off at our hotel in downtown Denver (Hyatt Regency Denver, I highly recommend it) so we could crash.  By the time we rolled ourselves out of bed, showered, and considered ourselves ready to face the day, it was 10 am.  Since we had a little time to spare before Ben showed up as our ride to brunch, we explored the neighboring convention center and a work of art that had caught our eye - a big blue bear!

I'm not sure if you can appreciate the scale of how big this bear is, so I've kindly taken a shot from the perspective of looking up at it:

It's a steel structure whose official name is "I See What You Mean" and it measures approximately 40 ft in height. Its creator was seeking to bring whimsy to a "conventional"  (pun intended) area and certainly exceeded as this seemed to be popular with other tourists taking pictures, including, ahem, two people from Boston:

This is Amy and I seeking to insert some whimsy of our own into the photos by doing our best bear impressions...

Luckily, Ben showed up before we could embarrass ourselves further (in a car that the sweet guy had rented for the weekend, solely for the purpose that we would be more comfortable in a roomier car):

And we were off to one of my favorite meals of the whole weekend, brunch!