Colorado Recap: On food, friends and fragrant factories.

Our trip to Colorado seems best (or at least most easily) retold by running through a list of the places we ate. Thankfully, I checked in on Foursquare at all but two or three spots, so it helped me to recall all the different places we went, and thus a lot of the things we did between meals, too!

So here we go. This is gonna be really long, but the trip was a whirlwind of awesomeness, so I couldn’t really leave anything out!

Wednesday night we flew into Denver on a direct flight from LAX. There were 124 seats on the plane, and about 24 people actually on it. Talk about awesome, being able to sprawl across an entire row! We grabbed our gigantic SUV rental and drove the 45-minutes up to Boulder, where we checked into our hotel and promptly passed the heck out.

Thursday morning, we set out for a quick bite to eat at Vic’s Espresso where Joe had a breakfast burrito and a dark chocolate mocha, and I had a chocolate croissant and some spicy-cinnamon-type tea. After that, we drove to the neighborhood where Joe’s dad grew up (which has an amazing view of the mountains), and we met the sweetest lady, Jo, who is the daughter-in-law of the original owner of the house next door to the one my FIL grew up in. We also stopped by for a quick chat with Bill, Joe’s step-grandfather who now lives in that house. (He was a little shocked to see us there, as it had been years and years since he’d seen Joe.)

Later that morning, we picked up Joe’s granddad, John, from his nice retirement-community apartment and took him out for lunch at the South Side Walnut Cafe. John was full of stories about places he’d lived, jobs he’s had (he used to do some technical writing!), and the things he saw and experienced during his time in the Army. After our delicious meal (I had blueberry pancakes!), we walked across the parking lot to the Southern Sun Pub & Brewery where the server gave me a FREE sampling of four different beers before I settled on a delicious Blackberry Wheat. (The other three I tried — a ginger wheat, an amber, and one called “Quinn’s Golden” — were also very tasty.) More stories ensued from Granddad John, and then we dropped him back off at home so he could “do like old people do and take a nap.” (We took a nap, too.)

After our little nap, we grabbed some Italian sandwiches to go from Snarf’s in East Boulder and then headed up to Lyons, where Joe’s uncle Steve was playing a live outdoor concert with his awesome country/bluegrass band. That was my very first time meeting Steve, Barbara and one of their daughters (Greta), and it was tons of fun. The music was great, and the weather that night was just superb for laying down a blanket and nomming some good ol’ picnic food. Once the concert was over, we said goodbye to Joe’s family and headed back to the hotel.

Friday, on several people’s recommendations, we ventured to the Boulder Dushanbe Teahouse for brunch and, of course, tea. Joe had their “famous house chai” and I had their amazing Strawberry Lemon Twist herbal tea. It reminded me of the tea we had in Romania, but with a slightly different…well, twist. I’m definitely planning on buying some of that stuff online at some point. Anyway, the teahouse is absolutely stunning, with hand-carved columns, hand-painted ceilings and walls, and so much more. Just check out the website for a taste of how great this place is.

After brunch and tea, we took off for Carnes Cabin, which was built in the late ’50s by Joe’s granddad and uncle. The cabin is about five miles up a dirt road in the mountains, and I think by the time we reached it we had driven up to an elevation of nearly 10,000 feet. The road was seriously bumpy, and barely one lane wide at some parts, but we made it there and back with only slightly squeakier brakes on the rental (this is why we got an SUV and not some sissy economy car). The cabin was very cute and quaint, and definitely a place I would appreciate finding if I got stuck in the woods in a blizzard. The Boulder Carneses actually keep some canned food inside for just such an occasion, and the “padlock” on the front door can be easily broken off if an emergency should arise. We had a great time exploring every little corner of the cabin, including a small journal where people signed in whenever they visited. Except for Greta, Joe’s cousin, visiting the day before us, no one had been up there in a year prior to our stop, at least according to the journal.

Anyway, we goofed off a bit around the cabin, then trudged back down the mountain and headed to the Pearl Street Mall in downtown Boulder. It’s like a neverending street fair, about five blocks long, full of little shops and restaurants. We first checked out Maiberry, on the recommendation of a girl at Starbucks the night before. Maiberry is a lovely little frozen yogurt place which has all ORGANIC fruit toppings! I call that a win, and I devoured some plain frozen yogurt with blueberries. I actually asked for plain yogurt with Oreos originally, then I said, “Wait, can I try the blueberry?” (meaning I wanted to taste the blueberry flavored yogurt), but the guy heard, “Can I change that to blueberry?” so he topped my fro-yo with fruit instead of chocolate. I was actually quite happy with that, because the blueberries were supremely delicious. Joe got some weird concoction called the House Special which had a combination of plain yogurt and “glacée” (a shaved-ice sort of thing, but with more milky smoothness like ice cream?) and a bunch of chocolate toppings. He wasn’t keen on the texture, so I ended up eating about a third of his, too. (“Heffa status!” as my old friend Bree would say.)

After Maiberry, we strolled around Pearl Street a bit more, then headed to our hotel to clean up before having dinner with  our friends Paul and Liz and their two adorable kids. Unfortunately, we totally screwed up and thought that we were meeting them at 6 PM, only to realize the plan had been for 4 PM. So, we were pretty late, and felt absolutely terrible for that! But we made it there eventually (Littleton, that is) and had a ton of fun catching up with them. We all went out for dinner at a tasty Mexican place called Los Dos Portrillos, and I had a seriously delicious (but SERIOUSLY huge) plate of enchiladas, chile relleno, and beans and rice. After that, we headed back to Paul & Liz’s, and once they’d put the little ones to bed, Paul let Joe and me sample his hand-crafted homemade beers (a Kolsch and a Belgian dark, if that means anything to you guys), which were both very good. We sat around talking about Joe and Paul’s college days, work, babies (they’re expecting their third in a couple months!) and whatever else came up. It was a really nice visit, and we’re hoping to have more of them (both in CA and CO) whenever we can. Anyway, we left Littleton and headed back to Boulder once again for a restful night’s sleep before another full day of activities.

(Oh, but one terrible thing that happened right when we got home that night: I dropped my phone in the toilet! My new, beautiful HTC Incredible. The good miraculous news? It still works. Yay!)

Saturday, we slept in (bliss!) and thus didn’t end up having breakfast. Eventually we meandered back to Pearl Street, where we walked around for a good while, scoping out possible eateries and observing the weird (and sometimes cool) street performers. Once my stomach was growling loudly enough for the people two streets ahead to hear, we settled on a place called The Lazy Dog Bar & Grill, which had a rooftop seating area. It was a pretty warm day, but we got a seat in the shade of an umbrella, and we were right next to the wall so we could view the street below and the lovely courthouse building across the way. We both had burgers (Joe tried the buffalo!), and I also indulged in a tasty pomegranate margarita. I don’t usually do too well with tequila (like, two sips and I have a stomach ache, and it’s not one of those I-had-a-bad-experience-with-tequila-in-the-past kinda things), but it just looked too delicious to pass up. And hey! No stomach ache. Colorado does magical things for me, apparently.

Anyway, after lunch, we strolled around the Boulder Bookstore for awhile. This place is not your average Borders or Barnes & Noble. It had three floors (one at basement-level), tons of used-book areas where you could find great books at super discounted prices, and the atmosphere was simply lovely. It felt like walking through someone’s (very large) home library, with unique tables and shelves, places to lounge, and more books than I knew what to do with. I of course bought a few, including Anne Lamott’s Bird by Bird — used — for like six bucks! I also found these sweet notecards that look like old-fashioned Polaroids. Can’t wait to send some more snail mail soon!

Eventually we left Pearl Street and got ready to head up to Joe’s uncle’s house in North Boulder, where we enjoyed dinner with Steve, Barbara, Greta, Laurie (their other daughter, whom I hadn’t met yet) and Granddad John. They made some delicious chicken, roasted potatoes, corn on the cob and a bunch of other stuff, along with brownies and ice cream for dessert. (I don’t know what it is about it, but Safeway Moose Tracks ice cream is WAY better than the stuff we get at Ralphs or Albertsons, dangit!) Anyway, we had a great time getting to know everyone, and later we showed them a 20-minute video tour of Joe’s parents’ house, since none of them has ever been there (I think). Granddad John gave us a bag full of old sterling silver pieces to take back for Joe’s dad, and there was some super cool stuff in there!

Oh, and right before we left, Greta introduced me to their adorable pet hedgehog Phoebe, but I didn’t get to see her for long because she’s been really sick. They think she might have cancer…so sad! But I can tell you this: Kyla’s love of hedgehogs is not unfounded. They are seriously (and surprisingly) cute!

Sunday we got up early and went to the local Foursquare church, which we’d found just by googling “Foursquare church in Boulder.” There were about 30 people there, so it was very obvious who the “new faces” were (that is to say, ours), but it wasn’t awkward. We were greeted warmly by several people, and chatted with a few more after the service. It turns out the senior pastor knows our pastor here in Santa Barbara, which was a fun coincidence. (Side note: I really wanted to check in to Foursquare saying, “I’m at a Foursquare church! It’s like, foursquare squared!” but the church wasn’t listed as a venue on Foursquare yet, and I didn’t feel like adding it.) Anyway, if fate ever brings us to live in or around Boulder, we feel like that’s probably the place where we’ll go to church. The service and the people were all lovely, and Joe and I both felt like we could fit in well there.

After the church service, we went to the Celestial Seasonings Tea Factory. Did you know that Celestial Seasonings started (and is still completely run) in Boulder? The tour was excellent, but my favorite part was right before the tour, when we got to sample a ton of different teas — as much as we wanted! My second favorite part was the Mint Room, which we saw during the tour. They keep all their mints (peppermint, spearmint, and catnip (seriously)) contained in a giant room, because otherwise they would contaminate the flavors of all the other teas. Anyway, you walk into this room and your lungs, eyes, nose and mouth start to feel a little freaky, because of the overwhelming aroma and whatnot. But my sinuses cleared up in seconds, which was a super cool sensation.

So Celestial Seasonings was tons of fun. I think Joe’s parents actually knew one of the couples who first started it, so that was a cool little connection.

For lunch, we decided to check out Foolish Craig’s Cafe, but it was already about 2 PM and we were meeting Ashley for dinner at 5, so we had to try to keep it light. Well…that didn’t exactly happen. We both tried the “Altitude Adjustment” which was a savory crepe filled with ham, green peppers, onions, scrambled eggs, and cheddar cheese, with a side of house potatoes. It was possibly THE most delicious meal we’d had during the trip thus far, and that’s really saying something. We complimented the food and told our server that “Craig” should really open up about a hundred more of these restaurants, but he said that it was totally owner-operated and Craig wasn’t looking to expand. Dangit. Guess we have to move to Boulder so we can eat there every day.

So anyway, a couple hours later we met up with Ashalah at The Med, which I’d been looking forward to ever since she told me about it. They have TAPAS! And maybe I haven’t properly expressed this (or expressed it at all) in my blog, but I am newly obsessed with tapas, thanks to Helly. The first (awesome) time I had it was in Anaheim, the second (crappy) was in Santa Barbara, the third (awesome) was in Vegas, and this was going to be my fourth experience with tapas. Well, let me tell you: It was spectacular. The prices were super cheap, as tapas is meant to be, and the food was absolutely delicious. The three of us shared seven different items, and we were all sufficiently full by the end of it. Oh, and I tried my first bellini, which is champagne with blood orange juice (so, like a mimosa, only better). So The Med (along with every other place I’ve talked about in this post) is a must-visit if you’re ever going to be in Boulder, mmkay?

After we finished our delectable tapas plates (as if we weren’t already full enough), we grabbed some frozen yogurt at Boulder Chill and also some wine and scotch at a local liquor store. Then we headed back to Ashley’s condo, where Joe poured us all a glass of Glenfiddich (well, he had a glass and Ashley and I shared one). We chatted for a while, then vlogged together on Ashley’s computer, then played a game of Clue (I won!), and then things really started to get fun. I busted out the white wine and decided we needed to play a game of Uno. Ashley just so happened to have HARRY POTTER UNO, which was basically amazing. We ended up playing three games, two of which I won and the other one Ashley won (poor Joe…). During this time, I was drinking the white wine a bit more quickly than I realized (oops) and pretty soon I was getting really silly. I can’t adequately describe the rest of the night in words, so instead I will (with slight hesitation) show you my vlog from that night.

So anyway, after I finished petting Ashalah’s cat (which I didn’t have nearly as bad an allergic reaction to as usual, thank goodness), Joe took me home and I promptly felt like crap for the next five hours. It was really, really stupid of me to drink THAT. MUCH. WINE. in one night, especially at a higher altitude, which supposedly intensifies the effects when you’re not used to it. I was back and forth between the toilet and the bed, but I never actually threw up (in case you were wondering). I think I probably got about four hours of sleep, and then we had to get up and packed up to drive back to Denver for our return flight on Monday.

And that was our trip to Colorado!

I actually have a ton of video footage that I’m putting together to post on YouTube, so I’ll link to that once it’s all ready to go. (I also just realized I hardly said anything about the weather in Boulder, which could’ve added another 37 paragraphs. Basically, the weather was awesomely warm, clear and beautiful.)

So tell me: Have you ever been to Boulder? What did I miss out on that I absolutely HAVE to check out next time we’re there?

Also, sorry this post was so obscenely long. I just didn’t want to forget anything (well, except maybe those last few hours between Sunday night and Monday morning). I need to get better about recounting all the fun things I do in life, because I want to remember it all!