Adventures with Teh Bear... Part 14a

After a few hours in the air, sharing a row with a very heavy set mouth-breather, I was ready to get off the plane.  We landed in Denver around lunch time and Teh Bear's friend, Teh Muppet Democrat (for his uncanny resemblance to Kermit), picked us up at the airport.  He had planned for us to meet Teh Democratic Lawyer (his wife) at lunch.  She had a meeting that ran over, so she didn't make it but we did have our first of many Mexican dinners.  After lunch, we met Teh Democratic Lawyer (Teh DL) at her work, since by then it was time for her to head home.

We went back to their house to drop off our suitcases and meet the puppies (and kitties).  After hanging out for a little bit, Teh DL suggested we head out to downtown so we could check out First Friday Art Walk, which is where the Santa Fe district art galleries are open in the evenings to the public, and maybe get dinner at one of the food trucks.  We checked out several galleries, and we even got to do finger painting at one!  We picked up a snack at the PB&J food truck, but I wasn't really finding anything that was super appealing to me.  It didn't help that our Mexican for lunch was consumed after 2, so it was more like an early dinner than a late lunch.  We all decided we wanted real food, so we agreed on pizza.  I don't remember the name of the place, but it was delicious.  After, we headed back to their house to watch the puppies play some more and figure out our plans for the following day.

Saturday, Teh DL had a morning meeting, but we were to get breakfast down the street at a kind-of-Mexican breakfast place that offers this 7 pound burrito (for free if you can eat the whole thing).  Then after she got back, we were going to hit up downtown for activities, including touring a brewery, then, that night, they had a BIG surprise.. mostly for me, since Teh Democratic Muppet (DM) had told Teh Bear too many clues and he guessed what it was.

For the first time, we got to sleep in.  Breakfast was pretty good, and we decided that Mexican was better west of the Mississippi River.  We were not daring enough to try the 7 pound burrito, and I was appreciative of this, since farting while snuggling isn't acceptable.  We hung out a little bit while playing on the internet after breakfast.  Once Teh DL came home, we were off to downtown, where we got ice cream at Sweet Things and walked around for a bit.  Teh Bear and I took photos, I even found some awesomely tacky sunglasses at one store (expect that post after recaps!).  Once we were tired of walking, we opted to ride around town in the car and look at the sites while heading towards Great Divide Brewery.  We were going to tour New Belgium, but you have to book an appointment to do their tour.  When I checked the New Belgium schedule in late September, the weekend we were going to be in town was already booked full.  Luckily, Denver isn't lacking breweries.  Buildings of note we saw were the Wells-Fargo building  which is shaped like an old-timey cash register, the Denver Post building, and a skyscraper built, literally, around the Catholic church.

Dorothy lost her shoe!

Oops.

Wooden man does the cha-cha slide!

Buddha bottles!

Where Miss Reflective and I could drink... ALL DAY.

Apparently, the Mayan's loved movies!

It does have a "cash register" look to it.

A skyscraper built around a church.

After doing our city tour, we headed to Great Divide.  Teh Bear and Teh DM ordered Yeti beers while Teh DL and I refrained.  I tried Teh Bear's beer and wasn't super impressed, but I'm not a beer/wine drinker, so no one should be surprised by this.  After a short-ish wait, it was our turn to do the tour, which was actually pretty cool.  They encouraged photography, unlike the breweries that I experienced in Scotland.  Great Divide is still a relatively small micro-brewery, but they are definitely growing.  The tour guide was drinking a beer as he gave the tour, which I found mildly amusing for some reason.

An old car that was chillin' across the street from Great Divide.

:)

Beers on tap.

Bahahah, TAP water.... get it?? tehehehe.

We won some awards, nbd.

Teh Bear with his Yeti beer.

Teh Democratic Muppet's Yeti beer.

Too artsy?
This as much as of a dutch angle as you'll get out of me..

Just havin' some beers.

Inside the brewery.

They do their own bottling!

Boxes ready for filling.

After the brewery tour, we had late lunch/early dinner since the food (a required cost) at our evening activity wasn't going to be good.  Another meal of Mexican (since we knew that we were going to have pizza on Sunday) and we headed back home to release the hounds for a little bit.

If you look close, you can see the floor numbers painted on the wood in the elevator shaft.

A popular building for events at "the mall".

Love all.  Serve all.  Hard Rock Cafe.

"X Bowl" just makes it seem like naughty bowling.  Just sayin.

After some dog entertainment and internetting, we decided it was time to head to the surprise, with a quick stop at Home Depot prior.  We also tossed in a trip to the thrift store since Teh DM and Teh DL collect antique chinaware.  Teh Bear knew where we were going, but I still had no clue.  Teh DL even took the long way to Home Depot because she didn't want me to get any kinds of clues if we drove by it (I wouldn't have gotten a clue).............



(I noticed that this got really long so I broke it up into two parts, the 2nd part is already scheduled to post, so no worries, you won't have to wait a month to hear about the surprise destination.. promise!)

Vacation Recap Map:

Pre-vacation
Being in Denver for the weekend, part 1      (this blog)
Being in Denver for the weekend, part 2
Being in AZ for half the week, part 1
Being in AZ for half the week, part 2
Being in AZ for half the week, part 3
Being in NC for an extended weekend
-Carolina Renn Faire (photos)
-Biltmore Flowers (photos)
Being in MD for the remainder of vacation