Tom and Scott's Denver Adventure

Mon 2:54pm - Back at Home

2008-10-06T14:53:00.000-07:00

Well, the trip is officially over. Our flight home last night was uneventful and unfunny. I'm not complaining though. Scott opted for the window seat and left me to the center. No one sat down though so I moved over to the aisle and gave silent thank you to the gods for not delivering a fat dude to my row.

MasterPark was a pain the nuts as usual for getting back to Scott's car. Actually, it wasn't MasterPark's fault. The dimwit from the DoubleTree hotel decided to block two lanes of traffic with his shuttle which we were conveniently stuck behind. Anyway, we got his car back and arrived back home around 11 last night.

The trip was awesome and lived up to nearly every expectation. Special thanks to Corrie and Scott's parents, Steve and Patty, for putting us up!

Stay tuned for more blog adventures from me...

Sun 3:33pm - Red Rocks

2008-10-05T16:09:00.000-07:00

Scott, Corrie, and I just went out to the Red Rocks park and amphitheater which was simply breathtaking. It's an amphitheater built into the side of a mountain - I guess something like the Gorge in Washington. We hiked around to get our blood flowing and work out as much of our collective hangover as we could.

Speaking of which, Panera continues to be our favorite place to go the day after a particularly rough night. Corrie and I both scarfed down soup and sandwiches while Scott nursed a cup of chicken soup. He rallied like a champ this afternoon though.

We both agree that we're never drinking again. Right.

We're right about to head to the airport. On the flight to Denver I had the choice of whether to take the middle or window seat based on the other person in our row. Scott gets the choice on this flight. I have this sinking feeling that I'm going to be sitting next to a fat guy two hours from now.

Sun 9:00am - Ugh

2008-10-05T08:00:00.000-07:00

Ugh, I think last night got a little out of hand. I have a bar receipt that I'm afraid to look at. Scott's almost brother-in-law, Flim Flam, bought a round of shots at a time of night when a round of shots was neither welcome nor necessary. I'm not feeling so hot right now and am doing my best to not move a muscle. My head doesn't hurt yet but the slightest provocation will likely set it off.

The Colorado game was awesome even though we got destroyed. It was solid reminder of how lame Case Western is.

I haven't heard Scott or Corrie moving this morning yet. He's going to be in much worse shape than me today. The bouncer that escorted him from the bar last night would probably agree as well.

Sat 9:15 - the bus

2008-10-04T20:15:00.000-07:00

This post didn't work because of Scott's stupid iPhone. Anyway, here's what it was supposed to contain:
"On bus to Boulder. We're drunk. Spirits high."

Evan, we played Coleco football and I kicked Scott's ass.

Fri 7:35pm - Casa Bonita

2008-10-03T19:35:00.000-07:00

Casa Bonita! Casa Bonita! Food, adventure, games, and fun!

Good guacamole was that an experience and a half we just had! Where to even start? For those of you that don't know, Casa Bonita is the Mexican Restaurant spectacle popularized (at least to non-Coloradans) on a particular South Park episode (that Scott and I watched Monday) to get fired up. Scott and I have been planning on a trip to Casa Bonita for the last 3 years - ever since the episode first aired and he informed me that it is in fact a real place.

Let me try to paint a picture of this place... Casa Bonita is comfortably nestled right smack in the middle of a Denver suburb strip mall. Across the street is a liquor store, bar, and pawn shop. Casa Bonita's exterior is actually ok. They have some nice greenery outside and a picturesque fountain. On walking in the front door it becomes immediately clear that the place isn't quite right. You immediately get in a windy line much like you're at a theme park waiting for a sweet ride. As we inched forward over the course of 15 minutes we deliberated over what we would order to eat. The choices were the deluxe beef dinner or the deluxe chicken dinner - each essentially a pile of brown food covered in various cheese like substances. At the end of the line we were given a cafeteria tray and a plate of food. I went with the chicken. Scott went with the beef. We each ultimately regretted our decision.

We carried our trays of food (along with Corrie and Scott's friends, Greg and Nichelle) to another line where we waited for a host to take us to our table. Casa Bonita can seat 1100 guests. Thankfully this wait was just a few minutes because we had to hold our trays of food until a table was ready. On sitting down, we had a panaramic view of what can only be described as the worst rendition of old world Mexico. Still, I couldn't help but grin as the mariachi band serenaded us with what I considered pretty good music. In the background a shirtless high schooler cliff dove repeatedly from 20-30 feet above a murky pool. This actually would have been pretty cool except it felt a little creepy to be watching the dripping wet, topless high school boy jumping around. (He later juggled fire which Corrie seemed to pay quite a bit of attention to.)

I don't even know how to describe this food and do it justice. I'm used to eating at these Mexican taco trucks run by Mexicans and frequented by Mexicans. So I can only assume that the food at those is somewhat authentic. The food at Casa Bonita is nothing like the food at those places. In fact, I would go so far to say that my deluxe chicken dinner was less Mexican than Taco Bell. The enchilada was essentially some meet in a tortilla with spaghetti sauce on top. Some other tortilla filled thing on my place appeared to by smother in Velveeta cheese. The taco wasn't anything to write home about either. They were accompanied by the usual beans and rice. The deluxe dinners were all you can eat and seconds are requested by raising a flag at your table. I had seconds. I'm feeling fine now but I think tonight may have been the first time that gutrot set in BEFORE I was finished eating. Oh yeah, I do recommend the sopapillas for dessert. Those little fried pastries with honey are actually pretty good.

After dinner, we settled up and went to explore the attractions that make Casa Bonita famous. As we approached the haunted house I was making this scary "wooooo wooooo" sound that a little girl inadvertently heard. She was already on the fence about whether she was brave enough to enter the haunted house and that put her over the edge. She bolted. The haunted house itself was ok (not as good as Stacy's Halloween parties). However, Stacy's parties don't contain Black Bart's Cave which was incredible. We winded our way through secret passages until we discovered Black Bart's loot. He didn't do a particularly good job of hiding it but I'm still proud of myself for finding it.

After a quick trip through the gift shop we left. But not before getting lost about 10 times. I swear, getting out of that place is harder than leaving a Vegas Casino. We said goodbye to Casa Bonita and hustled back to Corrie's place.

I don't know what else to say about that place. It is just simply awesome in it's tacky awfulness. Am I glad I went? Hell yeah. Would I go back? F#ck no!

Fri 9:59am - Stupid Trains

2008-10-03T09:00:00.000-07:00

Some wizbang train engineer apparently got notion that it was a good idea to zoom all around western Denver in his freight train last night. And if that wasn't enough, the jerk kept laying on the horn. If I ever find the guy I'm going to take my Jeep do doughnuts in his backyard all night as payback.

Fri 12:35am - I have no idea what's going on

2008-10-03T00:35:00.000-07:00

Scott and I are safely back at Corrie's (his girlfriend) place. Tonight got a little out of hand. Here's the play by play as I remember it: Drive to Corrie's. Beer. Cab to Denver. Frontline Bar. Cocktail. Jay Cutler. Hot Emily. Cowboy bar. Cocktail. Shot. Hot blond. Buffalo. Hot Emily. Shot. Cocktail. Kara. Sara. Depart. $3 burrito vendor. Wayne, the Cabbie, calling me queer for going home alone. Me telling Wayne to mind his own business. Peanut butter and jelly sandwich. Blogging.

And of Corrie, Scott, and myself - I'm the sober one...

Thu 6:27pm - Tipsy's Liquor World

2008-10-02T17:25:00.000-07:00

Great googley moogley! Tipsy's is the Walmart of liquor scores. No, it's nicer than that. Maybe it's the Bloomingdales of liquor stores. Either way it's a spectacle and totally awesome. It's the size of football field and has a both a bar and cafe in what is by far the largest liquor store I have ever seen. Given that a store like that exists here I can only assume that anyone within a 50 mile radius is a raging alcoholic.

Up next. BW3's!!!

Thu 6:11pm - Back from the Brewery!

2008-10-02T17:12:00.000-07:00

Ok, the Coors Brewery was everything the mint wasn't. The Mint tour took us 30 minutes. The Coors tour took us 90. The Mint tour was quite dry and the tour guide was just ok. The Coors tour started with a fantastic bus driver and was followed by an audio tour with funny jokes about Canadians. No food and drinks were allowed at the Mint tour. The Coors tour liquored me up pretty good.

For anyone in the Denver area I can't recommend doing this tour enough. The best part was, of course, the free beer they gave us. The 2nd best part was seeing thousands of cans of Keystone Light getting crammed in 30packs faster than you can imagine.

Scott's mom joined us for the tour. She cut out of work early under the pretense that she was visiting her own mother. Damn, I respect her.

Thu 1:17pm - Scott's Backyard

2008-10-02T12:22:00.000-07:00

Life is good. The sun is out. Scott's parents' puppy is running around. We're drinking a couple warm up beers. And our friends are all at work. It's hard to ask for too much more right now. The biggest decision we have in front of us is what to have for lunch. And I'm also trying to convince Scott to quite his job. I guess that's a bigger decision.

Thu 1:09pm - The Denver Mint

2008-10-02T12:20:00.000-07:00

We did a tour of the Denver mint this morning. I remember touring the Philadelphia mint when I was in Cub Scouts and it being awesome. The tour of the Denver Mint was unfortunately just a bit underwhelming. I think that's perhaps because when I was in Cub Scouts a big pile of pennies was a lot of money. Actually, now that I'm out of a job it's still a lot of money. The tour was cool though. Apparently the mint is sitting on top of $68 billion in gold which makes it the 2nd largest repository of gold in the country, after Fort Knox. That's pretty sweet. I would post a picture of us in the Mint except they wouldn't let us bring in cameras of any sort at all - God forbid we snap a picture or two of the West Coast's largest pile of change.

Following the mint we did our own walking tour of Denver. Scott had informed me that the ladies of Denver are quite the lookers and holy baloney is he right. That's a good portent for our big night out this evening.

Part of our walking tour took us by the Platte River and a bunch of kids swimming in it. It looked pretty fun until we saw they were right next to a spinning eddy of foam, beer cans, and trash.

This afternoon's plan is a tour of the Coors Brewery. I've already called 'not it' on driving. If their courtesy room is anything like the Anheiser courtesy room in St Louis we'll be doing just fine.

11pm Wed - Shirt Down!

2008-10-01T23:02:00.000-07:00

This sucks. Every meal I always, always spill something on myself. This trip I packed light and planned on reusing clothing including the jeans and shirt I'm wearing. Well, that f'ing stromboli got me good. I've been finding marinara sauce all over myself. It's gotten my shirt and jeans. For Christ sakes I'm 31 and can't even not make a mess of myself when I eat. No wonder I'm single.

In a non-laughable moment earlier this evening, Scott pointed out Columbine high school on the drive from the airport to his folks' house. Surreal.

Wed 7:03pm - New Author

2008-10-01T22:49:00.001-07:00

The aforementioned Scott here. After reading the interminable novel Tom is preparing I, much like Fox News, wanted to provide some fair and balanced comentary. I'm observing Tom with intense jealousy as he enjoys the other half of his stromboli (which totally looks like a giant pretzel filled with deliciousness). He wanted me to inform you that the flight attendant even gave him extra napkins. I'm considering leaving him out in the middle of a cornfield somewhere just south of Denver International Airport, but my murderous rage will likely dissipate as I enjoy the extra bag of snacks he gave me. While a poor substitute, I do enjoy salted snacks.

Wed 6:54pm - Sweet.

2008-10-01T22:48:00.002-07:00

Scott's laptop won't boot. Sucker.

Wed 6:53pm - Observation from the middle seat.

2008-10-01T22:48:00.001-07:00

I keep making Scott read these blog posts as I write them. I must be getting on his nerves because he's taking out his laptop. I'm going to make him read this one now.

Wed 6:40pm - Excitement, adventure - a Jedi craves not these things.

2008-10-01T22:45:00.000-07:00

I am flying high right now. And I'm not referring to the fact that we're approaching 30,000 feet. I recently gave my final notice at work and today was my last day. Leaving the office this afternoon (by bike) felt incredibly liberating. On a normal week, my absolute favorite three hours start when I leave work each Friday afternoon. Those three hours hold limitless opportunities. I generally don't make too many weekend plans because I covet that feeling that anything can happen. During those three or four hours I exist in this weird quantum state where anything and everything has a chance of happening. I might hit it big at a casino, I might get lucky with a hot chick, I might catch a huge fish, I might get lucky with the hot chick's friend, and so on. During that short period, I want to take the whole world on and nothing can put me in a bad mood. Typically my weekends never live up to the possibilities but on occasion they do. And that keep me hoping and excited for the unexpected.

Right now I have that feeling but multiplied by ten thousand. Instead of leaving work for the weekend, I'm leaving work for an indeterminate amount of time. Instead of having a weekend with a few social activities in the works, I'm beginning an adventure to a new city. Instead of having Monday morning already in the back of my mind, I have the foggy notion of some distant date where I should get a regular job if I haven't found an alternative source of income.

I'm also sitting next to an attractive hipster on the plane with great legs. (And I'm not referring to Scott). As I said, the possibilities are limitless at this point.

Wed 6:31pm - Zee plane! Zee plane!

2008-10-01T22:44:00.000-07:00

Greetings to the blogosphere from the stratosphere! Our captain has just politely informed me that I'm allowed to continue work on this epic. Now I just wish that the flight attendants would shift those drink carts into high gear. I have a half-eaten stromboli in my carry-on that isn't getting any fresher.

Speaking of which, I went through quite the negotiation with the airport Sbarro staff over that stromboli. I selected the philly cheese steak stromboli and a small soda for my meal. At the register the woman asked me if I wanted a combo. The dialog went something like this:

"You want combo meal?"

"I don't know, do I?"

"It's cheaper."

"Really, cheaper? You sure?"

"Oh yes, cheaper."

"How much is the combo meal."

"I think 7.54 with tax."

"Well, how much is this if I don't get the combo meal."

"If you get a side then it's a dollar or two more."

"Does the combo meal come with a side?"

"Yes, you want salad, ziti, or vegetables?"

"Wait, I still don't know if I want the combo meal."

"Ok, I ring this up then."

"Hold on, now I'm confused. So you're telling me that if I buy this, then I'm actually losing money as opposed to buying the combo meal?"

"Yes, combo meal cheaper."

"Ummm, ok I guess I'll have the combo meal."

"You want salad, ziti, or vegetables?"

"Vegetables."

"Or breadsticks?"

"No, vegetables are fine, thanks."

"$7.54 with tax. See, I had the price right."

"Yeah, but how much would it have been if I didn't get the combo meal?"

"Dollar or two more."

"oh, ok, thanks."

When I got to my seat I took a minute to decode the menu and it turns out I essentially paid 30 cents for some vegetables I didn't want in the first place. But it worked out in the end. I ate the vegetables and 1/2 my stromboli and had the remainder wrapped to go. Which brings us back to why the flight attendants need to get those carts rolling.

Wed 5:39pm - Men's Room Apple

2008-10-01T22:42:00.000-07:00

Just got back from the men's room. Sea-tac airport bathrooms...not so nice. Except, get this, there was a perfect Granny Smith apple on the little ledge right in front of my urinal. And I mean perfect. This pristine specimen could be used for one of those bowl of fruit paintings that art students do. Scott was in there 10 minutes ago and I asked him if the apple was in there when he went and the answer was no. So this baby hasn't even been there for long and I could really go for an apple right now. The only problem, it's in an airport men's room which conjures of images of Larry Craig and wide stances. So there it will remain. What a waste.

Flight is boarding. More from 10000 feet.

Wed 5:36pm - The Latest Adventure

2008-10-01T22:29:00.000-07:00

My roommate, Scott, and I have just began our Denver adventure. This Scott is not to be confused with the Scott of the well publicized Tom and Skot's Vegas Adventure. Strangely enough, attempts to describe the two Scotts by name only yield more even more confusion as one is Scott Carpenter and the other is carpenter Scott. As Scott (the roommate) puts it, he's a "shorter and less hairy version."

Our flight boards in 10 minutes. I'd better take a leak...