Denver - June 2011

How is it that my first time in Denver wasn't until my 27th year? And for work, no less. The flight from SLC is like, less than an hour. Yet another perfect weekend getaway.

To be honest though, I've always felt a bit competitive with Coloradans. Its a rivalry. Our mountains are closer (and on both sides)...theirs are taller. Their ski resorts are cool...ours are cooler (hello Winter Olympics...not to mention Greatest Snow on Earth...hello). They have the Broncos, the Nuggets, the Rockies, the Rapids and the Avalanche...we have the Real and...the Jazz? They have Boulder...we have Moab. Their city is bigger...and more diverse...and well, ours is smaller and....more quaint? Less traffic? Anyway, you see what I mean. But I finally went there, and yes it is cool. I love any city that has numerous distinct neighborhoods that are all great in their own unique way.

It was weird to be in a city that felt and looked so similar to SLC but was so obviously not SLC. It had totally never crossed my mind that the next state over from Colorado is Kansas, and when you get off the plane, that's where you think you are. On the door to the women's restroom is a note confirm that it doubles as a tornado shelter. In Salt Lake we're used to living in a valley surrounded by mountains on both sides (but it is quite flat in between). In Denver they have the Rockies on the West, and absolutely nothing on the other side.

Anyway, I was only there for about 36 hours since it was for work, but I had a jolly good time. Monday night I met up with a good college buddy / housemate that is from Denver. Sharing a love for delicious food, he took me to a wonderful Italian restaurant in the Highlands neighborhood called Trattoria Stella. It has a great patio and the food is AMAZING. I had the Cherry House Salad with Red Wine Viniagrette and the Spaghetti Bolognese and both were fantastic. And of course we had some tiramisu, which was one of the best I've ever had, but Justin swears it is not very difficult to make...

Then we grabbed some tea in another cool neighborhood called Lodo (lower downtown). I believe the place was called Paris on the Platte? It was pretty cool and very busy for late on a Monday Night (full of hipsters of course...). Anyway, we had a great time chatting about this and that and the other.

And then it was back to work on Tuesday and I was back home in SLC by Tuesday night. It was a short trip Denver, but I'm sure I'll be back!! Thanks Justin for showing me around!