Jerry's Thoughts, Musings, and Rants!

Photo Hunt - Sturdy

This week's Photo Hunt theme is 'sturdy'. This wonderful blue bear sculpture 'holding' up the Colorado Convention Centre in Denver is VERY sturdy!

Rocky Mountain National Park

One of the things that we wanted to do while we were in Colorado was to visit Rocky Mountain National park; nowhere else in the United States can a visitor see so much alpine country with such ease. A mere two-hour drive from Denver, Trail Ridge Road takes visitors into the heart of Rocky Mountain National Park, traversing a ridge above 11,000 feet (3,353 meters) for 10 miles (16 kilometers). Along the way, tiny tundra flowers and other wild blooms contrast with sweeping vistas of towering summits; 78 of them exceed 12,000 feet (3,656 meters). Alpine lakes reflect the grandeur.

Yes, amazing is the operative word for the park. That being said, we didn't think we'd be able to work it into our schedules. SIGH

Then my colleague Jane, who had been to the park last weekend, showed me her photos. I knew instantly that this was an excursion for us and somehow we'd make it happen. Yesterday, after an early morning start requiring a wake up call, we headed out from Denver and drove through this amazing park.

Rock as old as that at the bottom of the Grand Canyon—nearly two billion years—caps the Rockies' summits. Within the last million years, glaciers, grinding boulders beneath them, carved deep canyons. Erosion later scoured the more jagged summits into their present profiles.

Rocky Mountain, though only about an eighth the size of Yellowstone, accommodates as many visitors—three million or so a year. Overcrowding worries park officials and conservationists, who cite distressed animals, trodden plants, and eroded trails (the traffic certainly got backed up in spots along Trail Ridge Road -  can`t imagine what it would be like on a weekend!). Condominium development is crowding the park's borders also, shrinking the habitats of elk and other wildlife and threatening to turn the park into an island of nature.

Here are some shots from our visit:

 

  

 

 

 

A Denver Birthday Celebration

I turned 47 yesterday.  I don't know if it is because of my age or what but age doesn't seem to mean much to me any more - heck, on most days I don't even know how old I am any more. In fact, were it not for Paul, who has a savant-like ability to remember dates, times, and ages, I'd need a calculator to figure out how old I was on any given day.

The Desire2Learn user conference is always held around my birthday apparently - last year I celebrated in Chicago. This year Denver. If all goes well next year I will celebrate in San Diego. It shakes things up a bit.

So. What did I do yesterday?

First I was amazed at the volume of facebook messages wishing me a happy birthday. That was cool. When I woke up there were about 15 from friends to the east. As the day progressed there were lots of beeps from my BB as a new message was posted on my wall.

When it was time to head out we went to Snooze for breakfast.

 
The corned beef hash with caramelized onions and poblano peppers was amazing!

After breakfast we walked to the river where we rented bicycles from the B-cycle bike sharing station.

 
We rode our bikes along the South Platte River and Cherry Creek - both of which were raging with all of the rain we've been having over the past week.

 
Our destination was the Denver Art Museum (DAM). Because of the network of bike trails and designated lanes in the city we had no trouble arriving there on our bicycles. We popped our bikes bake into the locking station. I whined about being sweaty.

Paul ignored me.

 
The Denver Art Museum had an exhibit I wanted to see that traced the Renaissance in Italy from Florence, through a number of cities and then followed it's impact on the art of northern Europe as the Italian Renaissance techniques moved north over the alps.

We really enjoyed the DAM. I liked how they had commissioned some art installations just for the new building, designed by Daniel Libeskind. I was particularly taken with the movement and energy in Fox Games  which combined various elements and imagery to create a fantastic world. The installation depicted an invasion of gray foxes, sculpted in clay and cast in polyester resin, within a restaurant.

 
After feeding our souls with the wonder of the building and the exhibits we needed to fill our stomachs. We went to Palettes, the restaurant located in the DAM, where we had a wonderful lunch. Of course we toasted the new year . . .

 
After lunch we toured the north building of the DAM. By the time we finished it was about 3:30. I wanted to go to the Capital building and wander about a bit there. As we set out across the gardens and lawns of the civic centre park another storm was threatening to roll into the city. This one was a bit different as the sirens warning of severe thunderstorms and tornadoes started to blare.

Instead of heading to the Capital building we decided to run for our hotel as it was closer. We managed to make it back to shelter before the worst of the storm hit.

Since I couldn't wander about the Capital building I did the next best thing - napped!

Later we took the free 16th street mall bus to Larimer Street and walked two blocks to the other restaurant that is most often listed as being amongst the best in Denver - Rioja.

 
We had a wonderful meal there - bold flavours, inventive presentation, excellent service. All perfect for a birthday dinner!

The lights that are strung back and forth across Larimer Street were lit when we left the restaurant - what a magical spot. I wished that we had more time to explore the area. Note to self for next time . . .

 
Back at the hotel room there were presents, cards, and more wine!

 
It was a brilliant way to spend a birthday!

Fruition Restaurant

I did far less planning for this trip than I might normally do - the end of June grind of work cutting into the pleasures of trip planning. That being said, I did some reading about where to EAT!

Fruition restaurant is at the top of most folks lists of Denver's best restaurants and well reviewed by Zagat, the number 1 restaurant for Denver on tripadvisor, on may top lists at opentable, respected by the local chowhound group, and it received a 16/20 score on gayot (which those in the know know is a very good restaurant score).

If that isn't enough the folks at Food and Wine magazing named the chef, Alex Seidel, as on the the top chefs in the US last year. When the restaurant opened in 2007 it was named as one of the top 10 new restaurants of the year.

This had me convinced that this was a place to go. My colleagues wanted to go to PF Changs last night so we went to Fruition. Don't get me wrong . . . sure, I am a food snob (I won't even try denying that), but I actually like PF Changs (cue hissing). That being said, when I travel I want food I can't get at home. I generally want to eat something that is made by a chef rather than an 16 year old line cook. I want to try something that is unique and different and not served up on plates across the country. I want something that is made fresh to order, with fresh, local ingredients, and not pre-made, frozen, or from a mix. Food is an art. A chef is an artist. A line cook in a chain restaurant is working away at a paint-by-number 'creation'.

We hopped in the car and headed out to Fruition. It is in a small renovated house on 6th street that you would never guess had such an amazing restaurant in it. The restaurant is small and the noise not overwhelming (well, we would have been happy if the old lady behind Paul had shut up once and a while). The interior was understated - unlike the food on the plates.

The service was incredble  . . . prompt, efficient, and very attentive. The hostess, bread server, and wait staff all made a point of checking in a number of times to make sure that everything was as it should be. I liked that they weren't overly friendly - it wasn't forced as it can be in some restaurants.

Once seated we ordered some sparkling rose wine. The bread 'server' (who actually served a variety of roles) brought over some housemade bread which was served with their own butter in a wee dish. The butter had a sea salt and fresh herb crust. This is a sign folks - when that level of attention is paid to the butter you're in for a treat!

Now on to the food . . . the menu isn't extensive - about 7 starters and 7 mains. It changes regularly based upon ingredients that are fresh at the time.  That being said, there were 5 on each list that I'd be happy to try. Paul ordered the heirloom tomato salad as his starter.  Judging by the number of artfully stacked salads that we saw come from the kitchen it was clearly a favourite menu item. It was a stack comprised of heirloom tomatoes, their own ricotta cheese, eggplant 'croutons', baby arugula, romesco vinaigrette.  

I was intrigued by the sound of the pasta carbonara but wanted to make sure it wasn't a huge portion - I didn't want to destroy my appetite before the main event! Carbonara is one of my favourite pastas - what isn't to love about pasta, bacon, egg, and cheese? At Fruition the carbonara was made up of house-cured pork belly, hand-made cavatelli, a six minute egg, pulled together with a parmesan broth. A swear that I tasted some truffle in the broth as well.

Thank goodness our server brought a spoon! This was one of the best things I've ever eaten. I could go back and order this again as a starter and then demand a larger portion for my main. LOL

Everything on the menu of mains sounded interesting. I can't remember the last time I was at a restaurant where each item was something I'd have eaten.

Paul ordered the sea scallops which I had read were one of the best things on the menu. The diver scallops were wrapped with proscuitto, seared, and served with laughing bird shrimp toast, a grilled shrimp & roasted pepper salad, and finished off with a summer corn bisque. Once again Paul was grateful for the sp0on the server brought - as the bisque was too delicious to miss a drop!

I went a bit daring with my selection (anyone who reads the ingredients and remembers my experience with 'organ meat' earler in the year will know of what I am referring). Given that Colorado is known for its cattle I wanted to see what local chefs were doing with this prime local ingredient. I ordered the grilled bavette steak au Poivre. This dish was layered - oyster mushroom and confit sweetbread ragu on the bottom, thin slices of perfectly cooked steak on top, a layer of duck fat and cacio perora french fries over the steak. The whole dish was pulled together with a chive-ranch dressing.

Everything had been so wonderful that we had to order dessert. Once again the selection wasn't a long list of choices - a few things with fresh ingredients. We decided to split the ricotta cheesecake - served with pluot-ginger compote, honey ice cream, and pistachio granola. By now we had high expectations and you guessed it - they were well-met!

There you have it, a brilliant meal from start to finish. If you're in Denver and looking for a fine meal made with fresh, local ingredients be sure to make a reservation here.

Denver's 16th Street Mall

For much of the past 30 years this 2 km long pedestrian mall has been a favourite draw for tourists to the city. Our hotel is located near one end of the mall so we've had a number of opportunities to wander about the mall and enjoy all that it has to offer. As you walk along the mall it isn't hard to realize why this is such a popular spot . . .

 
Free shuttles run up one side of the mall and down the other. I was surprised with how regular they were and the frequency of the stops - perfect for shoppers laden with bags who just couldn't walk any further! There were also connections between these shuttles and the city transit.

Lots of atempts had been made to create places where people would want to gather and interact - whether it was an outdoor cheese/checkers playing area, fountains, sculptures, benches and planters, or wonderfully decorated pianos where anyone interested could stop and play - more than once these pianos were the source of beautiful music as we wandered about.

 
 
We tried to take time to enjoy the interesting architecture as we wandered by - whether it was the tower that is a scaled replica of the famous bell tower in San Marco Square in Venice or the wonderful art deco trim preserved on some of the buildings. In the centre of the mall we even found a few large Victorian buildings with their bulky stone facades. near our hotel when you look towards the end of the mall you spy the gleaming dome of the state capital - lots of diamonds amongst the rough of 70s architecture for those who stop and look.

 

The shopping and restaurants are the usual choices - mainly chains with some tacky tourist spots tossed in. It looks as if this is an area that is in transition with some higher end offerings moving into the area.

Of course we had to pop into Smashburger which I have to confess is better than In-N-Out! It is no wonder why this chain is popping up across the US. While I don't normally frequent chain restaurants and try to stay away from fast food but this is not to be missed.

Party at Mile High Stadium

Yesterday was the first day of the conference and while I was in sessions from 7 am to 5:45 Paul wandered about the city. He has more interesting tales to tell about Denver than I but he is still snoring away in the bedroom.

I won't regale you with tales of the conference for that would bore anyone except for those who are into online leanring and use Desire2Learn as their learning management system (see, I bet I bored some fo you regular folks there didn't I?).

On to the client celebration. Every year the company honours its clients with a party that generally ties in to the area in some way - last year we had a world's fair theme on Chicago's Navy Pier. This year we loaded up on buses and headed to Denver's famous Mile High Stadium where we found all sorts of activities, games, tours, food, drinks, and music.

While on the tour we learned a great deal about the stadium. For example:

Groundbreaking took place on August 17th, 1999.
INVESCO Field’s opening event was an Eagles Concert that occurred on August 11th, 2001.
Total seating capacity of the stadium is 76,125. Football games are always sold out.
There are a total of 132 Luxury Suites on two levels and 8,800 club seats.
Construction of the stadium cost more than $400 million, including $2.6 million for video boards and $7 million for stairways and handrails.
Total stadium square footage equals 1.8 million square feet.
The stadium is comprised of 12,000 tons of structural steel, 200,000 pounds of aluminum, 130,000 bricks, 1.6 millions masonry blocks, 1,500 plumbing fixtures and 25,000 light fixtures.
The stadium holds 530 televisions, 633 speakers, 686 1,500 watt GE metal halide lights in the stadium bowl and more than 1,000 phone lines throughout the stadium, with 350 in the press box alone.
The first row of the Level 4 Suites is officially one mile (5,280 feet) above sea level.
There are 560 concession stand points of sale.
There are 48 miles of  tubing to deliver beer from the beer cooler rooms to the various concession stands.
A small bowl of peanuts costs $ 29 in one of the private booths.
INVESCO Field hosts approximately 300 events each year.
An event like the one we attended where the entire stadium was rented generally costs $ 250,000

There games and challenges were cool . . .

You could ride a mechanical bull . . .

Or bounce on a giant trampoline . . .

There was a giant obstacle course - that is Paul race to the finish line!

Human Bowling

Paul was a good sport and was strapped into the ball. He 'scored' a spare.

You could outdraw a colleague - the score on the right was mycolleague Nancy. The one on the left was her sister - a police officer. Hmmmmm

There were nerf footballs on the tables so I smuggled one out on to the field where silliness ensued.

 

The live music/duelling pianos was great!

As was the view of the skyline from the club level lounge.

 
What a fun night at Invesco Mile High Stadium - thanks D2L!

Things Really do Come in Threes . . .

I am sure that you have heard that old cliche 'things come in threes' - generally used more with bad things rather than good things i.e. if a family member gets sick before you know it two more will succumb. No one ever refers to a string of good things. Imagine if it were the lotto. Of course, I've yet to wine once, let along three times.

Yesterday was a travel day for most of my colleagues - registration for the conference and the first conference events took place that afternoon and evening. Knowing that the next few days would be pretty intensive . . . well, for me anyway - we were determined to make the best of it.

After a delicious, quick, and inexpensive breakfast at the Corner Bakery near the hotel we met my colleague Nancy and her sister in the lobby and headed out to Boulder. We parked for free and wandered around the Pearl Street Mall - a four block outdoor pedestrian mall boasting a show of seasonal flowers and native trees. We watched street performers ply their trade and musicians play while passers by paused to enjoy the never ending show. Annual festivals celebrating Boulder's diverse community are staged here too. I was impressed with the beautifully preserved historic buildings from the city's origins as the supply center for mining operations during the late 1800's which were carefully preserved.

After wandering about and making a number of purchases (there is a outpost of the famous spice store Penzey's there and some wonderful art shops) we decided to head to our next stop - Eldorado State Park. Since it was close to lunchtime we popped into Whole Foods to grab some things for an impromptu picnic lunch.

Eldorado Canyon is located about five miles southwest of Boulder. It's claim to fame is it's five hundred technical rock climbing routes (which we stayed away from of course!), but it has something for everyone. The canyon is beautiful in itself and a great for a picnic. When we arrived we were advised that the picnic area was full - no worries we parked, ate in the car, and headed out to hike a bit.

It wasn't long before menacing clouds filled the sky and soon a torrential downpour started. We were just far enough along on the hike that we didn't know - do we stay or do we make a run for the car? We ran and arrived back at the car drenched but laughing - there is nothing like running like a fool through a rainstorm to make one feel silly and giddy.

When the rain was over we decided to head up to the picnic area (cars had streamed out of the area when the rain hit). It was nice but frankly, we saw more impressive views from where we had been.

Our next stop was Red Rocks where we were to meet up with the rest of our colleagues before the Sarah McLachlan concert later that night. We were early so we decided to wander about and admire the stunning scenery - and the dark clouds off in the distance. Of course, before we knew it these clouds were looping back towards us and lightning was forking through the sky. For the second time in the day we were racing for the car to try and beat a storm - happily we got inside the car seconds before it really hit.

We met up with our colleagues at the Red Rocks Grill in Morrison (about 5 minutes from the park). It was a rough and tumble spot but the food was good diner type food - and cheap! We paid and headed back to the park for the concert.

I have heard that red rocks is one of the greatest spots in the world to see a concert - you are surrounded by the gorgeous scenery, the acoustics are stunning, and being in a relatively intimate setting under the stars (or clouds in our case) allows for a wonderful experience. Sarah was brilliant - and impressively paired with the Colorado Symphony. I'm not the greatest Sarah McLachlan fan by any stretch of the imagination but this was one of the best concerts I've been to over the years.

For most of the concert the clouds stayed away but wouldn't you know it but during the second set a menacing black cloud came from the right, almost on cue the audience all put their rain apparel on, and the rain began. It wasn't the downpour we had experienced earlier in the day - in fact it was enough to cool you off andit moved one. It was enough to prove that things, in fact, do come in threes!

We're on the Road Again . . .

Yes, it does seem as if we just returned from our long weekend in Algonquin Park, because we did. However you can't always control options for travel - in this case Desire2Learn - the company behind our learning management system for our online learning program - is hosting their users conference in Denver this week. Paul decided to come along for the fun like he did last year in Chicago. While I attend sessions he'll wander the city and we'll hook up at night. we have arranged to tack on a couple of vacation days for Thursday and Friday so we can enjoy the city a bit.

As far as travel days go yesterday was pretty uneventful. We flew from Buffalo where I was able to purchase 2 flights for the price of one flight from Toronto. The drawback being that there is always a connection somewhere and we generally leave at an ungodly hour. We can handle this since we'd rather save our money for things like shopping, eating, and drinking!

As I said, the travel was uneventful. My usual observances - people with excessive gas should be banned from air travel. . . I now know why folks mock Jersey accents (we connected through Newark) . . . people who text on moving sidewalks and don't pay attention to the fact that said sidewalk is coming to and end and fall and hurt themselves are stupid . . . people with giant suitcases who insist on trying to bring the on the plane with them are stupid as well. It is $ 23 to check a bag on Continental (if you do it online) - pay the small fee and stop holding EVERYONE up as you struggle down the aisle with said bag and then feeble look around for assistance whilst trying to stuff bag in the overhead bin (even though our plan was full of boy scouts heading to a jamboree in New Mexico no one volunteered to help . . . hmmm).

Other than that everything was quite uneventful.

We got a great deal on a rental car through priceline. The GPS got us to the hotel easily (although it does seem to be confused by the downtown Denver area). When we got to the hotel our room wasn't clean yet - we dropped off the bags and headed out into the city.

Tonight we are going to see a concert at Red Rocks - Sarah McLaughlin with the Colorado symphony. I had ordered the tickets online but saw that I could pick up the tickets in person yesterday at the Boettcher Concert Hall. Since we had time to kill and I like avoiding long lines to pick up tickets at concerts this is what we did.

On the way we walked past the Convention Centre where we smiled at the huge blue bear stading outside of the convention centre looking in. That’s "I See What You Mean," a 40-foot tall blue bear peering into the window of the Colorado Convention Center. The steel and fiberglass sculpture was created by Lawrence Argent:

The artist has described I See What You Mean as a stylized representation of native fauna. As the bear peeks inside the enormous facility at the conventioneers, displacement and wonder pique curiosity and question a greater relationship of art, technology and whimsy.

 
Getting the tickets was a breeze and we still had time to kill before our room was scheduled to be ready. What to do . . . what to do?

Martini Bar!

I had seen a sign for one across from the theatre complex so off we went to a spot called the Corner Office. The decor was funky. Bar extensive. Music cool - in short, a brilliant spot to hang out for a spell.

The we found out we were right on time for happy hour. Suddenly we were VERY happy. We ordered two drinks and a bunch of snacks to share:

 
Lava Lamp and Paper Shredder

 slider, mahimahi fish taco, shrimp spring rolls

We lived the vibe of this place so much that even though it was now 3:30 and our room would be ready we stayed for another round of drinks and some more small plates. My Paper Shredder had so much booze in it that I neglected to take pics.

We wandered back to the hotel along 16th Street, Denver's large pedestrian only street, checking out places to go and things to do around the hotel. Our room was ready so we settled in.

Not long after I had booked the room I received an e-mail from the hotel manager asking me if I wanted to upgrade to a suite for an additional $ 25 on top of the inexpensive conference rate negotiated by Desire2Learn. I thought . . . 'what the heck?'. Well, this has been the best $ 25 I have ever spent - this is the largest hotel room I have ever seen - in fact, it is bigger than every apartment I've had over the years. One could easily live in here. Paul is very pleased. We have 2 TVs which means he can sit up in the sitting room after I crash for the night and I can be up early in the morning while he sleeps in.

The early morning travel and martini bar caught up with me so I slept for a couple of hours. Getting up JUST in time to shower and change and head out to the Jazz bar that Paul wanted to go to for dinner. Vita Restaurant is in the 'up and coming' Lower Highlands area of Denver (where there was free street parking!) and combines sophistication with a casual, inviting atmosphere. This place was clearly quite popular with the trendy 20-something crowd.

We sat inside because we wanted to listed to the live jazz trio. No doubt we were mocked by the 20-somethings for sitting inside - they were all hanging on the patios. It was so freaking funny when the skies opened up and the rain dumped down on them - poor things were drenched while we were fine sitting inside with the jazz, great food, and wonderful drinks. Ahh

I had heard much about St Germaine liqueur - a delicious blend of elderflowers - so when I spied a cocktail on the menu that had it as an ingredient I had to try it. The St. Ginger had Skyy Vodka, St. Germaine Elderflower Liqueur, muddled cilantro, Ginger Ale. YUM

 

Our server made some excellent suggestions for dinner. We shared the housemade flatbread, spinach & cracked black pepper Ricotta, garlic marinated sundried tomatoes, chili aioli as a starter. Our server's favourite item on the menu was the pork tenderloin which was a chili spiced pork tenderloin, bleu cheese & sweet corn Johnny Cakes, fennel & parsley salad, chili oil emulsion. I was happy when she asked me how I wanted my pork cooked - there is nothing worse than restaurants assuming it is 1960 and pork needs to be coked until it is a dry, tasteless lump on the plate. The chili-spice rub was amazing with just the right amount of heat.

 
 

Dessert looked interesting but we were too full and tired to indulge further.

So far our food choices for Denver have been spot on - both places were impromptu . . . both places left us wanting to go back for more.