Denver: OK, a Couple of Good Things Did Happen, Too

It would be totally unfair if The Frugal Hostess pretended that her trip to Denver was all bad.  Even though it was.  Just kidding.  Here are the great things that happened:

1.  Discovered some fantastic restaurants.  TFH's favorite was the Squeaky Bean, which, despite sounding like a coffee shop, is actually named after the sound of fresh green beans when you bite them.  The food was inventive, and the specialty cocktails took up half the menu - always a good sign.  FruHo and Hubs had great service at both the bar and a table, and they would go back every week (day?) if possible.  Some of the delicious offerings included Bob White quail wrapped in bacon; sweetbreads; and duck rilletes.  Some other great ones were Duo and Tag.  Duo is owned by an old friend and truly amazing.  There is an especially interesting wall made of old windows suspended from the ceiling, and Duo house cures some of the best olives TFH has ever tasted.  Tag a sort of Sushi + Continental place.  There is a Surf and Turf roll there which is to die for.

2.  Went thrifting.

3.  Attended the Tennyson Street Art Walk.  The Frugal Hostess has been to many an art walk, but none were ever as fun as this one.  It was huge, spanning several blocks in the Highland neighborhood north of downtown Denver.  Many of those blocks were full of shops, adding a much appreciated retail element to the evening (sorry, FruHubs).  Every place had some sort of refreshments - cookies, wine, lemonade, etc. - and there was plenty of live entertainment.  The music store even had about 15 bluegrass players parked on the lawn jamming.  There was a gang of people dressed as Big Bad Wolves roaming the sidewalks, and the weather was perfect.  TFH will admit that there wasn't a huge amount of art to see, but the whole night was just magically delicious and really fun.

4.  Miss Georgia Sugar and other friends.  It was so great to catch up with old friends and meet their new children.  In particular, Miss Georgia Sugar's daughter has grown into a delightful little fairy of a person.  

5.  There was a raccoon strolling down the sidewalk like he was just grabbing a jacket out of his car.

6.  The Frugal Hostess bought an awesome cowboy shirt at one of her long-time favorite stores, Cry Baby Ranch.

So, it wasn't all bad.  Here are some of the pictures The Frugal Hostess took.

For more about Denver, read Denver: City of Thrift and Denver: City of Sorrow.

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Denver: City of Sorrow

As she mentioned, The Frugal Hostess just spent more than a month working in Denver.  TFH lived there for five years in her 20s, so the consulting project sounded like a great way to reconnect with old friends and visit old haunts.  Sounded like. 

Here's what the weather looked like 90% of the time.  This is unusual for Denver, which typically enjoys 300+ days of sunshine every year.  Spring was always pretty with a chance of snow when FruHo lived there.  This spring was crappy with a chance of skidding off the highway instead.

Here is a list of the things that The Frugal Hostess did in Denver:

1.  Stayed in a hotel with extremely hot water.  Before you think that FruHo's problems are nice problems to have, please note that a woman was literally boiled to death in a Jacuzzi at this same hotel two years ago.  The water was so hot that her skin melted right off.  So, you know, there's hot and then there's HOT.

2.  Melted the motherboard of her laptop.  Yes, that laptop -- the only one she had, the one she used to run her business, and the one with every last thing in and/or on it.  It happened on May 6, and she still hasn't fully recovered.  She may not ever.  (TFH concedes that a melted laptop is better than a melted body).

3.  Got yelled at for doing what she was asked to do by the person who asked her to do it.  OK, that one is a first world problem.

4.  Had a bloody nose for 21 days in a row.

4.  Experienced the following three things in one day:

• Was relocated from one hotel to another, only to find that the new hotel had no room for her either.
• Came down with a terrible cold that still hasn't abated.
• Discovered that the person she was training was not only rip-roaring drunk at work but also had a bottle of Skol vodka in the desk drawer.

Ergo, Denver, you can suck it.

For more about Denver, read Denver: City of Thrift and Denver: OK, a Couple of Good Things Went Down, Too.

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