Our Trip to Denver: Part I

Now that we are entering into October, a fact that I cannot yet comprehend because the past couple months have been an absolute blur, I thought it was high time to share some pictures from our little trip to Denver. The trip was significant for a couple of reasons. First, we planned the trip in honor of our seven year wedding anniversary. Second, Paul wanted to take me to Colorado to scope it out as a potential place for us to live in the future. After the trip was over, we gleaned three major observations from our time in the Denver area. Denver is crowded, crowded, crowded. Not only that, I don't think we drove more than a couple of minutes without running into a major mall. Going hiking was not as accessible as we thought it would be because it took a couple of hours to drive up into the mountains and, once we got there, certain trails were packed with people. From these observations, combined with the ridiculous cost of living, we determined that Denver might not be such a great place to live.

But to visit! Denver is a great place to visit for there are so many things to do - both outdoor and indoor focused. We enjoyed exploring all the different areas of Denver and found that each borough had its own vibe. The scenery was gorgeous, of course, and we enjoyed the little break from the humidity of the Midwest. However, the sun was a little intense at times due to the higher elevation and by mid-afternoon, I usually had a pretty severe headache.

Our other major disappointment with Denver besides the crowds and the traffic was the restaurants. We researched the heck out of our dining options and expected to have some decent meals while in an area that actually has a lot of restaurant options (something we're really not used to here). We dined at the most highly rated sushi restaurant, the famed Denver institution Elway's, and tried dinner at the On the Border Mexican restaurant chain that we had heard so much about. Surprisingly, our favorite meal was at Bonefish Grill and On the Border - and I'm pretty sure we can find a few of those in Ohio. Our main complaint was the proteins. It just seems that Denver does not have the best quality beef and seafood. I know it's landlocked, so the seafood quality was passable, but the beef? I saw cows everywhere! Our main reason for visiting was not the food, but it was disappointing just the same.

So, let's backtrack a bit.

Before we flew to Denver, we dropped the other two kids at my parent's house and then flew out of a nearby airport. Lucky for us, we had a direct flight. Unfortunately, it was in the evening and we knew Lucy would be fussing most of the time. Thankfully, we had taken baby Matthew on quite a few flights and are now pros at handling a crying baby on an airplane. Lucy fussing did not phase us. Since we just had her with us, many strangers came up to us offering words of encouragement as we set out on this "new" journey of parenthood. We declined to inform them that we had two other kids, and just listened and nodded as several people offered us the age-old adages "they grow up so fast", "she's crying so she's probably hungry", "keep her toes covered because it's good for her digestion", and, my personal favorite, "you should try for a boy next time so you can be done." As usual, we got looks of terror as we walked onto the plane carrying an infant, as every passenger prayed that our seats not be next to theirs. However, upon disembarking, we suddenly were the recipients of many a smile and comments about what a good baby Lucy was. Funny how that works.

At baggage claim in Denver. Where is my car seat?!

Anyway, we got to Denver, got in the car, and drove 30 minutes to the area of our hotel. We saw a Bonefish Grill next to our hotel and chose to eat there since we had gone on a couple dates there when we were boyfriend/girlfriend and always enjoyed our meals. Thankfully, Lucy slept happily in her car seat and we enjoyed a nice, quiet dinner at 10:00 pm - complete with drinks and lots of bread. We were famished and probably spooked our waiter by how quickly we scarfed everything down. Then, it was back to the hotel to rest up for our first full day in Denver.

Nobody slept as well in the hotel as Lucy.

Stay tuned for Part II...

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