We decided to spend the summer in CO - catching up with local friends, hiking and inviting friends to stay with us. We kicked off this trip by staying three weeks in Denver.
Accommodation
AirBnB - We rented this two bedroom basement level AirBnB just one block away from the park. The place was comfortable and spacious (although low ceilings) and in a great location. We were able to host several dinners there - using the patio for drinks when the weather cooperated and then dining inside. The only downside is that we could no control the air temperature ourselves but thankfully they kept it cool. And while other people rented the unit above, we only heard foot steps on during the day.
Activities
Meet up with friends:
While here, we mainly spent our time catching up with friends:
Elizabeth / Joe - We hosted them for dinner - making bruschetta, beef ragu pasta and lemon almond cake. We started out with a gin cocktail and they brought a really nice bottle of wine. Shawna also met up with them for a walk in the park on another day.
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| Hosted dinner for Elizabeth and Joe |
Kristina - We went to her house for dinner - she made a southwestern salad and we had berries with yogurt for dessert. She also did a color matching for us - Shawna was cool/winter and Keith was warm/spring.
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| Dinner at Kristina's |
Scott - Keith met Scott (a former Aimco colleague) for breakfast at Keke's Breakfast Cafe.
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| Breakfast with Scott at Keke's |
Ali / Jodi - We met up with Ali for lunch at Flower Child and then met with Ali and Jodi for a walk around Wash Park. Flower Child is one of our favorite lunch spots - yummy healthy food. Jodi had Nell (her dog) with her so both Nell and Pip (Ali's dog) joined us for the walk.
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| Jodi, Nell, Ali and Pip |
Deborah - We met up with the minister who married us who we had not seen since our wedding. We met her for lunch at 300 Suns Brewery in Longmont where we each had a salad. It was so great to see her after all these years.
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| Lunch with Deborah at 300 Suns Brewery |
Chris / Athena - We hosted them for dinner - we started with cheese and crackers and a delicious cocktail that they brought. We then served grilled flank steak, potato tort and roasted carrots and chickpeas with yogurt which we enjoyed with a bottle of wine that they brought. We also made a semolina cake for dessert.
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| Hosted Athena and Chris for dinner |
Keith - Keith met with his former boss, Keith, from Aimco for breakfast at the Pancake House.
Greg - Keith met Greg (former Aimco colleague) for lunch at Bacon Social House.
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| Breakfast with Greg at Bacon Social House |
Steve / Jen - Keith worked with Steve at Aimco. We met them for dinner at Annette, a James Beard Award Winning restaurant. The restaurant is very cute and the food was delicious. We shared several dishes for the table - a couple of salads, roasted carrots, pork medallions and steak.
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| Dinner with Steve and Jen at Annette |
Matt - Keith met Matt (former Aimco colleague) for lunch at Wild Taco.
Cara / Chad - We hosted them for dinner. We started with cheese/crackers and gin drinks and then had lamb vindaloo with rice and chickpeas with spinach. For dessert, we had sorbet with berries.
Martin / Michelle - We hosted them for dinner. We first went for a walk around the park and then when we returned, we had hummus with pita and veggies and gin drinks while sitting on the patio. For dinner, we served chicken kababs, couscous with veggies and a tomato/cucumber salad. For dessert, Keith made cheesecake with we served with berries and lemon curd.
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| Hosted Martin and Michelle for dinner |
Craig / Rita - We hosted them for dinner. We first started with bruschetta and gin drinks. Then for dinner, we had pasta with bolognese and arugula salad along with the cheesecake that Keith had made.
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| Hosted Craig and Rita for dinner |
Jaqui - We met Jaqui (former Aimco colleague) at Pizza Republica for lunch. We shared a yummy salad and pizza.
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| Lunch with Jaqui at Pizza Republica |
Jeff / Christina - We hosted them (former Livcor colleague) for dinner. We started with cheese/crackers and gin drinks and then had arugula salad and bolognese pasta with semolina cake for dessert.
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| Dinner with Jeff and Christina |
Ali - Shawna met up with Ali and Pip for a walk in the park. Later that day, we both went with her to Sweathouz for a sauna/cold plunge experience. We enjoyed it so much that we booked another session with her a week later.
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| Sweathouz with Ali |
Kelly - We met up with Kelly (former Aimco colleague) for dinner at The Plimoth near City Park. Unfortunately, her husband was away on business so we did not get to see him. The restaurant is very cute and the food was delicious. We shared a bunch of dishes among the three of us.
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| Dinner at The Plimoth with Kelly |
Julie - Shawna met up with Julie (former Cigna colleague) for breakfast at Sassafras, our usual spot. I got the fried green tomato eggs Benedict.
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| Breakfast with Julie at Sassafras |
Sarah / Jonathan - We hosted them for dinner. We started with hummus, pita and veggies with gin drinks and then served chicken kabobs, couscous with veggies and tomato/cucumber salad. We had semolina cake for dessert.
Jenn / Nate - We met up with them (Jen is a former Aimco colleague) for dinner at Mister Oso. We had tacos and rice and beans. Food was very good.
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| Dinner with Jen and Nate at Mister Oso |
Side trip to San Diego:
We flew to San Diego for a night to spend time with Patrick, Lauren and the kids. We arrived on Saturday mid-day and took the uber to their house. We then went for a hike with Patrick up Cowles Mountain, ending with a smoothie from Pure Press. Back at the house, we hung out with Lauren and the kids before heading downtown to have dinner at LoLa55 where we had a few taco and rice and beans - the tacos were very tasty. We wrapped up the evening with drinks at The Church by the Lost Abbey. We were joined by two of their friends.
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| Night out with Patrick and Lauren and friends |
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| Goofing off with the kids |
The next day, we went to Del Mar to hang out on the beach and then had lunch at Pacifica where we sat outside and had a yummy salmon dish with a salad and Brussel sprouts. For dessert, we overdosed on sugar with pastries from a bakery in the same plaza and ice cream from An's Hatmaker. Patrick then dropped us off at the airport to fly back to Denver.
Restaurants/Bars (not mentioned above)
Linger - We stopped her for a drink before dinner - went to the rooftop and both had the New Saigon drink.
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| Drinks at Linger |
Wolf's Taylor - We celebrated Shawna's birthday by having dinner at this Michelin One Star restaurant. Since it was Shawna's birthday, they 'upgraded' us to our own tent which was outdoors. It was nicely decorated with our own fan and speaker with music. The food was fantastic. It was an eight course tasting menu and we also go the wine pairing. We especially liked the tomato dish!
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| Dinner at Wolf's Taylor |
Casa Bonita - We celebrated Keith's birthday by having dinner here. It has been our list for quite some time so was finally able to get an early reservation. It's everything we imagined but better. The place is quite huge with lots of nooks and they have cliff divers, face painters, puppet show, a museum and much more. We first were seated to eat - the price includes your meal but drinks are extra. The food was surprisingly good. We then walked around - seeing two cliff divers, the puppet show and the museum.
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| Dinner at Casa Bonita |
The Pasty Republic - We were recommended to go here by Kelly (friend of Rak's) since she knew we liked pasties so we stopped here for a quick lunch on our last day before we drove out to Avon. Shawna got the Mexican chicken and Keith got the meatball - both very good.
