9:00 am January 14, 2015

We ended up getting into Denver, specifically Golden, around 4:30 am yesterday morning. All things considered, I think we made pretty good time. We stayed with my friend Andrew Rixon, who I went to school with at Valpo. For the first time on the trip, we broke out our air mattresses, but we were so tired that we probably could have slept on anything.

After sleeping in until 11, it was time for some breakfast. Although Andrew couldn't join us due to graduate school commitments (I definitely don't miss those!), he recommended we check out Golden Diner. It turned out to be a great little diner.  Besides the food, the most memorable part of the diner was the woman’s bathroom that was the size of a small studio apartment. On our way to the diner, we noticed that we were right next to the Coors Brewery. We did our own makeshift drive through tour around the plant before heading into downtown Denver. Highlights included stacks and stacks and stacks of kegs and taking a selfie with the Coors sign in the background.

Definitely enjoyed the town of Golden!

Kegs on kegs on kegs. 

Just some pretty scenery near the Coors factory.

Andd the selfie. If you look real close and squint, it says Coors in the background.

Andrew was busy with school, but luckily we had plans to meet up with my other friend as well, that friend being Andrew Johnson. Yeah, both of the people I know in Denver are named Andrew. It only made things a little confusing for the day. This Andrew has only been living in Denver for two weeks, but we put the pressure on by asking him to help us figure out the best places to explore in the area. The nature and science museum seemed like it would be a good place to start off our day, but it turned out the museum was closed due to a power outage. Very random, but nothing we cold do about it, so we ended up at the Counterterrorism Education Learning Lab (CELL) instead. It was unclear as to exactly what our experience at CELL would be like, but we each handed over 5 bucks and decided to check it out. We were basically led through a series of videos, poster and interactive exhibits that explained the history, definition(s), and current issues surrounding terrorism in the U.S. During the tour, Andrew proved to be very knowledgeable and provided us with extra 'fun facts' along the way. It was definitely one of the more unique experiences of our trip so far.

CELL

The only photo they wold let us take inside of CELL.

While CELL was a neat experience, we all felt like we needed to do something a little more upbeat next. The state capitol building was within walking distance, so we decided to go in wander around for a bit. It was more or less your typical capitol building, but as a structural engineer they are always fascinating. 

Colorado State Capitol Building. 

Capitol Ceiling. It looks pretty neat. 

Another random view inside of the capitol. 

After perusing the capitol, Andrew took us to a local brewery called the Great Divide. We hung out in the tap room for a bit, each order a beer, and then went on a short tour of the place.  Our tour guide was enthusiastic, short, and had definitely had a few beers that day, not including the one he brought with him on the tour. The operation there was pretty small, but on the tour our tour guide described their plans to greatly expand in the next few years. After the tour, they had flights of 3 beers available for $3. Not a bad deal at all. Especially, since the beer was excellent.  My favorite was the Claymore Scotch Ale. 

Our very short tour guide.

Rocking the safety glasses. 

Andrew posing with the $3 flight of beer.

At this point, it had been hours since we last ate and the effects of the craft beer were amplified by my empty stomach. As a group we decided to head to dinner at Phoenician Kabob, a Middle Eastern restaurant just outside of the main downtown area. It turned out to be a great choice, as the food was delicious. We had been considering ending our night with some ice skating, but by the time we finished dinner it was a little too late. And after such rich beer and food we were all a little too tired anyway, so instead we drove around and stopped by a little bar we found called the Park House, which had some live music going. Once we sat down on the couches there, it quickly hit us just how tired we still were from our travels the day before and all the activities from the day itself.  We decided to call it a night around 10pm and had Andrew drive us back to our car that we had left in a parking garage all day without knowing how much it would cost. Luckily, we got away with paying 12 dollars only.

Dan's very large, but delicious looking meal at the Phoenician. 

View of the capitol on our way home.

So we said goodbye to one Andrew after thanking him for giving us a grand tour of Denver and headed back to the other Andrew’s place for some sleep. We had some minor navigational confusion on the way back, (I personally think Siri is to blame) but eventually managed to find our way. Back in Golden, Dan crashed immediately while Kileigh and I stayed up and chatted with Andrew for a bit before hitting the hay.

Overall, our stop in Denver was full of spontaneity, hospitality, snow, and good times. (The only disappointment was not getting to climb a mountain, but Kileigh and Dan both vetoed me on that one.)  It also reaffirmed my desire to live in Colorado at some point in my life.