August Visitors Part 3

Meet the "other" Emily, the third visitor of the month! We met in graduate school and as we got to know each other more and more, we realized we must have been sisters in a different life. We appreciate all things corn, we love to blog about food (stay tuned, we may start a site together), we are incredibly clumsy/awkward in social situations (seriously), we prefer to spend our money on travel, and we like colorful shoes, to name a few. She made the trip from Wisconsin to Colorado for a wedding and as my luck would have it, she was able to extend her stay for a visit to Denver! 

Our rendezvous began Sunday night. We chatted over some snacks but ended up calling it an early night since Emily had just survived a weekend full of "wedding-ing" (enough said) and Joe and I were in need of some sleep following our camping trip in Crested Butte. Come Monday morning, however, we were off to the races to experience Denver! In true Emily-and-Emily fashion, we mounted bikes and headed downtown using the Cherry Creek Trail. 

Our first stop was just west of the Platte River at the REI flagship store. It served a duel purpose since Em got to explore a bit and I got to take Joe's bike to the cycling department for some adjustments (I was borrowing his ancient road bike that day since it tends to throw fits, and Em was on mine). After gulping water and AC we turned back and parked at the top of 16th Street Mall and made our way through my personal must-sees: "Tattered Cover Book Store," "Wyncoop Brewery," and then a walk down The Mall. 

Eat. Sleep. Read.
The "Tattered Cover " provides everything you look for in a bookstore.
There are cool leather chairs, giant bookshelves heaping with colorful books,
and a screaming espresso machine for ambiance. 

Oh my! Food porn! 

The Wyncoop Brewery's bouncer.
There was absolutely no monkeying around here! (hehe)

The wild, urban buffalo could be spotted that day.
If you are patient enough, as we were, you can pet them!

Lunch time!
We were allured by "Illegal Pete's" fast service and spicy menu options.

The Chicken nachos, and a side order of Chips n' queso.

I settled for the Taco platter. It came with a side of beans and fresh cilantro! 

After refueling, we couldn't resist the Denver Pavilions, an outdoor shopping mall. 

There was an "I Love Denver" store. Yup. Loved it.

Instead of biking back home the way we came, we took Araphahoe Street north to grab some tastes at the "Great Divide Brewery." We arrived just as the happy hour pint specials started and as the last brewery tour was beginning, but instead, we wanted nothing more than to sit and do nothing more than enjoy some samplers! And maybe watch the bartenders :)

Tasting the Belgian-Style Yeti Stout, Hibernation Ale,
Oak-aged Yeti, Rumble PA, Wild Raspberry Ale, and Grand Cru Aged-Ale.

A great watering hole for sweaty, tall, tourists on bikes.

Later that evening, we grabbed our Rockies Pepsi Paks (four game tickets, four meal tickets, parking pass, and game program) and headed down to Coors Field!  The Colorado Rockies were playing the Houston Astros. We won, ha!

We gave Joe the fourth ticket to try and sell but after one failed attempt,
we decided to pocket the extra meal ticket and catch the first pitch! 

Summer with a side baseball...
What could be better than Superdogs and Dippin Dots?

Taking a "4th inning stretch" to admire the views. 

On Tuesday, we traveled to Boulder. After telling Emily about "The Flatironette" trail that Megan and I discovered the week before, we decided that would be a perfect late-morning recess before grabbing lunch and seeing Old Pearl Street. 

Bouldering at Boulder :)

Emily was a natural at hiking!

We menu shopped all the way down Old Pearl Street until we found
an artsy restaurant, called "The Kitchen." However, we settled for the
place, "Next Door." Literally!

We stuffed our faces. Also, literally.
We ordered the Spiced chickpeas and hummus platter for starters.
Then we ate beautiful sandwiches.
My Lamb sandwich with mint sauce and Roasted beets was to die for.
Em enjoyed her Pulled pork sandwich with Garlic smashers (fingerlings).
Both sandwiches were served on crispy ciabotta bread,
happily soaking up the meat filling juices.
Still dreaming about that sandwich...

Our food was washed down with apricot and IPA beers, and lastly, for
a sweet ending to a perfect meal... homemade ice cream sandwich to share.
Jealous?

After shaking off our food comas by strolling in and out of the many trendy shops on Old Pearl Street, we rushed back to Denver in order to pack up snacks and rain ponchos for our first concert at the famous Red Rocks Amphitheater in Morrison! We made a stop at Whole Foods in hopes of finding Emily's favorite snack dip (was it called, Mexi Dip?), however, no luck.  But how can you stay frustrated when you know you are going to be enveloped by the music from Death Cab and views of majestic red rocks in a few short hours? 

Red Rocks Amphitheater.
Waiting for the show to start, while enjoying the sunset.

We were able to meet up with one of Emily's college roommates too!
We all danced the night away!

On Wednesday, Em & Em took things slow. We slept in after making it home later than expected because of a horrendous traffic jam caused by the concert. But when we did rise, we took a walk through the Capital Hill neighborhood to find come coffee, followed by a walk through Cheesman Park. Emily packed her things, we loaded the car and went to Uptown to spend our last few hours together before her departure flight.  

We grabbed brunch at this curious, vegetarian restaurant serving up
meatless comfort food influenced by locally-sourced ingredients. 

Everything in this restaurant was beauitful.
The lamps had paper mache covers that resembled feathers, the walls were
painted with pastel forest scenes, and the food was presented as if it were
to be showcased on the cover of a cookbook.
This picture shows my brunch: the seasonal Market entree, made with
smoked tofu, creamed sweet potato puree, sauteed mushrooms, and arugula.

They also offered some amazing egg scrambles!!

Our last stop was to "D Bar Desserts," a cheers to our sweet time together. It is co-owned by the celebrity chef, Keegan Gerhard, who has been featured on Food Network, and pastry connoisseur, Lisa Bailey. They stress to diners that D Bar is supposed to be a "culinary sanctuary," the meeting place between people and food. Just studying their menu under the shade of their patio umbrellas was enjoyable. Everything on their menu looked scrumptious. We squabbled over what to order until the waitress sold us on their signature dessert: The cake and shake!  

The Cake and Shake: three-layered piece of cake and
your choice of vanilla or chocolate shake or malt.
Chocolate with chocolate malt for us!

The perfect combination of texture for two gals
who love dessert. Just repeat after me,
1 fork full of rich, spongey cake + 2 sips of melty malty cream
+ 3 licks of fudge frosting = love. 

It was at D Bar when we realized that almost every restaurant
in Colorado serves table water in these neat glass bottles.
I guess this is what food enthusiasts talk about over meals :)

Even with such a treat, leaving the restaurant was bitter sweet because it was time to depart ways once again. After wiping our faces clean of chocolate, we began the long drive to the Denver Airport. We hugged for a long time at the terminal.  I only let go because I know that it would take a lot more than miles to separate this friendship.