Packing and Cleaning Day

 Denver, CO

Someone did a custom job on this old Plumbing and Heating van in our neighborhood.

Packing Day Discovery

Today is packing day.  We have one more day in Denver and we will hit up a museum but we chose Sunday to stay in, pack up, and do a bit of cleaning.  We got to Denver just about a month ago and have done so much and time has just flown by.  While doing a bit of cleaning we found 2 month old baked potatoes that we had cooked but then forgot about.  It reminded me of this Mitch Hedberg Potato Joke.

Baked, rested, and aged potatoes

We spent the day with Create TV's This Old House marathon running. They are reshowing This Old House Create Showcase: New Orleans Rebuilds.  We will be in New Orleans for a month in December and early January so whenever they mentioned a neighborhood we had researched it got our attention.  While This Old House was on in the background we re-found our 9 travel bins and our Igloo cooler and hunted through cabinets for our items being careful to leave the items that were already here.  It doesn't take a whole day but it is nice to take breaks and spread it out between dog walks and grocery shopping.  

We are almost all packed.  There are just a few things that we need to use on the last day that aren't packed.  On Tuesday we get up early, pack all of our stuff in the van, and head out.  Our plan takes us down I-25 and out the bottom of Colorado then over to Clayton Lake State Park for a night of camping.  The next day we head into and out of Oklahoma to touch that state for the first time and then into Texas and on to Amarillo for a night.  It will be our first time being in Texas together too, not counting our short stop over at Dallas Fort Worth Airport in April on the way back from Costa Rica.

It's hard to believe that our first two stays are pretty much over.  Trip has been really fun and we are heading into areas we have not explored yet so that is exciting. 

Oh and last night The Colorado Avalanche won the Stanley Cup in Tampa Bay.  We were watching TV and paused our show to listen to our neighborhood and the whole city celebrate the victory.  It's always special being in a city when a championship is won.  We had the same experience when we were living in San Francisco and The Giants won the World Series.  

If you didn't see yesterday's post, we went to the oldest bar in Denver for lunch.  Check it out here.

The Oldest Bar in Denver, For Lunch

 Denver, CO

The Platte River Convergence where Cherry Creek and The Platte River meet downtown

Reddit Learnings

Today we went to lunch at My Brother's Bar.  It is the oldest Bar in Denver and it has served food and libations since 1873.  Before I travel to a place I research it.  I use Google, Yelp, Trip Adviser, and other sites to try to understand what should be put on a list of things to do while we are there.  I have my normal checklist of things I want to do which includes; Museums, State Parks, Pinball, Tiki Bars, Capitol Buildings, Breweries, Birding Locations, and many other things, but doing research helps me find some of the hidden gems.  My Brothers Bar isn't a hidden Gem but it is a place that I wouldn't have known about if it wasn't for Reddit.  One other thing I do before going to a place is to join the subreddit, in this case it is r/Denver for the area and watch the chatter and discussions that happen in the months leading up to my trip. They talk about politics, crimes, festivals, sports, traffic, and all of the things that make a city a city.  One topic I happened to catch was "Dive bar with good food?"  I do love a good dive bar and I like food so I took notes and ended up with a list of about 8 places I wanted to go. My Brother's Bar was on that list.  

We met Brandon, Matt, and Gene there at Noon and it was everything I expected from the oldest bar in Denver.  The wood floors were worn into a cool pattern from people walking in tight paths around the tables, the bar was nicely stocked, there were patrons sitting at the bar drinking, and there was an old menu sign that had been updated over the years.  They are known for their Jalapeno Cream Cheese Burger but after my jalapeno induced heartburn last month I went with a normal burger and Mini Corn Dogs. The food was really great bar food.  The burgers came wrapped in paper on top of a plastic condiment carrier which had sliced onions, relish, ketchup, mustard, sliced pickles. and pepperoncini.  Brandon, Matt, and Gene also got onion rings and fries so I got to try them and they were really good too.  It was a great place and a unique experience and I owe it in part to people just talking on Reddit.

The Platte

The Platte Whitewater Park for tubing and kayaking

They were running this heritage trolley for $7 a trip.

The old Denver Tramway Power Company Building now occupied by REI and Starbucks

Some cool art to go with the seating areas and no this wasn't Anti-homeless Design, there were plenty of sections that didn't have these.

The entrance and Logo for My Brother's Bar

You have to sell shirts when you are the oldest bar in Denver

The promised Paper Burger Presentation.  This was my 2nd paper wrapped burger in Denver.

The condiments were nestled all snug in their Lucite Container

Here's the menu, what would you have ordered?

Here is a zoomed in version so you can see all of the history

If you want an easy way to catch up on our adventures check out yesterday's post here.

Old Town Arvada

 Arvada, CO

You can see this sign from the train as you enter Arvada

The G Line to Arvada

This morning we got up and made sure we were at Union Station in time to catch our 11am train to Arvada.  Gene and Brandon are picking us up at the Arvada Gold Strike Station and we were heading to brunch and then a day in Old Town Arvada.  

Union Station

Our train arrived about 10 minutes before it was scheduled to leave

We were allowed to get on and explore a bit before we left the station

The seats were comfy

Transit selfie!

The thee wide bench seating was a little odd to us.

The map is clear and gives you all of the info you need.  We are on the Gold Line

The stations are above ground and they kept it simple.

There was a cool 3D mural on the back wall that I tried to get a photo of.

We arrived at our station right on time

I guess some of the trains don't stop at this station some of the time?

There was plenty of shade where it was needed which was nice

All of the lines are overhead electric

This is the track crossing to allow riders to access both platforms.

This station had art all along it called "Gold Pour"

Welcome Aboard RTD (Regional Transportation District)

Brunch!

Brandon and Gene took us to their favorite brunch place, Rupert's at the Edge. Their menu has great brunch items and they are packed on the weekends so Brandon and Gene wanted to go on a Friday. 

We got a seat right away

Brunch was great.  Donna and I ordered different things and then shared so we got to try 2 plates. After brunch we went to SomePlace Else Brewery. They had a few pinball machines I had never played and their theme is SciFi so Brandon and Gene were excited to show it to us.  It was a great space and the pinball machines were in good condition.

We stayed off the grain

Chewy was looking down at us

They had Black Night, Black Night 2000, and Black Night Swords of Rage all together

I have never seen this machine.  It was fun

They sold SciFi inspired art

I boldly went

Old Town Arvada was really cool too.  There were a lot of food places and shops and the train station we used to return home was right in the center.  We spent the rest of the day trying appetizers from different places and we went to a speakeasy called The Stockroom in the back of a liquor store. 

School House was a converted school and they had great poutine

There were things leftover from the buildings school house days decorating the bar and restaurant 

They have an extensive whiskey collection

Old Rulers lining the window sills

The door to the speakeasy in back of the liquor store

The speakeasy was really cool

The bartender went over the menu with us

Their logo on the menu

The Avalanche were playing for the Stanley Cup and there were no TVs so the place was pretty empty

We went to Rad-ish for vegan appetizers 

It was a colorful place with an 80s vibe

There was a cool lighting effect in the hall to the bathrooms

And the bathrooms were all mirrored

80s

On the way back to the train I took photos of Old Town at night

We had a few minutes to kill in the candy store

They had candy bars I hadn't seen in years

I didn't take any photos on the train home because it was really dark.  The regional transit was great and I recommend checking it out when you are in Denver.

You can find yesterday's adventure here.