Long Weekend...

And no complaint there! Our first weekend in Denver included an extra day, which was a nice treat! Saturday we ventured to downtown. It was a perfect day for being outside, temperature in the high 50's and sunny. We decided to try out the light rail, which runs from the outer areas into downtown. There are two stops that are close to us. One offers a nice walk through streets lined with cute houses and a look into Washington Park (we learned the locals call it and the area around it "Wash Park"), a huge and busy park near our house. The other is a bit shorter and offers free parking, but the walk is down a busy street. We took the scenic walk on the way there and the quicker walk on the way back. Not sure if there is one that is better, but maybe we will change our minds as our time here continues. While downtown, we went to the REI. We had heard it was one of the flagship stores and offered rentals, so we had to check it out. It was huge! And while it does offer rentals, they are just for cross-country skiing and snowshoeing. We agreed we want to try snowshoeing, but for skiing, we think we would prefer alpine. There was several nice associates we talked with who gave us information on some inexpensive rental companies and "local" ski spots. Zack really wanted to try to go skiing Sunday, but unfortunately there had not been as much snow as there typically is this time of year. Go figure. Our next stop was Lower Downtown aka LoDo. This is where the 16th Street Mall that houses lots of restaurants and bars, and also Wynkoop Brewery, a local brewing company started by the current governor, but before he was governor. We decided to take their tour, but before we did we tried a few of their beers and nachos. They are not your typical nachos, but were still really good!

To continue the Mexican theme from earlier, I made tacos for dinner Saturday night. We love Mexican food, and probably make it more than I want admit. I was feeling a little homesick so making what I consider comfort food helped cheer me up a bit. By Sunday, I needed some time to relax and was still feeling a bit homesick. We had been going non-stop since we left North Carolina, and I needed some R&R. Zack, not being able to sit idle long, convinced me to go run some errands with him. It helped take my mind off home a little bit. When we got back, I put together some chili on the stove, and we vegged out in front of the TV for the rest of the evening. I am glad we did, because, even though he might not admit it, we both needed it! Feeling re-energized today, we headed to Golden to where Zack's job will be. For those not completely in the know about his job, here is an explanation, as I understand it in simple terms. He will be working with some of the smartest engineers at a place called the Risk Management Center. Here he will learn more about the structural aspects of dams and levies. The Wilmington District works more with the maintenance of these structures, and to better understand them, Zack wanted to learn about their functionality. He is really excited, and I am so proud of him for wanting to take on this opportunity. We easily found his building, and while it took longer to get there than we originally thought, he will luckily be going against traffic that is heading into Denver. After seeing his building, we decided to go into the town of Golden.

Some of the buildings in their quaint downtown have been around since the 1880's when Golden was the state capital. There is a creek that runs through the town (as we learned from the Coors tour, more about that in a minute, water is very important to beer and the reason Coors was started in Golden) and where I saw this interesting sign...

Cattle, Hogs, and Sheep...Oh my!

Golden is where Adolf Coors (actually Kors on his birth certificate; wonder if he is related to Michael Kors?!) started Coors Bottling Company. Now Miller Coors, the company is one of the largest beer makers. The tour is now self-guided using hand-held audio guides, so if you ever go, heads up and bring a pair of headsets or earbuds (you can listen to the tour without them, but you have to hold the device up to your ear the whole time...slightly annoying). At the end of the tour, you are rewarded with three generous size samples of their current brews. We tried Blue Moon Winter Ale, Batch 19 (pre-prohibition style beer), Winterfest and Colorado Native. All were surprisingly tasty considering the main beer that the company is known for...And we are definitely not complaining, since the tour and samples were free!

After tour it was about lunch time. Yes, there will be another food mentioning...I've decided I will not apologize for them anymore! And many of you have said you like hearing about the food, so thanks and you're welcome! Our phones have come quite in handy for directions and must-try restaurants, among many other things. We have had many tasty meals thanks to Urbanspoon and Tripadvisor. We decided to try out Woody's Wood Fired Pizza, and we are so glad we did. We went for the buffett, which I am typically not a fan of, but it was the way to go here. They had tons of salad toppings, several different lettuces and many dressings to choose from. And the pizza...too many delicious creations to just settle on one. We are not even sure of the names of the ones we tried, or if they even had names, but we didn't have a single bad slice. The crust was indescribably good. The best explanation we can come up with is that it tasted a lot like a fresh doughy pretzel. Even better than Mellow Mushroom's crust (blasphemy, I know!). You could taste it with every bite. We even noticed a few people putting honey on the crust. Seriously! Oh, and I must not leave out the bloody mary I got! It was hands-down one of the best I have ever had (other than Ashley Stanley's or Village Draft House--yes, they are so good there). We will be going there again!

Zack starts work tomorrow, and for me, it comes with mixed emotions. We have been together 24/7, for the most part, for the past 11 days. We have enjoyed our time together and adventure to Denver...oh who I am kidding, we both need some individual time! Haha! I am not quite sure what I will do tomorrow, but I can promise you I will enjoy my ME time!