Never knowing what my days will be like, I’d waited to the last minute to contact my cousin who lives in Conifer to see if we could have a spontaneous visit. Gary & Ann invited us to their lovely tree top home so that was our next stop. My family is very small, but Gary & his sister Sue, were my only cousins I knew. We spent many Christmas’s together & their parents were an important part of my life. I try whenever I’m in Colorado to see Gary & Ann, & was super grateful they were open to last minute plans today. So happy to connect with them again, enjoying good conversation & loved hearing about Gary’s recent rafting trip to Gates of Lodore.
Then we drove into Denver & checked in to our rather crappy Radisson Hotel; I didn’t know they could be so bad. Of course, the photos on their site were nothing like the real thing, but I wasn’t motivated to change everything & start looking again. On the up side, we were meeting my friend Sherry for dinner at Hops & Pie….so great to see her! Then she took us to a cocktail lounge down the street & it was really good & a very cool atmosphere too!
The whole point of us being in Denver this weekend was for the Ed Sheeran concert that I’d bought tickets for last February. Danny & I haven’t been to a concert in years & years & there were all kinds of new things I had to know (clear bags only?).
We left our hotel bright & early (because who wants to stay long there—BOO RADISSON!) & went out to breakfast to a place I’ve wanted to go since they opened. Bacon Social serves everything bacon…nothing can be bad about that. And, with all the meds I’m currently on, I kind of need to eat with every pill…so this morning it would be lots of bacon! (Good for the stupid high salt diet I’m supposed to be on too!)
A first for me….a Bacon Flight! Yum.
We drove to REI & looked around a bit, then took a short walk on a very very crowded Confluence Park trail…way too many people for me—bikers, skaters, hover boarders, dog with 20’ leashes all over both sides of the trail, runners & us two slow walkers not enjoying single file walking. So, that was brief.
Then it was time to scope out parking. I hadn’t bought the parking pass for Empower Stadium, so we spent a couple of hours trying to figure out a plan for tonights parking. We ended up at the public parking for Meow Wolf. Sherry offered to pick us up there & take us to a couple owned brewery not far away. It was great to share a beer & more conversation with her. Then she dropped us off at another brewery near both the parking lot & the stadium to kill time until the gates opened. I really liked a tiny glass of their Chile beer, but wasn’t feeling too great, so that was it for me. Danny enjoyed some of their beer & we both liked dinner from the nearby food truck. It was a chill place to spend a couple of hours before the mayhem of the concert.
And then the not-so-fun part of the night began. We walked back to the car to get our clear bag, phone chargers, etc & decided to leave our rain coats in the car since rain was not in the forecast. But I should have remembered that even though we were in the front range, it still mountain weather. The gates opened at 4:30 & we got there about 5:30. The gate attendant couldn’t get my tickets to scan, so he just waved us through. No checking of bags…clear or otherwise. We were being so good about following all the rules, but I guess we didn’t need to be. But we were in! I’d gotten tickets in General Admission on the floor because it had been my plan, in February, to dance the night away! By 6 when the first opening act was to start, the rains came. So, we, along with most everyone else, we headed up the stairs & inside. I found us some bar stools to sit on & was grateful for that. My body wasn’t behaving so far.
Then the rain stopped & we walked back down the stairs to hear the 2nd opening act…which last all of two songs before he was run off stage & we were warned to leave the floor….lightening was coming! So, back up the stairs we went. (photo below is not mine)
This time I found a wall with a spot on the floor & was grateful for that. This delay lasted for about 2 hours. But, then we got the all clear & I was feeling better…YAY!. Making our way back down to the floor, & ready to finally see “my guy Ed” as I’ve referred to him for the past three years when I came to the Sheeran Fan party late in life, we got in our spot ready & waiting. And the rains came back. But this time not for long….just long enough to get us wet (sad face).
A little before 10pm, he ran out on the stage & it was wonderful!!!! I can’t tell you how happy I was! The show was more than fantastic, so worth the wait, & for the first time in 4 months, I didn’t feel like a sick old lady.
I couldn’t dance like I’d planned, but I was loving every moment of his show!
This is a stadium tour, so near the end of each show, he changes into that city’s team jersey.
He broke a new attendance record at Empower Stadium…85,000+ fans…it was super fantastic! (not my photo)
Wow…I’m so glad I got to see him live! After the show, we had the chaos of walking back to the car & finding our way out of the mayhem & back to the hotel. It was about 1am by the time we got to bed. I would do this again in a heartbeat for his show, I just can’t figure out why people want to go through this for a football game??? (not a football fan)
We packed up & checked out of our crappy hotel the next morning & headed to the Rhino District. Today was Danny’s day. This is really his vacation week, but I know he’s spent part of it worried, hoping I wouldn’t stroke out on a mountain, spending hours listening & visiting with all my female friends, wondering what each day would bring—Is Vicki feeling good? ok? horrible? Did he really enjoy a long rain delay & several trips up & down stadium stairs? Getting wet in the rain amongst thousands of Sheeran fans? But he smiled all the way through everything & I do know he enjoys spending time with all my friends. But, today, we were going brew touring in the colorful Rhino District of Denver. We had 6 or 7 breweries picked out. We parked in the middle of them all & started tasting what Colorado had to offer!
My favorite for atmosphere was Bierdstadt brewing…I didn’t want any of their German style beer or cider offerings, but they also have a wine bar (something for everyone), a giant corn hole game where you throw an actual bean bag chair through the hole, & lots of twinkly lights & a couple of tables with swings instead of chairs. I had the port….which was yummy.
Here’s some pics of the other places we went:
The next to the last brewery—but ended up really being the last—was River North (I missed taking a photo of him here). We sort of have a connection to this brewery from a long time ago, but hadn’t been to this taproom before. We knew they make big awesome beers. I had the biggest ABV beer there I’ve ever had coming in at 22% & Danny had a 23.2% beer. The beer I had was perfect! I love big boozy stouts with nothing else added & this beer was awesome. They didn’t have any bottles for sale, which probably saved us a ton of money, because this one was fantastic. Then the conversation that happened with the bartender, another customer & us was just wonderful. Reminiscent of all my trips when I meet strangers, a wonderful conversation happens & usually good beer is involved. I miss those times so much, but today, it happened here & I was grateful & very happy.
We decided we’d had enough tasting for today, so we walked a few blocks for a burger & rings. Then back to the car, a quick annual stop at Argonauts to score some Russian River beer to take home, then we were headed east. We left Denver about 8:30pm headed from nights in Crested Butte where it had been 40 degrees & we were wearing our fleece pants & puffy, back to Kansas where there was forecasted to have six days of 100+ heat. Why oh why oh why are we going back? (Danny’s job, 2 kitties that miss us, more tests & doctors appointments) I’d so rather stay out here…like forever.
10 days is one of the shortest trips to Colorado I’ve taken in years, but I feel very grateful to have come at all this year.