Raleigh Gang Visit - Aug 2013

The Gang at Linger

Several of our friends from Raleigh (John, Joanna, Phil, Joyce, Kim and Jonathan) decided to visit us in Denver for Labor Day weekend.  We had a packed weekend of activities and hosted a Suppa Club!

Phil and Joyce

We picked up everyone at the airport on Thursday night around 10pm.  John had a few companion tickets on USAir so they all flew in together.  After showing them around the house, we had a few drinks while catching up on the latest news.

Joanna, John and Keith

On Friday, John, Joanna, Jonathan, Keith and Shawna went for a walk in the park while the rest of the gang slept in and got ready for the day.  After the walk, Joanna, Kim, Jonathan, Keith and Shawna went to Coors to do the brewery tour which turned out to be pretty cool - the tour was not only interesting but also free and you get 3 tastings at the end.  We had planned to grab lunch in Golden but the tour took longer than expected so we rushed over to Mod Market by our house and quickly grabbed a healthy and yummy lunch there.  While we did the tour, Phil and Joyce went to see a friend in Evergreen and John stayed home to do some work (which was an interesting turn of events to see John work while we all went on a brewery tour).  We all met back at our house around 2pm and then caught a cab downtown for an afternoon/evening of beer.

Coors Brewery Tour

We went on a walking tour downtown of breweries, visiting Rock Bottom, Wynkoop, Falling Rock and Breckenridge Breweries.  The tour was not that informative and the tastings were not the best (the tour guide was big on stouts) but we still had a good time.  After the tour, we went to the rooftop bar at The Tavern Downtown and had a few drinks and appetizers.  We then went to dinner at Euclid Hall where Keith and Shawna split the roasted cauliflower salad and the dan dan noodles.  We also shared a few appetizers for the table.  After dinner, there was a nomination for ice cream so we cabbed it back to our neighborhood to try out Bonnie Brae Ice Cream which was quite yummy!  Keith and Shawna were quite annoyed to learn that the ice cream was this good and so close to home - they did not need this temptation!!  We walked home from there, attempting to burn some of the calories from the day!

John and Joanna on Brewery Tour

Joanna and Joyce on Brewery Tour

Cog Railway

On Saturday, we got up early, packed a lunch and drove down to Colorado Springs.  The boys were in the 4Runner while the girls went 'topless' in the Audi.  The drive down there was beautiful.  We first went on the Pikes Peak Cog Railway which takes about 3 hours round trip.  The scenery was mostly of the forest during the first part of the trip but then when we got above the tree line, you could see the surrounding mountains and lakes.  We only had about 30 minutes at the top so we quickly pulled out the picnic lunch, scarfed down our food and then ran around to take a few pictures.  A few of us napped on the ride back down since the train goes the same way.

Breathing Less Air On Top of Pikes Peak

View from Pikes Peak

We then went to the Garden of the Gods where we walked around the main hiking path and also drove over to the leaning rock to take a few pictures.  While there, we watched a few rock climbers and saw one woman fall 30 feet, banging against the rock a few times before she came to a stop.  She was conscious but certainly looked like she was in pain as she had smashed her face against the rock.  The rescue team had to climb above her and then belay down to get her on a backboard and lower her to the ground.  Seeing this certainly sealed the deal for most of us that we would never rock climb!

Garden of the Gods

The Album Cover

When we got home, we napped for a short while and then took a cab to Linger where we had a few drinks on the rooftop bar and then had dinner.  We shared several of the dishes - all were very yummy. There was another coup for ice cream so part of the group went over to Little Man Ice Cream and waited in line for about 45 minutes to get ice cream while the rest of the group stayed at Linger for another couple of drinks.  When we got the ice cream, we all enjoyed it out on the patio (Shawna especially liked the salted Oreo cookie flavor) and then took a cab back home.

Kim and Joanna at Linger

Joanna, Keith and Jonathan at Linger

On Sunday, we had planned to go to the Taste of Colorado festival and to Elitch Gardens but Shawna had found out from a few people that the Taste of Colorado was not good - they mainly served the type of food that you would find at a carnival and the only interesting thing was judging who had the best mullet.  So we changed the plans.  We walked over to Agave Taco in our neighborhood for lunch where we tried several of the tacos along with margaritas and beer.  We then returned home to watch a movie and relax.  We had planned to cook at home that evening and invited Sarah and Kristina to join us.  John also invited Craig, a friend of his, who came with his wife Jennifer.  We made beef, pork and chicken kebabs along with meatball tagine, couscous, greek salad and roasted vegetables.  After filling up on food and drinks, the girls and boys competed in tournament of ping pong, pool, darts and Pictionary - we ended up tied with the boys winning ping pong and pool and the girls winning darts and Pictionary.

John and Shawna at Linger

Phil and Joyce at Linger

We slept in on Monday and relaxed around the house before we went over to Fourteen Seventy Two restaurant on Pearl Street for lunch.  The service was very slow but the food was good - Keith and Shawna split the seafood salad and mussels.  After lunch, we dropped off the gang at the airport and then returned home to clean up.  The house felt quite empty and quiet after everyone left!

Shawna, Kim and Jonathan

It was awesome to have everyone visit and to have the opportunity to host a Suppa Club at our house.