Round The World and other travels
A frequent flyer's collection of trip diaries
This is: Amtrak Adventure 2019
Mile-high cocktails
We had a late-ish breakfast/brunch at a popular place called Syrup, just a ten-minute walk from the hotel. I had Maryland-style Eggs Benedict, where the traditional English muffin base was replaced with crab cakes. The dish also included a generous portion of blue cheese and apple salad, making for a substantial start to the day. This was entirely by design: we had a 'first' booked for 4:15pm this afternoon - a cocktails walking tour - and figured that combining breakfast and lunch would be a good preparatory move.
Thoroughly satisfied with this excellent start to the day, we walked
in very chilly conditions to the Colorado State Capitol area, which
included the Civic Center Cultural Complex. Focusing on the latter,
we made a most enjoyable visit to the hugely impressive Denver
Art Museum. The main building contained some stunning internal
spaces, and the exhibits were beautifully displayed within these. I
just can't overstate how well done this was!
We had a bit of chill-time back at the hotel at this point, to make sure that we felt fresh enough for the next part of the day's activities. Setting out again around mid-afternoon, we enjoyed a walk through LoDo (Lower Downtown) and Confluence Park (where Cherry Creek meets the South Platte River). Twenty years go, we wouldn't have been walking around in this neighbourhood, but as so often happens, the area has since been regenerated.
We met our tour guide Chris at Union Station, and it turned out that Bruce and I were the only participants. We had been on many a walking food tour in the past, but never a walking cocktails tour. Chris explained that they had taken the concept of a food tour with drinks pairings, and flipped it over. Our friendly host appeared to be multi-talented: as well as the tour work, he was a stand-up comedian and had his own web design business. A total of four venues were visited, as follows:
| Tavernetta | Aperol Spritz paired with breaded pasta bites |
||
| Urban Farmer
at the Oxford Hotel |
Old Fashioned paired with mushroom flatbread |
||
| Vesta | Gin & Blood Orange,
with Thyme paired with Char Siu pork |
||
| Poka Lola | Elderflower
G&T + Gimlet |
When all this was over, we headed back to the hotel for (in my case)
some serious catching up with trip notes. I seemed to manage this
fairly effortlessly, despite having just consumed five cocktails!
