Denver

 I woke up in luxury. A bed that wasn’t moving. It has been days since I’ve experienced that and it makes me appreciate the little things. The lady of the house (Ricky’s cat) decided I needed to be up at 7 am to feed her. It is still the most restful I’ve felt in days.

After placating the ferocious feline, I went off in search of breakfast. A walk to the other side of the tracks had the answer. Ricky’s neighborhood was at one point the industrial heart of Denver. Since we don’t make things in Denver anymore and people cannot bear to build housing where housing already is, the whole area has been rebuilt full of luxury apartments and loft conversions. Jenna has lived here for considerably longer and has watched the neighborhood change. “I knew it was turning when Patagonia opened a store here.”

Ricky’s apartment abuts a railyard and I cross it to get to breakfast at The Butcher Block. I sit down at the counter and order a breakfast burrito. It arrived covered in gravy and hatch chilis. Unexpected but very welcome, these are the small things that change when you travel in the US. My burrito and tea come out to all of ten dollars (another unexpected and welcome change) and I go out on my next quest. 

Shroom House

My beard has been getting a little long and I am starting to look like someone who sleeps on a train, just in boxcars. I take the bus downtown and go out in search of a shave. Every place I find is booked up for the day. Absurd. I walk 16th street and finally find a place. The barber proceeded to give me the longest shave of my life. That’s a good thing. For those who have never experienced it, a hot towel shave is just about the only ‘spa day’ activity men can obtain just about anywhere. A quick shave can take as little as 30 minutes. I awoke in the chair over an hour later looking like a new man.

New face new me

I spent the rest of the afternoon walking Laramie from Cherry Creek back to the food hall in The Rhino (Ricky’s neighborhood). Snagged a slice of pizza and made my way back to his apartment. He was wrapping up work soon and due to meet me there shortly. To put a bow on our afternoon he took me for a bike ride. We decide I should be on his fixie because why not. This was a new experience for me. For those of you who aren’t bike nerds, most ‘fixie’ bikes are actually single speed bikes. The difference is small but dramatic. On a true fixie, the rear cog is fixed to the rear wheel. This means that if the wheels are moving, so are your feet. Riding a bike like this is an exercise in managing momentum not unlike hustling a slow car through the mountains or carving up corners on an underpowered motorcycle. Lots of fun. Ricky took me on his commute. It’s a straight shot downtown and a lovey ride by the creek. Pass Meow Wolf and you’re just about there. Can’t ask for much better than that. We make our way back and stop for a beer on the way.

Don’t do it, you have so much to live for

Jenna is wrapping up work soon and Felicity (who I’ve managed to stay in touch with) has caught up on sleep and finished her trip planning. Jenna, Ricky, and I make our way to a brewery and start playing a very intricate board game that can best be described as Settlers of Catan but for mushroom propagation. Super fun. Felicity arrives, the game finishes, and we move outside to chat and finish our drinks. Ricky whips out a bag of googly eyes and we start to drunkenly stick them on whatever we can find.

Honestly not sure what is happening here

After we finished that round we make our way to a cocktail bar. This bar is owned by a friend of the owner of our old local back in Long Beach (shout out to Baby Gee). We get to Yacht Club and the vibe feels very familiar in a good way. We order a round and begin to discuss the most outrageous item on the menu, a $140 hot dog. This bar has an extensive hot dog menu and for that sum they will sell you two of their caviar dogs and a bottle of bubbly. Ricky is curious to know if the dog is made of caviar or simply has caviar on it. Curiosity separates him from twenty-five of his favorite dollars and we have our answer. A traditional hot dog sausage, crème fraiche, pickled shallots, crushed potato chips, and a generous helping of caviar. 

This is what a $25 hot dog looks like

Ricky and Jenna go back to her house. Felicity and I make our way downtown. Along the way we’re stopped by a group hanging out in front of their apartment building. They ask us if we would like to blow bubbles and I accept. We stay and chat for a while about life and traveling. They are oddly fascinated with our names which makes sense, I cannot remember the last time I saw another Felicity and Marcels are similarly rare. We walk through a party where everyone is dressed for haloween and she calls a ride home from Ricky’s building. I feed the lady of the house and fall asleep.

Gang is all here