Denver

As many of you know, S and I took a long weekend and visited Denver to help aid me in making my MSW decision. My preconceived notions about Denver -- mountain town, ski town, athletic town -- were all proved quite wrong.

1) Mountain Town: False. Aside from the fact that 'town' is an obvious misnomer, seeing as it's a city, this concept was proved false because Denver squats on the very last vestiges of the plains that stretch through Nebraska and Kansas. Denver is flat. Denver has gorgeous mountains off in the background. That's about it. Denver also has the flavor of a central/midwest state in that it has more strip malls and housing developments than I thought could possibly be packed into one city. There were at least four Walmart complexes in ONE city, not to mention the Target complexes, the J.C. Penny complexes, the outlet malls, and fast food after fast food after fast food chain. (If I had spotted one Dunkin' Donuts, maybe I would have forgiven Denver. But I didn't. It seems they couldn't spare the extra McDonalds and definitely needed two Long John Silvers.) San Francisco in all its high-and-mightiness tends to eschew major chain stores within city limits: we have our Walgreens and our McDonalds but they are far, far outnumbered by privately owned pharmacies and food places, not to mention all the independent clothing and furniture and art and knick knack shops. Denver was perhaps the complete antithesis, almost as though Denver eschews indepedence. It made me want to start a website listing independent stores in Denver so that if one wants to find them, one can. (Maybe I will!)

To help you understand just how much of Denver is made of "new homes" -- town houses, condos, and McMansions, all painted dull colors to blend in and avoid being even more of an eye sore, I have created this handy jpeg showing just exactly where there are "normal" brick and wood houses in the Denver area:

Seriously, that's it. Not kidding. In the South East corner on the road back up towards Parker there are a bunch of horse ranches. And in Boulder there are some more houses. Otherwise, that tiny little circle in the middle and the one in Englewood is about all we spotted. Fortunately, Englewood is where University of Denver is located, so we might actually get to live in a real house.

2) Ski Town: Inconclusive. I had half expected a Jackson Hole, Wyoming type place, but as reported above, Denver is a plains city. I'm sure the occupants love to ski. There is a train that takes you directly from Denver to the ski resorts. There is lots of skiing to be had within mere hours. But it's not a ski-town per se. It is, after all, a city, and can't cultivate that much cute and yuppie with so many other things to do. Also, I don't ski, so one might question why I care. It's not so much the skiing as it is that ski environments are often rustic and full of great food and cozy scenes, all of which I like. And I do cross country ski -- perhaps I can take that up as a hobby again.

3) Athletic Town: Inconclusive. I am used to California where the equation is something like: (warm + sunny) / most of the time = less clothing + higher levels of vanity = fitter bodies. Denver suffers no such mathematics. But it was March and still somewhat cold so perhaps the athletes were hidden under layers of wool or in the gyms getting ready for hiking season.

This post undoubtedly comes across as negative, as it is conveying my disappointment in Denver, which I foolishly thought I could compare to San Francisco. (I certainly have a whole new appreciation for San Francisco now!) There is one caveat to my experience there, and many things that I like:

Caveat: I caught a head cold the day before I left and was sick the whole time. It wasn't a full body cold, at least, but I did have to spend much of my time in Denver "toughing it out," and so I associate the city with a mild sense of post-nasal nausea.

Things I liked: The zoo. Always love a good zoo. You may recall that on my road trip out to San Francisco, I stopped at the Denver Zoo. Steve and I went again on Saturday. This time we got there around 2pm and it was overcast. Many of the animals were asleep, but many more were inside and restless to eat as the day wore on. The lions in particular were spectacular. One male and three females were in a small pen with a large glass wall and they were hungry. We were treated to lots of small spats and the male lion suddenly deciding to majestically, loudly, well, whine! Think of the ordinary housecat making those repetitive whiney meow noises when they want to be let inside or they're hungry, and then deepen the tone quite a lot and make the melody of it a lot rougher, and boom, that's what we heard. ROOOWW! ROOOWW! ROOOWW! We also walked past the giraffes, which had two babies stirring up each other and the elders, and they have the most eye-boggling run. Because their limbs are so long they appear to be running in slow motion even as they're running at a speed faster than a human can match. It hurts one's brain to watch. Very cool. We saw a lot of beautiful birds in their indoor atriums as well.

We also enjoyed the Wynkoop Brewery, which we found on the first night. The top floor was a pool hall with darts and shuffleboard; the middle floor was a restaurant and bar; and the bottom floor housed an improv comedy troupe and bands. We, of course, hit up the pool hall. It was the only place I took pictures (on my cell phone -- I just kind of forgot to after that):

Steve and I played horrible pool and ended up having a better time playing darts. We have a dartboard at our apartment so both of us got some practice in, and I actually beat him the first round, after which he beat me, after which I think he beat me again, but I can't remember. It was quite close each time. The beer there was quite yummy and the food was solid.

Lastly, Saturday evening after the zoo, we finally found a cute little neighborhood that reminded us of San Francisco: Highland Square. There were real houses there! And independent shops! It reminded us of Cole Valley, in that it was basically a neighborhood centered around one intersection that had shops and restaurants. We found the 8 Rivers Cafe there by chance and I was treated to my first great Caribbean food since Wesleyan. Steve and I both got Jerk Chicken dishes, mine with the traditional rice and plantains, his over pasta. The slow burn commenced, and we were treated to a quiet and reserved snow fall while we ate.

Other things I liked: the view of the mountains was beautiful, and merits exploration time that we could not carve out in one weekend. The vast emptiness of the plains and the blueness of the sky at that altitude made me want to write. Costs are generally cheaper out there, especially things like housing and gas. And the weather is so dry that the environment feels more tolerable. Steve and I stepped out of the airport on the first day and laughed because we were comfortable in t-shirts in 50 degree weather -- no wind and humidity to creep under our clothes and our skin. Our hair and towels dried quickly. And it was, as promised, quite sunny. The horse ranches in close proximity hold the promise of me getting to ride again for the first time in years. The University of Denver has picturesque brick buildings, and holds the promise of a career waiting to be learned.

Initial shock now over -- I think we can make it work. News to follow as it comes!