Denver/Breckenridge, CO

MEM-DEN

Breackenridge and Denver, Colorado
May 21-25, 2010

• Carrying on a years-long tradition, we decided to take a holiday trip with Carrie and Adam for Memorial Day weekend. Brad was in Aspen for a conference all of the week before Memorial Day, so we all decided to get a place in Breckenridge and hang out in the mountains for a few days and then spend a night in Denver. Nick flew into Denver on Thursday afternoon, and Adam got in later that evening. Accommodations were provided by the airport Homewood Suites. Labeling the hotels as 'airport' adjacent is a bit misleading, as there are really no hotels near the airport. All require a 20 minute shuttle from the airport and are situated on the plains between the city and the airport, like a mini-city that's sprung up in the middle of nowhere. The reason for this is because Denver is the largest airport in the U.S. (land size) at 53 sq miles, and third largest in the world by land size. So it takes a bit to get out of the airport landspace.
• Dinner at the Homewood was beef and corn and mashed potatoes with gravy. When Nick asked the dinner attendant if there was meat in the (brown) gravy, the man replied that there was no meat. Nick questioned that, because the gravy was brown. The man says "no, there isn't any meat in it" and Nick's reply was "but is it made with meat?" to which the answer was "well, yeah it's made from meat but there's no meat in it." So, corn and plain mashed potatoes (and many, many beers) it was then. Adam arrived at the hotel shortly after that.
• The next morning, Brad showed up and everyone drove to the airport to get Carrie. Once she was aboard, we hit the highway and made our way to Breckenridge. It didn't take too long to get there - about an hour and a half. The drive was beautiful through the mountains. We checked into the Valdoro Mountain Lodge, a Hilton vacation condo property. After settling in, we got some supplies at the local supermarket and then had a couple cocktails in the room and hung out on the balcony for a few minutes, watching the huge crows. We also spotted a fox, prowling around below us.
• We wanted to hike, and of course there were a ton of options - we decided to go with a trail not far from Breckenridge (just south). The snow was still melting in the mountains, which made it a muddy adventure to start off with, but the higher we got, the more snow (and less mud) we ran into. Some of the snow drifts were several feet deep, which made the hike a bit more adventurous. Add that to the fact that we obviously couldn't see the trail, and it turned into Carrie's "death march" situation. We attempted to find the trail and follow the river that was beside us, but after a couple hours, we had to give up. Also prompting us to give up was the two gentlemen that passed us from the opposite direction, saying "it's no use, give up. The trail is gone." So we made our way back through the snow, over fallen trees, and through the brush to the vehicle. By that time, we were all completely soaked and muddy. Time for beers.
• We headed to the Breckenridge Brewing Company and had lunch and a couple beers. We sat on the patio and soaked up the sun - it was nice and sunny and pretty warm.
• That night after checking out the shops and stores in the town, we went to the Hearthstone Restaurant, a nice place in an old building not far from the lodge. Dinner was good - it was somewhat of a quiet place, but we were on the not-so-quiet side of things.
• The next day we drove back to Denver. Along the way, we stopped at Carl's Jr so that Nick and Adam could get their fix. Closer to Denver, we stopped at Argo Gold Mine and Mill in Idaho Springs, CO. Besides a couple stagecoaches and some mining equipment, there wasn't a whole lot to see. More of a bust, really. They offer tours, but we decided not to do that and kept on through the mountains. Once we got back to Denver, we checked into the Curtis Hotel downtown. Each floor of the hotel has a theme. We were staying on the 13th floor, so naturally, it was the horror movie themed floor. Each time the elevator arrived at our floor, Jack Nicholson's voice said "Herrrrre's Johnny" and there were slasher movie posters and cutouts all along the hallway. On the way back down to the lobby, the song playing in the elevator was "Don't Worry, Be Happy..."
• We had lunch at the Paramount Cafe on the 17th St mall, then headed to Coor's Field to watch the Rockies play ball. The weather was perfect, if not a bit warm. After the game we went straight to the Great Divide Brewery down the street. We had several beers there, then made our way to Rock Bottom Brewery for dinner/beers. Later that night, after hitting up several more establishments, we finally got back to the hotel and passed out. Upon waking up, the room was a bit of a mess, with a bag of peanuts spilled on the floor, Brad's suitcase overturned mysteriously, and wine glasses from the last bar we stopped at the night before on the nightstand. What to do but start out the day with mimosas. Sam's #3 is a diner just around the corner from the hotel (as we walked down the sidewalk, noises and voices came out of speakers in the ground). We stopped there for breakfast, and they just happened to also serve giant mimosas.
• After breakfast, we did a bit more walking along 17th street, and came across an art fair going on. Brad bought a framed photo, and a hanging rock sculpture, as did Carrie. On the way back Nick had to stop at Orange Julius for a delicious drink.
• After that, it was time to head to the airport so we checked out of the hotel and drove the 30 minutes to catch a flight back to Memphis. Carrie, Nick and Brad were on the same flight to Memphis; Adam had a separate flight to Jacksonville. On the Memphis flight, the 3 were upgraded. Carrie and Brad proceeded to take advantage of the morning mimosa buzz and continue their drinking on the plane. Assisting them was a very chatty flight attendant who clearly had no experience with bartending...specifically, when exactly to cut someone's alcohol supply for their own good, and the good of those around them. The flight attendant stood next to their seat and poured, and poured, and poured wine like there was an endless supply. She chatted about skin care, Memphis, planes, the gym, anything that Brad and Carrie could chat her up about. Finally, we landed, and Brad and Carrie are both shit-faced. As we deplaned, the flight attendant offered her condolences to Nick as he walked by: "Sorrryyyyy." And sorry it was. Brad could barely stand (and in fact, insisted on sitting on the edge of the baggage carousel against the advice of the signs/posted placards). Carrie called once we were outside with our luggage and reported that she was somehow lost and didn't understand which gate she was supposed to be at for her connecting flight. No one knows how she made it on her own that day, but she did somehow. A month or so later, Brad actually ran into the flight attendant at a bar downtown whilst with his coworkers. Needless to say, he didn't recognize her immediately, and she proceeded to embarrass him in front of his peers. It never pays to get trashed on a plane. For proof, reread this post, or see the end of this one.
  

Cancun, Mexico

Zoetry de Paraiso Resort
Cancun, Mexico
March 11-13, 2010

• Brad flew into Cancun on March 10 and Nick on the 11th. Zoetry sent a driver to the airport to transport guests to the resort. The ride there was a stylish one - a Lincoln Navigator, with champagne and air conditioned seats. At Zoetry, lots of peacocks and parrots had the run of the place, as well as a stray alligator here and there. The rooms were great - most of all for the 'endless luxury' that included fully stocked bar, and a bottle of tequila with setup.
• Service at all the restaurants was excellent, as each provided a full dinner experience with several courses served. Breakfast was outside, next to the parrots in their trees, and a harpist playing nice soothing music. Carrie and Laura may or may not have demanded a hamburger from one at dinner, according to Tony. Brad may or may not have attempted to engage in fisticuffs with the server at another (according to everyone). He also may have provided lapdancing at no charge.
• Poolside service was also a bonus - the pool attendants were really quick to make sure that no one had an empty glass, or if anyone was hungry, they provided a menu and brought food. One of them also made sure to save us lounge chairs each morning after receiving a 20$ tip.
• The resort also had games and competitions, like a dart tournament (Adam won) and ping pong tournament (Nick lost in the championship game). Prizes were t-shirts and other resort-branded items.
  
• During the few days we were at the resort, several activities were lined up for us. Brad and Carrie enjoyed a massage. Nick had a reflexology massage. The 6 of us also got to experience a sweat lodge. Around 5 PM, we all gathered outside of a round stucco hut and were led inside (with a few other resorters) by the "shaman" who then proceeded to close us in this dark, unventilated 'room' and pour water on scalding rocks. Whilst doing so, he chanted things about letting the bad thoughts out and breathing in good thoughts. The consensus after this (interesting) experience was that the only thing going into our bodies was steam and bullshit. But we rode it out. It was actually a pleasant, relaxing time for some (Nick) and a nightmare for others (everyone).
• The next day we all went on a private catamaran ride in the early afternoon. The trip was great. The crew catered alcohol and appetizers to start out, then served a full meal. At the halfway point, we anchored, then went snorkeling. There was another catamaran anchored nearby within no time, where those suckers (about 20 of them) also jumped out and were allowed to explore the coral. Needless to say, their boat appeared to be something that one might witness trying to get to Florida from Cuba. Seaworthy, sure. But worthy? Not a chance. After snorkeling, we went to the shore, where the crew allowed us to jump out of the boat and swim ashore for 30 minutes or so. On the ride back the crew pointed out a nude resort, not too far from Zoetry. Brad and Laura felt the need to check it out on their own, so on the last day we were there, they walked down the beach and had themselves a look-see. They weren't impressed. "Gross" people, was the report.
• 
  

Phoenix, AZ (Spring Training 2010)

MEM-PHX

Phoenix, Arizona

March 3-6, 2010

• We flew from Memphis to Phoenix on Wednesday, March 3. We arrived around 9, picked up the rental car and headed to the Hampton Inn in Tempe, just east of the city.
• On Thursday, we went for a pretty intense hike at Phoenix Mountain Park.
• After meeting up with Brad's colleague for lunch at a Southwestern restaurant called Z'Tejas, we went back to the hotel, changed and then went to the first of the weekend's Cubs Spring Training games at Hohokam Park. This game was against the A's, which the Cubs won, 9-3.
• After the game we went to Scottsdale, a suburb just north of Tempe, and walked around downtown. We walked around for a bit, checked out some stores, then had a few drinks at a few places.
  
• The next morning we drove to Queen Creek, Arizona to check out the Queen Creek Olive Mill. The mill is Arizona's only olive mill, and produces all kinds of olive oil, and other olive products. We got a bit lost on the way, so we missed the tour that we wanted to take at 10:30 AM. Instead we decided to have lunch there and then do the 11:30 tour. The tour itself was pretty uneventful but educational (and not too boring). After that we went back to Phoenix and got ready for Game 2, against the Arizona Diamondbacks. Cubs took this game, 8-7.
• On Saturday, we went for a pretty short hike at Papago Park then headed to Game 3, against the Chicago White Sox. Lots of die hard Cubs fans as well as some annoying (obviously) Sox fans. Great game, but the Cubs lost 3-15. All the great defense we had witnessed in games one and two was nowhere to be seen. Quite a sad game, really, but made somewhat bearable by the number of beers that were consumed.
• After the game, we had a few hours to kill, so we continued on to a Mexican restaurant in Tempe and had a couple pitchers of margaritas and a bit of food, then went to the airport. At the airport, we may or may not have had a couple beers then maybe a couple on the plane. Once back in Memphis, we weren't quite sure where time went, because neither of us recalled too much of the flight...except for Nick bleeding profusely from the nose after being hit (intentionally?) by Brad. Bloody napkins everywhere. Also recalled was the flight attendant approaching Nick and informing him that his bag and personal items needed to be under the seat during the descent into Memphis. Halfway through her sentence, she looked at the situation (picture a drunk with a bloody nose, shoes off, crushed pretzels everywhere on the floor, and magazines and a bookbag strewn about the floor) and simply shook her head and walked away. Probably best for all of us involved.
  

San Juan & Rincon, Puerto Rico

MEM-SJU

Puerto Rico

Dec 23, 2009 - Jan 2, 2010

• Brad, Carrie, and Adam flew into San Juan a couple days before Nick and Cindy. During that time, they stayed drunk at the Waldorf-Astoria Hotel.
• Nick and Cindy arrived on the 24th of December and took a cab to the hotel, where they immediately went to the pool and hung out with everyone else, and had a few cocktails. That evening, while Brad and Adam were passed out, Nick, Carrie and Cindy went to the hotel casino for a couple drinks and games. Nick won about $300 on a slot machine and after a few more drinks, everyone called it a night and went back up to the room. Oddly, the rooms at the W-A property trended more toward Motel 8 than luxury (but no expense was spared in the lobby to give that appearance). The room accommodated 4 people, but we had stolen a cot from the housekeeping closet (they wouldn't give us one, saying it was a fire hazard). The next morning, we wheeled it out to the hallway, not having had to escape any fires during the night.
  
• We took a cab to an airport rental car company, where we picked up the SUV (after a 30 minute wait) to drive to Rincon, a small city on the west coast of the island. The drive was pretty easy - just a couple highways. On the way there, we stopped for lunch at a diner in Camuy. From there, Rincon was just about another hour or so. Once we arrived in Rincon, we had some issues actually finding the house that we had rented for the week. After talking to the house owners, we finally made our way to the house - situated across from Steps Beach, but up a winding, very steep hill. That day we just checked out the house, the town and the beaches near the house. The Econo Supermercado was where we got most of our supplies/foodstuffs.
• We ended up most days at Tres Palmas Beach, although we did have a good time watching most of our stuff nearly get wiped away by a massive wave at the Dome, near the lighthouse.
  
• Over the next couple days, we tried out some bars and restaurants in the town. One, just off the beach, had good food, but the only problem there was the occasional power outage, which everyone took in stride. Tamboo, a bar on the beach (which we found thanks to Adams's trusty iPhone GPS) was full of drinking, dancing 15 year olds.
• Adam's favorite local dish was mofongo, which he ate at every meal. It's a mashed plantain dish, flavored and seasoned differently, depending on who makes it. At one place called The Spot, there were several pinball machines and a great outdoor seating area. One of the waitresses had a child there with her one night while we were hanging out. It was about 10-11 PM, and we were drinking, so the kid took advantage of us and schooled everyone on the pinball machines. Should have been in bed. I believe she was told this each time she won. There was also a place called Rock Bottom, and Casa Verde, where we all had drinks for Nick's birthday.
• We had read in a couple guide books about bioluminescent microorganisms in some of the waters on the south coast of the island. We decided to go to a town called La Parguera, in the Puerto Quijano and check it out on kayaks. We had called ahead and gotten directions, and once we made it to the boat captain's dock, he set us up with a couple kayaks. First he took Nick and Adam to the bay on his boat to show us how to navigate the waters and where to find Bahia Parguera. Once we were ready to take off on the kayaks, the nice captain made the observation that Cindy may not make it, because she was "too fancy." She was wearing thunder heels, hair was did, and makeup on. She did a great job though, rowing occasionally on the kayak she shared with Adam and Carrie. Once we were in the bay (which took about an hour or so to get to), we hung out on the kayaks for a while, staring into the water, watching the tiny bacteria light up and go black again. The trip back was uneventful, and once we got into the car on the way back, we concentrated hard on making sure that we found a place to eat. We grabbed dinner at an Italian place in Rincon and then went back to the house.
• The next day we headed out for a drive through the interior of the island. It was really cool once we got onto the scenic road out of the cities (which was a bit hard to find and stay on). We climbed through mountains, into cloud forests, into the jungle. Our focus (besides the scenery) was finding coffee plantation(s) to tour. Sadly, we found none that were open to the public, and in fact, the locals at some of the tiny little towns in the jungle had no idea what we were talking about when asking them about coffee plantation tours. At one point, we stopped in a town high in the mountains for lunch, where we ate plates of delicious fried chicken and french fries.
• On New Year's Eve, we booked a sunset catamaran cruise. Besides the inclusion of all the free booze and snacks one could want, there were snorkel funnels full of beer (which only Adam and Nick took part in) and lots of music. The cruise was a couple hours, and we got to the point (Centro) where the Caribbean meets the Atlantic Ocean. It was a pretty sight - traveling behind the massive waves as they broke, speeding toward the shore. Once well-lubricated (which could have had to do with the drink in hand, the wind, and a hat - causing the drink to be on the face and shirt), there was a new man for Cindy. The captain, Brian, found himself madly in lust with her and after Brad informed him that we would be at the Spot for the remainder of the evening, he and his first mate ("which is Spanish for bartender") just happened to be there as well. Cindy got to see his shark SUV...
• New Year's Day, we planned to go to Rio Camuy Caves Park, where tourists could check out the caverns in the jungle. On the drive there, we stopped and got pastries at a local street side shop, then continued on the way - once there, we found that the park was closed due to the holiday. We decided to continue north to the Arecibo Observatory, which is the largest radio telescope in the world. It's owned by the NSF and operated by Cornell University. From the NAIC website: The National Astronomy and Ionosphere Center enables research in the areas of astronomy, planetary studies, and space and atmospheric sciences by providing unique capabilities and state-of-the-art instrumentation for data collection and analysis, together with logistical support to users. From there we went back to Rincon, where we stopped along the way to eat at a Taco Maker.
• The next day was the end of the vacation, so we packed up and headed back to San Juan, where we had flights...Brad had a flight first, so he was dropped off then Carrie, Nick, Adam, and Cindy toured a bit of Old San Juan before going back to the airport.

Asheville, North Carolina

MEM-AVL
Asheville
September 4 - 7, 2009

• Brad and Nick had a 6 AM flight from Memphis through Atlanta, where we met up with Carrie and Adam, and then on to Asheville. We arrived in Asheville around 10:30 and picked up the rental car (Chevy HHR).
• We drove to the cabin we had rented for Labor Day weekend in Weaverville, just north of Asheville. Once we arrived, Carrie was left there to finish up some work and Brad, Nick and Adam went to the Ingles to get food and other stuff for the weekend.
• The cabin (click for link or to book) was really nice - it was on the highway, but the rear of the house was facing a large open field and the French Broad River. It was equipped with solar LED lighting outside. Lots of windows in the cabin. The very nice owners (who lived in the house right next to cabin) provided floating tubes, frisbee, volleyball/badminton net and other fun stuff to do.
• We explored the property a bit - an island, accessible via foot bridge was behind the house on the river. The owners also had a small cabin located on the island.
• In the afternoon and into the evening, we hung out on the river, reading and taking in some wine/beers. We didn't eat dinner, just snacked.
• Hot tuuuhhh time! Adam retired around 10, but Nick Brad and Carrie stayed up and had a few more drinks...went to bed around 2 AM.
• The next day, Brad and Nick got up around 11; Carrie and Adam had already been up. Adam had gone to Ingles for donuts.
• Brad cooked omelets for breakfast and then everyone hung out on the river for a while before deciding to go for a hike. We found a trailhead (actually a bike trail) about 5 miles south of the cabin on Hwy 251. There were actually two different trails, but the map didn't note distances. We just chose one and ended up hiking through the woods for about 45 minutes (according to Adam's GPS, about 1.84 miles). Turned around and headed back...none of us had brought water along, for some reason. Total hike was about 4 miles, at 1.5 hours.
• Nick's friend Tony, who lives in Sylva, NC came to the cabin to hang out. Nick and Tony took a float trip down the river a mile or so while Brad and Carrie built a dam in the river. Everyone ended up hanging out on the river for a while, then cooking chicken for dinner.
• The next day Tony and Nick met up with Jill, Tony's wife, for breakfast in Asheville. After returning, Tony left and the group went for another hike, this one much more scenic. We walked along a river for a while, and ended up hiking for about 3-4 miles total. Weather was really nice - sunny and not too hot. After returning to the house, Brad, Nick and Adam played some badminton and then we had dinner and some beers before heading to bed.
• On Labor Day, before going to the airport, we had enough time to head up the Blue Ridge Parkway for a while and got some nice pictures of the scenery. After that it was off to the airport and back to Memphis.