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.
  

Philadelphia, Pennsylvania

MEM-PHL
May 28-30, 2009

• Brad flew into Philadelphia early Thursday for work and Nick came in on Thursday evening. After arriving around 9 PM, he met Brad at the Embassy Suites hotel, which was located at Ben Franklin Parkway and 18th St.
• Brad had to work Friday morning, so Nick explored the area, walking from the hotel down to City Hall.

view of City Hall from hotel

• From there took Market St to the National Constitution Center at 6th and Arch. The experience was a bit frightening - hundreds of school kids, screaming and running around the place. The Center itself was really interesting - a very detailed look at how the US Constitution was created, its purpose and how it has functioned from the creation of the United States to the current day. Visitors start with a presentation from an actor about the history of the Constitution and how the definition of "We the People" has changed over time. From Wikipedia: The main exhibit hall is circular and presents three concentric rings of exhibits: the outermost a chronology of Constitutional history featuring artifacts and original documents, the second ring of interactive exhibits based on the preamble to the Constitution, and the inner ring featuring "talk backs" and ways to participate in the Constitutional dialogue.
• After touring the NCC, Nick met up with Brad at Independence Mall State Park, just down the block. After touring the Liberty Bell Center, we walked to Christ Church Cemetery, where Benjamin Franklin is buried. We then went through Christ Church, which was built between the 1720s and 1740s, and was the tallest building in North America.
• After touring the church, we went to a bar in the Old City district and had lunch and a couple beers, where we experienced a sighting of Danny Bonaduce and a skanky lady friend. Life: complete.
• After having a couple drinks (and lunch) we headed back to the hotel and got ready for a Phillies baseball game. First we got in touch with Nick's friend McKenzie and she came downtown to pick us up in the pouring rain. We went to her place and had a couple beers and hung out with her and her boyfriend. It was still raining on and off, so the game was starting to look questionable. After a while, though, it cleared up so we took the subway to Citizen's Bank Park. It ended up being a great game. After that, we were going to take a cab back to McKenzie's but no cabbies seemed to know that we were actually speaking English when describing the area of the city in which she lived. So we hopped back on the subway and hit up a bar next to the hotel, where McKenzie and John met up with us for a drink.
• On Saturday, we got up in the morning and went downstairs to the hotel restaurant (a TGI Friday's) where whilst eating, Nick noticed a hair in the eggs and a wood chip in the potatoes. Yum.
• After that delicious breakfast, we walked to the Philadelphia Museum of Art. Nick ran up the stairs (you know, like in the movie Rocky) while Brad worked hard at making a video of the event (video may be linked here soon if we find it - it truly is spectacular). The museum is fairly large, and we got 'misplaced' a couple times. When we left, we walked down Ben Franklin Parkway to the Academy of Natural Sciences to check out a gecko exhibit that we noticed. After walking through the first 3 floors, Brad started getting anxious, because up until then, it was essentially an elementary school field trip - dinosaur exhibits, cheesy stuffed animals in glass cases, etc. Finally we found a door that was for the gecko exhibit and we were relieved to see that there were LOTS of different kinds of geckos that we could stare at and learn about.
• Back to hotel, packed, and walked down the street to a restaurant called the Mexican Post for lunch - where Brad was promptly shit on by a bird immediately after sitting down at the table on the patio. Luckily he had his bag with him, as we were on the way to the airport, so he was able to change.
• On to the airport, and back to Memphis!
  

Charleston, South Carolina

late April/early May 2006
Brad's 30th birthday

• Rented a house in Folly Beach, just south of Charleston. The house is really nice - very close to the beach, plenty of room. Stacie (with her camera in a sock) and Kara come from Charlotte, Colleen took the train from DC, and Carrie came in from Jacksonville. Brad and Ellan took a flight from Memphis to Charleston, and Nick drove from Memphis to Charleston. Laura flew in from Lexington.
• Over the 3 days that we were there, we visited the beach a few times, flew kites, went to a great tapas bar (Meritage), did some shopping downtown, and visited a few bars. Bars with shopping carts.

• After rolling around in shopping carts, we went to a couple different bars. One happened to be a honky-tonk, local biker bar. Quite frightening. At one point, there was a person "singing" onstage. Ellan, ever the curious one, inquired to no one in particular "who's the retard onstage?" The man behind her, ever the informative one, responded "it's my son". At that point, it was clear we probably were not all that welcome...not that we were before...
• We left the bar and ended up getting a ride in a truck from a young local couple. They took some of us back to the house...with the exception of Carrie. Who called. And was curious about "where the fuck everyone is" and why she was left there. Oops. When ya got this many kids, it's hard to keep track of everyone, ya know? Carrie ended up back safely at the house, where the couple who gave us a ride were hanging out. It became clear that the female half of the couple looked like Jessica Simpson. She found this flattering (we think), probably until minute number 43 of everyone commenting about how much she looked like Jessica Simpson.
• One afternoon, the girls went to lunch and after a not-so-pleasant dining experience, came back to the house with a great story and an even greater photo of an unfortunate-looking troll they named Scary Mary. Here is Kara, going all Vanna White on Scary Mary's ass:
• And a day or so later we were all preparing to go our separate ways, so we all had lunch on a rooftop patio restaurant downtown. Brad flew back to Memphis, and Nick drove on to North Carolina to see Tony and Jill in Sylva.