Denver in December Part 2: How much can we eat in 24 hours; An experiment.

This post is the second and final installment of our quick trip to Denver together; if you haven’t read part 1 yet, check it out!

Waking up day 2 after a pretty solid night of sleep following the incredible Big Wreck show, the sun was bright and the air was quite chilly. We had booked a food tour through Delicious Denver Food Tours (much more on this below) and it was set to begin around 12:45, so we had some time to burn and knew exactly where we wanted to eat breakfast.

Little Finch is a woman owned all day breakfast cafe/bakery located downtown a few blocks from our hotel and Union Station. We were hungry and didn’t feel like walking simply because getting to the food was top of mind, so we decided to test out the Uber e-bike and scooters we had seen littered all over the place. Both Uber and Lyft offer these options, they were plentiful and easy to reserve and use through the app. I tend to be a little nervous with trying new things in public, but Rob has absolutely no issues with being new at something, especially when it involves something with wheels and a power source. I wish I could have gotten some videos of us careening through the streets on these magnificently fun rental rides, but I was gripping the handles for dear life and just praying I didn’t hit a pothole the wrong way with nothing but a hot pink beanie between my head and the pavement. We made it to Little Finch in no time and checked our rides right at the curb out front.

I love a bakery. I consider myself a stout bakery connoisseur of sorts; we have so many great ones in Huntsville and I look forward to opportunities to visit new ones in new places and compare the different nuances and approaches to making the same delicious things. Little Finch was effortless in its vibe; a bright but cozy spot, full of people but not overly crowded in a way that makes it impossible to access, and a very friendly staff. Visually it was heaven, and we ordered a little of everything and found a quiet corner in front of a little electric fireplace and…dug in! Next level pastry deliciousness, especially the quiche lorraine. We also tried the cheddar jalapeño scone, chocolate croissant, apple pop tart (not pictured) and coffees. It’s very possible we consumed an entire block of butter between the two of us with these few treats, but that is neither here nor there.

Thoroughly doped up on sugar and fat, we decided to walk around…and found ourselves not far from a jazzy cool thrift store called Garage Sale Vintage on Larimer Street. This second hand store also sells records and has a bar! I could have spent the entire day here.

One of my favorite things to do if I have time and the freedom of choice, would be to take my time in a cool thrift store. I love looking through trying to find treasure garments, old band shirts that are faded and made of the thin and soft cotton of the 90s that you just can’t buy new anymore. We like listening to music on our record player at home and so now I really enjoy thumbing through stacks of old records to see what we can add to our library. This place was funky and stocked full of really great clothing! We had to be careful about not going wild because we had to be able to fit whatever we bought back in our carry on, but I managed to find a dress for work, a sweater for around the house, and the fabulous sequin number you see me trying on above. I love giving into ridiculous urges sometimes. We also found a cute gold skirt for Ellie too! Definitely visit this spot if you’re in Denver!

After our thrifting adventure we had just enough time to walk back to our hotel, change footwear and shed the heavy coat; the day was warming up quickly and we had about a 3 hour food/walking tour ahead. We met at the rally point on time, which happened to be our first stop of the day; Marco’s Coal-Fired. This unassuming pizza joint is evidently quite special in the world of authentic pizza establishments. Their pizzamakers are trained by the Associazione Pizzaiuoli Napolitani, a group of Pizzaiuoli that are regarded as the best in the world.  The restaurant is certified by the Associazione Verace Pizza Napoletana, the only VPN certified pizzeria in the State of Colorado (and apparently there aren’t that many in the US either.)  The effort to bring a true authentic pizza like what you would get in Naples, Italy can be found here. Shout out to our amazing guide, Austin – he really made this experience awesome.

Inside Vibes: Fun fact! Austin’s (tour guide) wife painted the brick wall art you see here!

Ingredients: Antico Molino Caputo ‘00’ flour, tomatoes from the San Marzano region of Italy, buffalo mozzarella (which really does come from water buffalo!) from the Italian countryside and fresh produce from Colorado.  It was in my top 3 best pizzas I’ve ever eaten – just, incredible! It was important given that this was out first top, and only a few hours after the bakery smorgasmord, we pace ourselves and not eat much; this is a traveling food tour after all! 4 more stops to go.

Stop number two was just a few steps away at a place called Lazo Empanadas which initially began as a food truck, or some really small establishment (I can’t remember all of the detailed facts Austin threw at us about literally everywhere we went), and then grew into multiple brick and mortar locations throughout Denver. They have such a large operation now that the main preparation of the empanadas takes place offsite in a large food production facility and then the individual goods are delivered throughout all of the locations. They run them through a conveyer oven as soon as the orders are placed and they come out hot and perfect. Once again, this was the best empanada I’ve ever had!! (Tip: the truest empanadas always have raisins).

Stop number three was Biker Jim’s, which has been featured on several notable famous food shows. Not only is it (as the name would suggest) a frequented location for biker groups, it began its life as an actual bike garage, and then turned into the unusual hot dog place of today. This was my least favorite stop of the day, mainly because the choice that was prepare for the food tour was a jalepeno elk sausage dog, and it just wasn’t my favorite. They are well-known for having really bizarre proteins like rattlesnack and jackalope, but I would have really just rather eaten a good ol hotdog. One thing they do there is prepare their grilled onions using coca-cola, which carmelizes them quicker and gives them a unique sweetness.

Moving on, our walk took us down passed Coors Field on the way toward Union Station.

From there we walked through McGregor Square which was this really beautiful and bustling area of town with shops, sights, restaurants, etc. Reminded me of what the Battery is in ATL outside where the Braves play. We took this opportunity to get a group photo of our tour friends!

Fourth food stop was Kachina Cocina – bright, fun, and nestled inside the Dairy Block in LoDo (which means lower downtown). Our tasting was this fried puffed up taco that laid flat (is that a tostado?) Anyway, I wish I had had about 4 of these and a big guacamole to wade in.

After Kachina, we kept walking through McGregor Square taking in the sights – there was so much effort put into the Christmas decorations EVERYWHERE. It made is so fun and magical to see so many lights and beautiful scenes everywhere. We stumbled upon free doughnuts laid out, and Rob couldn’t help himself.

After exploring this beautiful area, we headed toward our final stop, located inside Union Station. A little desert and a big Christmas tree (and great people watching) was the perfect end to a really fun day exploring a very tasty city.

Our tour group said our farewells, and Rob and I hung around Union Station for a little while longer, visiting a few shops and a cute bookstore finding a few last minute things that reminded us of Ellie. We headed back toward the hotel by foot, needing to take advantge of all the additional steps and exercise we could squeeze out of the day.

A few hours later, Rob realized he was beside himself having not eaten a noodle this entire trip. We had passed several different noodle and thai spots and he convinced me to go out once last time in search of some authentic thai food. ThaiLanna was located inside what appeared to be the basement of a mall…you wouldn’t know it’s there unless you knew. We arrived within their last hour of operation and were delighted to find a truly authentic meal. Pad See Ew for me and Thai Curry for Rob (ironic I was the one who ordered the noodle dish…) It should be noted that I was no in way remotely hungry and suffered greatly when this was over. Luckily there was a pharmacy on the same block and I had dealer’s choice of antacids.

And that’s a wrap on Denver in December Day 2…the next morning we packed up, walked the mile back down to Union Station and boarded to train back toward the airport. Something funny about walking through a big city while wheeling your luggage beside you, praying you don’t suffer a wheel bending moment. Again, I was so thankful to have my gloves and puffy coat! Our train back to the airport seemed to move a little faster, and we made good time. And it’s a good thing too, because coming into the Denver airport met us with the longest most insane line for TSA I have EVER seen. It wrapped around the entire airport and snaked around on itself, multiple people were filming themselves trying to find the end of the line. Also, our gate was literally the furthest away gate known to human kind so arriving early was very much in our favor. Note: flying out of Denver is not at all like flying out of Huntsville! Arrive two hours before board time.

Denver, this isn’t goodbye. We will absolutely be back. Maybe to hit up a concert at RedRocks, merely so that when I tell people we are going to see a show in Denver I can answer “yes” when they inevitably ask me if we will be going to RedRocks. Also, we needed an additional day to rent a car and go driving to see these big beautiful rocky mountains up close. I have no desire to ski or do anything involving traveling fast down snow on my own legs, but I certainly wouldn’t mind renting a fun porsche or ferrari and hitting some twisties with a certain car guy. Until then however, I’ll be thinking about that quiche lorraine and remembering how special it was to watch Ian Thornley absolutely rip on that beautiful tamale red Suhr guitar, all while standing shoulder to shoulder with a guy I’m still so totally crazy about.