Day 13: Denver, CO

Still feeling exhausted from our time on the road and a late night the night before, we slept in, even missing breakfast! We started out the day with our treadmill and laps workout, and made it outside around 3pm. We considered a nearby highly-rated restaurant for lunch but opted instead to revisit somewhere we had been the last time we went to Denver called Biker Jim’s Gourmet Dogs. This hot dog establishment is known for its wild menu items, including the rattlesnake and pheasant dog and the jack-a-lope. Abe got two Alaskan reindeer hot dogs, which were delicious, and Arielle got the vegan dog, which was spicy but good. The fries were spiral-shaped and pretty incredible.

We ate quickly so that we could make the 4pm distillery tour that Erik and Arielle had invited us to just one block away. We had already heard from Allison at the Homewood Suites that Mile High Spirits was where an FBI agent had accidentally discharged his gun while dancing a few months back. A personalized tour with just the four of us was a cool experience, especially for these non-drinkers who don’t have any appreciate for beer or real spirits. Abe and Erik sampled the traditional bourbon while the two Arielles tried the peach variety, and we all found the tequila to be a bit smoother. Erik really enjoyed the Punching Mule canned Moscow Mule, which both Abe and Arielle tried and really did not like.

We then walked a few blocks to the Maven Hotel at Dairy Block, where most of the wedding guests were staying. Adi, a friend of the couple and a college friend of Arielle’s, had designed purple t-shirts with the hashtag #Samalia (Sam and Amalia) for everyone to wear to the game, and so we picked those up and hung out in the lobby socializing for a while. Adi also gave us two drink tokens, and so we got a root beer (which Arielle flattened for Abe by pouring between two cups about twenty times) and a Mountain Dew. We walked about ten minutes to Coors Field, where our evening activity was a baseball game. Neither Sam nor Amalia are sports fans, but they figured this would be a great way to have people spend time together, and it was. Our group of purple shirt-wearing enthusiasts eagerly tried doing the wave a few times, only to be yelled at by a Colorado Rockies fan who admonished us for distracting the team in a “two-run game,” which apparently referenced the fact that the visiting Los Angeles Dodgers (who Arielle and about two other people in the stadium were rooting for) had scored two runs in the first two innings before we had even arrived as compared with the zero runs scored by the Rockies. Sam and Amalia were pinned as special guests (arranged by Arielle and our new friend Amalyah) in the video below, and Abe wandered around the stadium looking for snacks, returning with the always reliable and expensive Dippin’ Dots. As if the seats Sam selected that looked right at the Rocky Mountains weren’t wonderful enough, even us non-sports fans were treated to a tremendously exciting game-ending triple run scored by the Rockies. It was certainly a fun event, and Arielle acknowledged that if the Dodgers had to lose, that was the way to do so.

After the game, we made our way to the nearby Wynkoop Brewery, where we joined four other couples for a late-night dinner. Though the waitress told pretty much everyone who ordered a drink that their first choice was unavailable, we did manage to have a great experience, and Abe enjoyed his extremely spicy veggie green chili. The company was wonderful, and we returned back to our hotel to turn in for the night in anticipation of the big day on Sunday!

Approximate number of miles covered: 4