The Wild, Wild, West-Baseball tour 2009-Denver

The Wild, Wild, West.............

Part One ~ Denver

How to beat the airlines at their latest up-charge war? Carry on. How to beat the airlines at the lost luggage saga (as it always happens to me in Denver)? Carry on. We did it. I was actually able to cram in 7 full days of clothing, shoes (ok, only one extra besides what I wore), and also my new rented netbook. Yay us :) Found out that ATA (Air Tran) isn't so bad after all. A bit cramped in the cheap seats, but a decent airline.

All things considered our travel day was seamless and easy. Huh, what? Easy? Yup. We got in a few minutes early, and took the tram/train to the Southwest Terminal to meet up with Pop/FIL. He was on time too. Even the wait for his luggage didn't seem so bad, and the taxi into town was uneventful.

We stayed at the Crowne Plaza - one block from the 16th Street Mall. For those of you familiar with Denver you know how much fun it can be. For those of you not familiar, well, it's a street that goes for a mile or three - both sides filled with shops, fun restaurants, etc. No cars allowed.
How can I not like a hotel that serves "shooters" for breakfast? Yup... complimentary shots. At first we were taken aback, until the waiter reminded us that we were in Denver, after all. Of course it was a shooter full of orange juice and freshly minced mint. Uh huh. lol

We immediately dug in for a tasty lunch at Planet Hollywierd and stuffed ourselves. Not the smartest move, considering it was mid/late afternoon and we didn't have anything to do after that. So...... after chilling in our rooms for a bit, we opted to see a flick. We saw Julie & Julia. Really.... nothing else even looked good, and since my FIL is a food lover (as are we) we thought what the heck. Plus... any movie that captures BOTH of my names in the title... well... it simply HAD to be good... an Oscar contender? Not so much... but it was a nice way to spend our first night on the baseball tour. So... done with the chick stuff.... on to the real reason for the journey out west.

COORS FIELD - Baseball with Altitude

It was a blistering hot day, and we were prepared with our bottles of water, hats, and the camera. We kept up our tradition of getting to the park at least 1-1/2 hours early to get all of our pre-game stuff done. It's actually down to a science after last year's jaunt to the east coast. First stop, the main team store. Not the little measly kiosks -- we're talking the big boy of stores. DH and I search for the pins and patches and discuss the merits of the different options. The patch has to be a certain logo, as does the pin. Why? Because DH is a bit OCD about his sports memorabilia. Okay... a LOT OCD about it. It can only be this logo, or that one. He tends to lean more towards the traditional logos and not the new marketing branded ones. In Denver we succeeded on both counts. We also want the pins to have the name of the ballpark on them for memories sake. Coors Field. If lucky, I'll pick out a shot glass too (this one, I just had to get Coors Field - baseball with altitude. I thought it was pretty cool!). I collect them from all my travels. Then after we collect said patches and pins, we then proceed to walk the park, watch batting/fielding practice and find our seats.

After a few minutes of "oohing and ahhing" over said seats, one of us will get up and buy the other "must do at every park". Test AND rate the hot dogs. Yes... it's true. I could fill up an entire blog just discussing the nuances of each ball park dog. Is it tasty? Too garlic-y? Long enough (YES, you PERVERTS -- SIZE DOES MATTER), are the buns good (again, get your minds out of the gutter), and is it hot? How does it rate compared to other ones? List our favorites in order. Coors Field hot dogs? Over a foot long - and to use the famous words in our favorite baseball movie - Bull Durham: "Oh my" !!

To some, this would seem juvenile and silly. I suppose it is -- but it is something that we all enjoy doing, and just adds to the wonderful park experience. Then it's on to the game. Oops... we can't forget rating the singing ability of the National Anthem. DH/I and FIL vehemently disagree on what makes a great singer of our Anthem. If it's really bad, I admit it, we do make funny faces and maybe enjoy a chuckle or two. Yes... humor is the way of life, isn't it?!?

Not only do we rate the dogs, but the park itself. I/we loved Coors Field. It is waaaayyyy cool. I would show pictures, if. um, ahem, I didn't delete them all (a few posts from now) in San Diego.

Suffice it to say, Coors Field was awesome. The game was good too. Our seats - incredible. The Rockies beat the Dodgers 10-1. We fought the heat, rain showers, and clouds but even the rain couldn't dampen the experience. We even saw Santa Claus. Who knew that the Big Guy himself enjoys a game or two. I had a great picture taken OF Santa. White tee shirt, wide red suspenders, long white beard, and well-fed. IT WAS SANTA. I refrained from sitting on his lap as I thought that might just be a bit creepy.

After the game was over, we met up with Grande's sales rep, Jeanne and her husband, Duane. Her territory is all of Colorado, and it was fun to listen to her stories. We had drinks and dinner at the famous "Marlowes" -- and it was a blast. Good food too! I think, maybe my steak was a bit over-done but seriously... how would I know? I had a couple chocolate martinis, and all was good. I pretty much floated back to the room and crashed. I needed to sleep long and hard as the travel was just beginning. Next stop...... Phoenix.

A slight digress -- please bear with me. As finding the perfect hot dog is paramount to all of us, my true quest on ALL journeys is to find the "perfect" chocolate martini. Someday, I might encompass all of my research into a blog for itself. But for right now, this will have to do.

Denver does not know how to make a great chocolate martini.... ranking: 5 (did it stop me from ordering more? no).

Part two - Phoenix - coming up