The Tattered Cover bookstore, pictured at left, was a home away from home for Chris. Coffee, books, and political ramblings and rumblings all under one roof? Sign me up! The building just SMELLED of books. When you open an old hardcover and stick your nose in the binding, THAT smell. It was wonderful. Getting up early, making the drive into Denver, then waking up completely with good coffee surrounded by books and the granola-types and the pretentious and the learned and the stuffy. Hmmm, what category do I fit in?...Anyway, it pays to hang around the center of political discourse and whatnot, because look what came home to North Carolina:
Neato.16th Street is a mall downtown where no vehicles are allowed, except for mall buses. Shops and restaurants and boutiques and the like. Blocks and blocks and blocks. Quite a hike from top to bottom, but it was the place to people watch and basically see some of the more, um, "reasonable" people this world has to offer:
Lunch was yet another brewpub: Rock Bottom Brewery on 16th Street. Sure it's a chain, but Rock Bottom always has a soft spot in our hearts, especially when we were chosen to "test out" the service at the Cleveland Rock Bottom right before it opened...and we begged and pleaded and received their recipe for Asiago Cheese Dip and Beer Bread. Yum!
After more sightseeing and browsing, the shining moment of the day: a fundraiser for Al Franken, Democratic nominee for senator from Minnesota. A website that listed all sorts of events for non-delegate, non-lobbying commonfolk had this listed. Being a fellow left-leaning liberal, Chris jumped at the chance to do this. A mere $250 donation to the Al Franken campaign got Chris a ticket to a law office downtown and a private reception with Mr. Franken. Damn, this was so cool. Hors d'oeuvres, wine, and again Fat Tire beer were all complimentary...well, as complimentary as $250 gets you. Before his remarks, a Q&A, and some general socializing and imbibing, he stated he would do something that would "blow our minds away" but he would not tell us what it was until he started to do it. Huh??? So, close to 2 hours of fun, he begins the mind-blowing. Al Franken can draw the contiguous 48 states by memory. Freehand. Pretty cool party trick. Chris may start practicing.
Afterward, it was back to Boulder and a stop at Mountain Sun Pub and Brewery for a fresh dose of Birckenstocks, granola, and hippie. Pretty good beer too. The server was keen on bringing me a sampler based on what beers I enjoy: IPA's, porters, and stouts. Tasty.
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