Denver and Colorado Springs, Colorado

After leaving the zoo, we visited  downtown Denver to take in some of the local architecture.

We hopped in the car bright and early to set out on unknown adventures.  I had come up with a list of sights to see between Denver and Colorado Springs.  We started out at a place called "the Ghost Town Museum"

This was very clearly a tourist trap and I tried to steer the kids away from it but Big Boy begged to go inside.  There was a gift shop full of western nick knacks, mostly made in China.   For the price of admission you could visit the "ghost town".  It was basically a very large building with faux buildings mimicking a western town.  The "buildings" were roped off so that you had to look at everything from doorways and windows.  There were tons of artifacts, probably mostly real, and they were labeled with little informational tags.  It was clearly a museum experience rather than the ghost town experience I was expecting.  The kids seemed to enjoy it enough but I would put it on my "skip this attraction" list.

We also stopped off at a "Cliff Dweller Village" but this turned out to be an even bigger disappointment than the ghost town.  I can't find my pictures so you will have to rely on my description but you are not missing much.  I could not get a feel for whether these were authentic cliff dwellings, carefully restored and then made handicapped accessible or if they were entirely manufactured.  But, for thousand year old cliff dwellings they were ground level and appeared newer than my fifteen year old house.  We spent about two minutes there and spent the entire time regretting the entrance fee we paid..

But the day got better after that.   He headed toward an area called the Garden of the Gods.  It is a park with amazing rock formations.  We pulled up to the first area and the kids told me that they would wait in the car )playing video games).  I could not beleive them and had to fore them to get out.  But once they did, they fell in absolute love with the place and I could not get them back into the car for hours.  Who knew that all I had to do to get them fresh air and exercise was to take them to Colorado.

I eventually manged to drag the kids back into the car and we drove around the park some more.  We didn't find any stops as magical as the first one so after enjoying our picnic lunch, we headed back out onto the highway.

We drove to a place called The North Pole and discovered that it was nothing more than a Christmas themed gift shop and amusement park, hardly worth pulling off the highway for.

We found another hiking trail in Colorado Springs but it still didn't compare to the Garden of the Gods so, by popular demand, we went back down to the fist climbing spot and enjoyed some more hiking and rock climbing.

By the time we arrived back in Denver, it was getting dark and we were too exhausted even to take a dip in the pool.  Who am I kidding, of course the kids swan again.  But no long after, we were fast asleep in our hotel room.

Denver Colorado - November 4-6

Our decision to go to Colorado was actually based on the second half of our trip.  The kids had short week in school, only having two days due to election day and scheduled conferences.  My husband managed to finagle a few days off a the end of the week and I was dying to have the lamb chops at the Wine and Food Festival again .  So, my husband and I decided that the kids and I wold take one of our trips at the beginning of the week and then meet him in Disney at the end of the week.  The plan was to surprise the kids with the second half of the trip.

So, my trip planning began with my searching for open flights from wherever to Disney on Wednesday.  I plugged in Disney as my final destination and then just kept plugging in airport codes until I found a flight that looked open enough to book.  And that is how we came up with Denver Colorado.

Big Boy was giving me a hard time about leaving town because he wanted to stick around and hang out with his buddy so I ended up telling him where we were going and then swearing him to secrecy.  I had hoped that the kids would not know about Disney until we were on the Magical Express.

I packed a little heavier since we would be gone a whole week and we need certain Disney stuff (our pin trading lanyards, refillable mugs, bathing suits)  so we had t check bags.  I packed our usual food items.

Having tired a little of the bagel sandwiches we usually eat, I decided to try taking bread.  I purchased a plastic breadbox and it worked out very well.  I put the bread in our checked bag and it held up.  I had our usual carry on cooler with lunch meats and cheese and grabbed zip lock bag of ice from Auntie Annie's Pretzels after we went through security.

We easily got on our first choice flight to Denver but arrived rather late in the day. We had booked a hotel though Priceline.com and had no idea what to expect. 

It turned out to be a huge convention center type hotel and, other than the pool being a little small, it was very nice.

After a quick dinner at Long John Silvers and a dip in the pool, we went to bed with the plans to set out early the next day.

We decided to spend our first day at the Denver Zoo.  We happened to time our trip perfectly with the zoo's free admission day.We arrived a little before opening (or so I thought) and couldn't figure out why the line kept growing and growing but we were not going in.  This is when I discovered that I was foiled again by time.  We had traveled over daylight savings time and the clock on the rental car had not been changed.  I was an hour early.

The zoo is very nice and the weather was perfect.  I had thought that Denver in November would see us in parkas but we had a sunny warm day and enjoyed the zoo in our shirtsleeves.

 

 

We had breakfast in the room, brought lunch to the zoo and spent a couple of dollars on an ice cream treat.

Disneyworld Wine & Food festival - Budget report

I don't want to talk about it.....

OK, the hotel room was $94 per night after taxes, I spent $150 of my birthday money on food at the festival and parking at the airport was $8 a day. 

Just don't tell the kids.  I have them convinced that we don't spend money in Disney.

Wine & Food Festival, continued

Hops & Barley

 

 

 

I didn't get the Linda Bean's Lobster Claw Cuddler chilled with Herb Mayonnaise

 



 

Or the Linda Bean's Perfect Maine Lobster Roll

But, interestingly enough, people are very willing to let you take pictures of their food if you explain that it is for your travel blog

But, it was time for something sweet again.   I enjoyed the Pumpkin Mousse with Dried Cranberries and Orange sauce.

Florida Local

 

The Florida Shrimp Ceviche with Fire roasted Vegetables, Fried Plantains and Cilantro was good but not the best thing at the festival.

Japan

As a sushi lover, I found the Spicy Hand Roll (Tuna, Sal,on and Chili Pepper, Soy Sauce and Sesame Oil topped with Kazan volcano sauce) to be amazing.

Singapore

Always a fan of Mahi Mahi, I enjoyed the Seared Mahi Mahi with Jasmine Rice and "Singa" Sauce.

 Morocco

Maybe it was because I was pretty full again.  Maybe it was because I actually make a pretty good Kefta but I found the Kefta Pocket (Ground Seasoned Beef in Pita Pocket) a bit of a chore to eat.  I will admit it was good but not what I would call great.

New Zealand

Lamb Meatball with Spicy Tomato Chutney (which I didn't try)

The Seared Sea Scallop with Kumara - Red Curry Puree and Apple Radish Salad had a perfect sear on it.  The outside of the scallop was perfectly caramelized.  This dish was delicious and I desperately wished I had room for another one.

Belgium

I could eat mussels all day long.  The Steamed mussels in Hoegaarden Beer Broth with Baguette were a little on the small side but packed in a ton of flavor.

France

The last time I was in EPCOT for the W&F Festival, I had the escargot so I decided to give something else a try this time.  My memory of the escargot was that if you liked a bow full of butter, you wold like this dish.  The snails were served in tiny little bread bowls, swimming in butter.  It was delicious.

This time I tried the Coq au Vin sur Gratin de Macaroni (red Wine Braised Chicken, Mushrooms, Pearl Onions and Macaroni Gratin)

OK, I for the first time, realize that the picture is not that appetizing by I assure you that the food was great.  The macaroni wasn't much to write home about.  It was pretty typical mac and cheese with abaked finish  but the chicken and accompanying gravy was very good.

Ireland

OK, you have figured out by now that I like Cheese.  I almost never eat it at home but really enjoyed the Kerrygold Cheese Selection:  Irish Aged Cheddar, Dubliner and Cashel Blue Cheese wit Apple Chutney and Brown Bread.

I could have had a whole bowl of the apple chutney and not tired of it.

Canada

In past years, I had tried the Canadian Cheddar Cheese Soup and loved it so much that much of the reason I returned was for this soup  (it is cheese, after all)

I don';t know if it was how full I was by this point or if my memory was better than my reality but I actually was disappointed with this soup.  It was good, I guess, but not as good as I had remembered.

Greece

OK, by this point in my adventure, I had been eating for about nine hours and was at the point of rolling rather than walking the rest of the way.  So, even though I am Greek, and even though I would have loved to have tired something interesting, I knew I still had four stops to make.  I settled for (and please be kind to me) and cup of Dannon Oikos Vanilla Greek Nonfat Yogurt.

Deserts & Champagne

I don't care how full you are or how many countries you have eaten at, there is always room for desert.

A fellow diner let me take a picture of her trio sampler

I had the Dark Chocolate Mousse with Chili and Salted Caramel.  The chocolate was smooth and creamy and then, just after you swallowed, there was an aftertaste of Chili peppers.  It was very, very good.  If you can only try one thing at eh festival, this makes my list of top five things

Hawaii

I had the Kalua Pork Slider with Sweet and Sour Dole Pineapple Chutney and Spicy Mayonnaise.  It was a perfect blend of flavors.

Note the cute little mickey mouse in the corner

Craft Beers

I tried the Leinenkugel`s Berry Weiss beer.  I am glad they offer it in 4 ounce cups because if I had any more than that, I would have been asleep before leaving the park.  It was Okay but, again, I am not a big wine and beer drinker.

Terra

At Terra, EPCOT's new vegetarian kiosk, I tried the Chocolate Cake Passion fruit Sorbet and Coconut Foam.

I am not a vegetarian and, if this is how I would have to eat, fear not, I never will be.It was only one of two dishes that I will declare truly nasty.

With this, I had conquered the Wine and Food Festival.  I had tried at least one thing at each kiosk.  I went back tot he W&F headquarters to collect my "completer stamp".  As the cast member took my book to stamp it, I looked up at the ceiling. He asked me what I was doing and I said  "I am looking for the balloons and confetti"  It was a bit of a letdown.  No music. no balloons, no one asked me for an autograph or asking me how I managed to do it.  But, I knew I had done it.  I had eated at 28 different countries in a day and a half.

Next year - 28 deserts!