The Tennyson Street Fair

Yesterday afternoon I spent an hour or so at the Tennyson Street Fair, which takes place in Denver's Berkeley neighborhood. This area has become extremely popular over the years, so much so that the northern part of Tennyson Street is a canyon of apartment buildings, prompting residents to take action to save the rest of the old-fashioned business district, which is where the fair took place. The festival took up 4 blocks of Tennyson, and featured over 200 local artisans and merchants, with an entire side street filled with food trucks. And I must say, it was very well attended. The most popular spot seemed to be Berkeley Untapped. Its shaded patio was packed with people and was standing room only, which makes sense, since it was 95 degrees with very little shelter from the sun out there.

The Tennyson Street Festival also featured musical acts. Mojomama, "known for a sonic blend of blues, funk, soul, and rock" according to the festival's website, was playing while as I was there, and a crowd had gathered under the trees in the park across the street to listen to them, as seen in the photograph on the right. This group was pretty good, too, I might add. Just beyond the point where the street fair ended, at the corner of 44th and Tennyson, I checked out Parisi, a well-known Italian restaurant here in Denver that has been in business for 27 years. They had a fire several months ago and have been closed ever since. I looked to see if there was a date to reopen, but the sign in the window only said that it was closed until further notice.  That restaurant and the nearby Oriental Theater, which opened in 1927 as a movie theater and is now a music venue, are the two most iconic businesses in the neighborhood. Hopefully Parisi will be back in business soon.

The 49th Annual Pearl Street Arts Fest

I took in the 49th Annual Pearl Street Arts Fest yesterday afternoon, which takes place each year on the Pearl Street Mall in downtown Boulder, Colorado. This festival began as the Downtown Boulder Art Fair in 1978, the first community event held on that mall, which was dedicated back on August 6th, 1977. This year there are over 100 artists from 22 states displaying sculptures, watercolors, oils, photography, mixed media, as well as a variety of other mediums. I really enjoyed walking around looking at the art, especially the photography. I very much liked the wildlife photography of both Matthew Ross (https://www.mrossphotography.com/) and Spenser Yowell (https://www.truvirtuephotography.com/), as well as the landscapes by Becky Batch (https://beckybatchphotography.com/). It is definitely worth checking out their booths.

The best part of this art fest is looking at all the art the while walking down the Pearl Street Mall. It is landscaped so beautifully, and the combination of the art and the landscaping really adds to the ambiance, as seen in the photograph on the right. Plus, as you might have suspected, Boulder is ground zero for peoplewatching. Such an incredible mixture - hippies, hipsters, college students, seniors, families, you name it. And plenty of restaurant and bar patios on the mall to sit and have a drink and watch it all from your table. 

And it is especially fun to stroll the mall on a Friday or Saturday night during the summer. There are magicians, jugglers, musicians, such as the guitar player in front of the Boulder Bookstore in the photograph on the left, and all manner of other kinds of buskers, too. Many people have dinner on the mall and then spend the rest of the evening going from one act to another. And during the Christmas season, the mall is elaborately decorated along its entire length. In any case, the Pearl Street Arts Fest continues today from 10:00 A.M. to 7:00 P.M. and Sunday from 10:00 A.M. to 5:00 P.M. If you are in the area - within 400 miles, give or take - you should definitely take it in.

Idaho Springs Has A New Tourist Attraction

This past April, the Mighty Argo Cable Car, seen in the photograph on the left, opened in Idaho Springs, Colorado, an old mining town about 35 minutes west of Denver. That cable car now whisks visitors up 1,300 feet in elevation over 1.3 miles to an upper terminal, which features a three-level facility with food and beverage options, an amphitheater, and an observation deck. This new tourist attraction is hoping to bring in a lot more visitors to Idaho Springs, which struggled this past winter due to a lack of snow. The number of skiers who stopped at Idaho Spring's restaurants and bars on their way home declined significantly, and it is hoped this cable car will help bring in more business. My sister Susan saw the local television news stories about that cable car and told me she would like to ride it to the top of the mountain this summer. However, yesterday, when she saw the actual cars going up the steel cables, she denied ever saying that. No spirit of adventure, I'm afraid.

The owner of the Mighty Argo Cable Car is also co-owner of the Argo Gold Mill and Tunnel, Idaho Spring's top tourist attraction, and seen in the photograph on the right. The tunnel was built between 1893 and 1910 to drain the gold mines in the area. It was such a success that a gold mill was built to process all that gold, recovering 10.1 trillion in today's dollars. The tunnel, by the way, is 4.16 miles long and connected almost all the gold mines between Idaho Springs and Central City. Idaho Springs itself is a nice old town with many homes from the Victorian era and a nearly intact 19th Century business district, with brew pubs, tourist-oriented shops, and the original Beau Jo's Pizza. Susan, my late brother-in-law George, and George's cousin Richard once wound up at Beau Jo's after a day of skiing when I-70 was closed due to a major snowstorm. I believe they spent half the night there waiting for the road to reopen. All three seemed to lose their appetite for Beau Jo's pizza after that evening. Go figure.

Watching The World Cup Match Between England And Argentina And Talking Baseball, Too

I had lunch yesterday afternoon at Spanky's Roadhouse, located just to the west of the University of Denver campus, with my friend Stuart, seen in the photograph above. Since DU is on summer break, I was surprised to find the place so crowded, everyone no doubt there to watch the semi-final World Cup match between England and Argentina. When we arrived, England was ahead 1-0, but I noticed that all the action seemed to be taking place right in front of England's net, and Argentina came back with two late goals to win the game 2-1 and move on to play Spain in Sunday's final. Which is all well and good, but no substitute for Major League Baseball, which will not resume until tomorrow, after the All-Star break. My South Side heroes, the Chicago White Sox, will begin the second half of the season tied for first place with the Cleveland Guardians in the American League Central, and Stuart's team, the Chicago Cubs (Stuart is originally from the North Side of Chicago and worships false gods) are 12 games above .500. Although 5 games out of first place in the National League Central, they are in a good position to make the playoffs. And will our teams continue their winning ways in the second half? Being Chicago baseball fans, we both know things can go downhill very quickly indeed. Hopefully that will not be the case this year. As for our adopted hometown team, the Colorado Rockies, they are much better than last year, have a number of promising young players, but are nevertheless currently in last place in the National League West with a 39-59 record. The goal for this year seems to be not losing 100 games for the 4th time in a row. A modest but reasonable target, but hopefully a much more ambitious goal is in the offing for next year. And about time.

Bear Attack!

A woman was attacked by an aggressive black bear around 5:20 P.M. a few Sundays ago while hiking the Enchanted Forest Trail in Apex Park. That trail runs through Apex Park from Golden, Colorado up to nearby Lookout Mountain, which is where I took the photograph above of the trailhead. The woman said she felt something tugging at her backpack and then a paw or claw touch her thigh and start pulling her backward. At first, she thought it was a person or a mountain lion trying to attack her, but when she turned around, she saw a young adult black bear. She started yelling at it, making herself look larger, and threw rocks at it, but it kept circling and charging her. And she did not have cell phone service in that part of the park. She was joined by another hiker heading downhill, and they headed back up the trail while the bear followed them. Eventually a third person joined them, and after a while the bear went down another trail and began following a different set of hikers. Once they had cellphone service, they called 911 and park rangers were dispatched. Colorado Parks and Wildlife said that the bear was probably "habituated," unafraid of humans, and was no doubt looking for food. It was the first bear attack of the year here in Colorado. The woman involved wished to remain anonymous, according to the Denver7 website, no doubt fearing that if her name appeared in a newspaper article or on a website, the bear might be able to track her down. It reminds me of an old Far Side Cartoon, where a man opens the door and finds an elephant, wearing a hat and trench coat and holding a revolver, standing there. The elephant then says "Remember me, Mr. Jones? Kenya, 1956? If you are going to shoot an elephant, Mr. Jones, you need to make sure you finish the job." And by the way, the woman was unhurt, and plans to bring bear mace and a Garmin (a GPS-enabled product) with an SOS function the next time she goes hiking on that trail.  Talk about brave.

Celebrating Bastille Day In Cherry Creek North

Today is Bastille Day, and although it wasn't quite the same as watching fireworks over the Eiffel Tower while sitting on the Champ de Mars, they celebrated Bastille Day on Fillmore Plaza in Denver's Cherry Creek North neighborhood this past weekend. It was only a block long, but still, there was everything French at this festival, including the Cafe de Paris Bar, no doubt moved here from France just for this event and seen in the photograph on the left.

They even had a VIP Tasting Area, as seen in the photograph on the right. What I want to know is who are these VIPs? And how do you get to be a Denver French Fest VIP? No doubt they are tasting wine. Are they wine experts? So many questions, so few answers. All that I know is that it must cost big bucks to sit there. That's Cherry Creek North for you.

There was also music at the festival, as seen in the photograph on the left, but it did not sound very French. I would have expected an accordion player like they have on the Paris Metro, who goes from one car to the other at each stop and plays a short tune, asking for tips. I would suggest that next year they have an accordion player just like that walk through the crowd playing tunes and asking for tips. I would especially recommend that accordion player spend a lot of time around that VIP tent. No doubt they are big tippers. And yes, they even had little dogs in baby strollers at the festival. Are there a lot of people in Paris who go around pushing their dogs in baby strollers? I wouldn't doubt it for a second.

There were also a number of French-like props at the festival, such as the old Citroen automobile in the photograph on the right. At least I think it is a Citroen. I don't know any other French car company, so I will just go with Citroen, whether it is or not. They also had a 10-foot wire Eiffel Tower on display, but it was not very impressive, to say the least. Which reminds me that years ago, I saw an Eiffel Tower bottle opener for sale at Restoration Hardware at the Cherry Creek Mall, but didn't buy it. Once I became a full-fledged Francophile after my first visit to Paris, I went back to Restoration Hardware, but found no trace of it. Now, of course, Restoration Hardware has become RH Denver, the Gallery at Cherry Creek, "the leader in luxury home furnishings, interior design and hospitality." And so, kiss that Eiffel Tower bottle opener goodbye forever, at least if you're looking for it at RH. In spite of that, Happy Bastille Day Everyone!

It's The All-Star Break, And The Chicago White Sox Are In First Place!

Miracles do happen. My South Side heroes, the Chicago White Sox, swept the Oakland (Sacramento?) Athletics yesterday afternoon at Rate Field to finish the first half of the season tied with the Cleveland Guardians (Indians?) for first place in the American League Central Division. Last year, the Sox ended the regular season with a 60-102 record, finishing last in that division, and so it has been an amazing turnaround. Yesterday they won 9-1 against the Athletics, and most of the damage was done in the first inning, when the Sox scored 6 runs for a 6-1 lead. The Athletics, of course, have suffered some major injuries, and are struggling, but I think that the big difference is that Munetaka Murakami, the "Japanese Babe Ruth," is back in the lineup after 6 weeks on the injured list. The Sox were 17-18 with Murakami gone, but are once again playing great baseball now that he has returned. The crowds are back at Rate Field, too, as seen in the photograph above. Meanwhile, their North Side rivals, the Chicago Cubs, are playing great baseball, too, 5 games behind the Milwaukee Brewers, who have the second-best record in baseball. If the Cubs don't finish in 1st, a wild-card berth looks like a sure bet. Could this be the first Subway Series between the Sox and Cubs since 1906? The White Sox, known as the "Hitless Wonders" that year, won that series 4 games to 2. Just remember, baseball fans, as you put your bets down on the Series, that the Pope is a White Sox fan. Which very well might be the biggest factor in the White Sox's resurgence this year.