Big News! In-N-Out Burger Is Coming To South Denver!

I read in the Denver Post several weeks ago that In-N-Out Burger is planning to put 2 new locations in Denver - one near Denver International Airport, located not too far from the Kansas State Line, and the other at 1470 South Colorado Boulevard, just a mile or so away from my condo across the street from the University of Denver. That is big news. I have tried In-N-Out Burger only once, when I spent a long weekend in San Francisco right before the DU Bookstore, where I worked as Finance Manager, was outsourced to Follett Higher Education Group (and don't get me started on this). In any case, I was walking around Fisherman's Wharf, about to walk to the Golden Gate Bridge, and noticed an In-N-Out Burger. I had heard about them mainly through Michael Connelly's Harry Bosch novels. Sometimes, when on stakeout, Connelly's fictional LA police detective would stop first at an In-N-Out Burger to fortify him for the long night ahead. And so, I stopped there for lunch, and the burger was great. In-N-Out expanded to Colorado in 2020, and now has 15 locations in the state, although none anywhere near South Denver. The hamburgers might be great, but I have never wanted to make a long drive just to eat at a fast-food restaurant. But now they are coming to the neighborhood! They are only at the permitting stage right now, but plan to put their new Colorado Boulevard In-N-Out Burger on the site of a former Arby's and Black-Eyed Pea, seen in the photograph above. And I can't wait to try their "double double." Which will probably be in 2028 or so, but what the hell. I've waited this long, after all.

Talking Baseball With Stuart At The Old Chicago In Lakewood...

I got together for lunch yesterday afternoon with my friend Stuart, seen in the photograph above, at the Old Chicago Pizza and Taproom in Lakewood, Colorado, a rather ugly suburb just to the west of Denver. And after discussing a number of topics, the conversation turned to baseball. My South Side heroes, the Chicago White Sox, have not been having a good September, and are 3 and 7 over their last 10 games. They have been in first place in the American League Central Division all year, but as of today are only 1/2 game in front of the Cleveland Guardians. With a mere 12 days left in the season, Stuart and I agreed that they have to turn things around quickly or their playoffs dreams will go up in smoke. But I did have to mention that no matter what happens, the White Sox have had a great year with many promising rookies on the roster, and their future looks bright. As for their North Side rivals, the Chicago Cubs, which is Stuart's team, they still have a good chance of making the playoffs, although how far they go in the post-season is a big question mark. I know Stuart isn't putting down any big bets on them winning it all. Over the past 9 seasons, the Cubs have made the playoffs 4 times, winning a total of 2 series. As for our adopted hometown team, the Colorado Rockies, they have gone 2 and 8 over their past 10 games, and their single goal this season was not to lose 100 games for the 4th time in a row. They currently have a record of 56 and 95, with 11 more games to play. So much for that goal. And as for my South Side heroes, the White Sox, miracles do happen, right? Perhaps someone should e-mail Pope Leo to ask for a little help.

The Fall Quarter Has Begun At The University Of Denver

Classes at the University of Denver began last Tuesday, the day after Labor Day. Last year, I stopped by the DU Bookstore - where I worked for almost 30 years - on the first day of classes to see what it was like these days and was shocked to find only 2 employees at the cash registers and maybe 3 customers on the sales floor. Back in 2012, the last time I ever worked the first day of fall classes, the bookstore was jampacked with students. We had 8 cash registers going the entire day, and lines went halfway to the back wall. I took the photograph on the left yesterday morning, the second week of school, and the scene was more or less the same as last year. And how did this business change so much in 15 years? As far as I can tell, most students now get their textbooks via what is called a "course-by-course" access program, where the bookstore, campus, and publishers sign an agreement to provide textbooks on or before the first day of classes, and the materials are delivered digitally via a "campus learning management system." No need for bookstores to hire extra help to receive physical textbooks or temporary cashiers to ring up all those sales. And so, yesterday there were just two employees to ring up a handful of sales. An entire industry turned upside down, just like daily newspapers, network television, monthly or weekly magazines, and countless others, thanks to this new digital age.

Except for the new student center that replaced the old one on the north side of the Driscoll Center, the new freshman dorm (which the university insists on calling student housing), and a new science building on the south side of campus, everything looks pretty much the same at DU, as does the walk from the Driscoll Center back to my condo. And as usual, I passed by students heading to lunch or their next class, as seen in the photograph on the right. Of course, there are far fewer of them these days, thanks to the shrinking pool of college age students, fewer high school graduates moving on to college, and smaller numbers of international students, thanks to Trump administration policies. DU's administration, which had to deal with a $30 million budget shortfall last fiscal year, has combined divisions and departments and laid off faculty and staff to deal with this new reality. Time will tell if it is enough. Hopefully it is. After all, I live across the street from DU. God knows what would replace it if it went away. A maximum-security prison, an AI data center, the new home of a strange and mysterious religious cult? It just boggles the mind.

Oktoberfest On South Pearl Street

Oktoberfest celebrations began this past Saturday here in Denver, including both the Highlands Oktoberfest and Oktoberfest on South Pearl Street in the Platt Park neighborhood. I attended both festivals last September but only had time to attend one this year. The Highlands Oktoberfest takes place over a 4 or 5-block section of West 32nd Avenue in that popular neighborhood, and is always fun, while Oktoberfest on South Pearl is on a single block, but well attended and very lively. Since South Pearl Street is only a mile or so away from my condo across the street from the University of Denver, I decided to head there, and really enjoyed it. I noticed last year that many of the people attending were wearing traditional costumes, and it was the same this year, too, as seen in the photograph on the left.

Oktoberfest on South Pearl is sponsored by Platt Park Brewing, which is located on that block, and there were over 10 local craft breweries represented there this year. Not surprisingly, that was where the majority of visitors were hanging out. There was also live music, stein hoisting contests throughout the day, brat eating contests, not to mention costume contests, too, which probably explains so many people wearing lederhosen and dirndls. I took the photograph on the right of the men's brat eating contest (there was a women's contest right afterwards). There was quite a crowd surrounding the event, and so I wound up having to stand in the back, hold the camera up high, and hope for the best. Which turned out to work just fine.

My only complaint was that the music, at least when I was there, was all rock and roll, instead of more traditional German melodies. This is also true of the Oktoberfest on Larimer Street in Denver's Ballpark neighborhood, which will take place the next two weekends. The only Oktoberfest that seems to have exclusively traditional German music is Breckenridge Oktoberfest, which takes place this year September 25th through 27th. However, I was happy to see that Oktoberfest on South Pearl did host some traditional German dancing, which was very nice, even if the music they danced to was recorded and not live. All in all, a fun event to attend. With more to come in the next few weeks.

Back In Denver With Mark And The Colorado Spurs

Yesterday morning I went with my friend Mark, seen in the photograph above, to Esters Pub, located in the Virginia Village neighborhood of Denver, to join the Colorado Spurs in watching Tottenham play Everton in an English Premier League Soccer match. As usual, that Tottenham Hotspur supporters group was very enthusiastic, despite Tottenham currently being in 17th place in the standings. The two teams seemed equally matched, and the game ended in a 0-0 tie. This is the first time I have watched a Tottenham match since last year, when they finished one game away from being relegated to the English Championship League, which would be the equivalent of a major league baseball team being demoted to the AAA division. In other words, not a good thing at all. Tottenham has yet to score a goal during their first four games, but I'm sure they will get one by the time the season ends next May, especially since the team spent 380 million pounds during the off-season to beef up the team. But no matter - it is early in the season. There are still 34 games to go. And on the bright side, if you bet big on Tottenham to win it all and they actually do, you could make a fortune.

The Flight Home

My sister Susan and I flew back to Denver from Stuart, Florida this past Thursday, a fun-filled eight hour and five-minute experience, not counting the drive to President Donald J. Trump International Airport (I still can't believe they did that) and the rather pricey Uber ride from Denver International Airport back to my condo across the street from the University of Denver. The problem, of course, is that there are no direct flights between Denver and West Palm Beach during the summer, and so you have to change planes, either with a long layover or a very short one, desperately trying to get to the opposite end of the airport to make your connection. Frankly, I prefer driving, even if it does take 3 full days to get from Denver to Stuart. Much less pain and stress, and a lot of interesting places to visit along the way, with brewpubs now in almost every town. Perhaps just that happy fact is worth putting 4,000 miles on your car each round trip. It's all how you look at things, right?

A Final Visit To Stuart Beach Before Heading Back To Denver

It has been pretty damn hot and humid here in Stuart this summer, but then again, this is Florida, so what do you expect? The good thing about summer down here is that you do not have to fight the crowds to get a table at a restaurant, or, when visiting places like Palm Beach, having to wait in long lines to cross the drawbridge over Lake Worth in order to get back to reality. But best of all, when you are at Stuart Beach, as seen in the photograph above, or even along the St. Lucie River on the patio at Sailor's Return, you get a breeze off the water that makes August very tolerable. And definitely laid back. Sadly, since the tourists and the snowbirds are afraid to come down to South Florida this time of year, fearing they might melt, there are no festivals or events taking place. There used to be Dancing in the Streets every August here in Stuart, but that is long gone, and don't get me started about that 30-year tradition being killed off back in 2017. But no matter - things will start happening again down here around the end of October, including the 2026 Fort Lauderdale International Boat Show, the largest in-water boat show in the world. I definitely plan to attend that event and finally pick out my "forever" Superyacht. Can't wait. I am sure I can arrange an affordable payment plan. They are probably desperate for sales.