Watching Tottenham Play Leeds With Both The Tottenham AND Leeds Supporter Groups!

My friend Mark - seen in the photograph above - and I went to Ester's Pub here in Denver yesterday afternoon to watch a Premier League soccer match between the Tottenham Hotspurs and Leeds United with both the Colorado Spurs and Leeds United Colorado supporter groups. Tottenham is desperately trying to avoid relegation down to the Champions League (the AAA of English soccer) and every win is important. And I must say, it was a very exciting and hard-fought contest, ending in a 1-1 tie. It was really fun to have fans of both teams in the same room, voicing their opinions: "That was definitely a penalty," "No way was that a penalty," etc. Three teams will be relegated down to the Champions League, and with the tie, Tottenham is 2 points above that relegation zone. I do understand how this system motivates teams to win and owners to continuously strive to improve their teams, but I am very glad that it is not used in Major League Baseball. If it was, the Chicago White Sox and Colorado Rockies would never get back to the big leagues again. Thank heaven for small favors.

The First Annual RiNo Street Fair!

This past Saturday the first ever RiNo Street Fair took place. The River North Art District, RiNo for short, is the ground zero neighborhood for hipsters here in Denver. It was originally a factory and warehouse district, and when Lower Downtown, just to the south, became too expensive, artists moved their studios and art galleries to the much cheaper RiNo neighborhood. And then, of course, hipsters discovered it and moved there in droves. The neighborhood is now filled with expensive new apartment buildings, brew pubs, upscale shops and hotels, and colorful street art wherever you look. The street fair was held on Larimer Street between 28th and 31st. Larimer still had many Victorian commercial buildings, and so is pretty vibrant and walkable. But just to the west, large new apartment buildings stand next to empty or still operating warehouses and factories, and there are still plenty of vacant lots waiting to be developed, which to me makes the area pretty unattractive. But hipsters seem to love it. As for all those artists, RiNo is now pretty pricey, and to me those galleries and studios seem to be few and far-between these days.

In any case, the street fair featured 100 artisan booths, food trucks, pickleball (why not?), and craft beer from Ratio Beerworks, Our Mutual Friend, Bierstadt Lagerhaus, and Odell's Brewing. And this event was very well attended. I enjoyed walking around and checking everything out, but have to say that RiNo doesn't really need an organized street fair, since the neighborhood is more or less a 24/7 street fair anyway. There are always food trucks and vendors selling merchandise on Larimer Street, and the brew pubs have patios that extend to the street, making patrons feel part of the action. And there is an alley, seen in the photograph on the right, located behind the Denver Central Food Hall, that is filled with bars, restaurants, and esoteric kinds of shops, with the walls on either side covered with murals. People are always walking up and down and hanging out in that alley, creating their own impromptu street fair. A fun neighborhood to visit, but as for living there? Having an apartment located next door to fenced-in former warehouses or huge vacant lots waiting to be redeveloped would be tough to get used to. Of course, real estate agents refer to that as local color. And seems to work.

Mother's Day 2026!

Today is Mother's Day, and my sister Susan and I were talking just yesterday about how much we both wished our mother Mary was still here with us. When our father Nelson retired back in 1976, they moved from the Chicago area to Stuart, Florida, and they both loved it there. We visited them in Florida as often as possible, and after my father passed away in 1983, our mother stayed on in Stuart, telling us she had more friends there than at any other time in her life. Although she can't be with us today, we still have great memories of our time with her, and for that we are grateful. And by the way, I took the photograph above of mother in front of the House of Refuge Museum on Hutchinson Island, just a few miles south of Stuart Beach, sometime in the early 2000s, a favorite place of ours to hang out and enjoy looking at the ocean. Happy Mother's Day, Everyone!

Friday Afternoon On The Boulder Mall

It was a perfect day up in Boulder, Colorado yesterday afternoon, sunny and warm after a few days of cold and snow, and so everyone was out and about on the Boulder Mall enjoying the day. The Boulder Bookstore, located at the west end of the mall and seen in the photograph on the left, was doing good business, and there were several musicians in front of it, entertaining the people walking past. And even though commencement took place last Saturday, there were still a couple of coeds in their graduation gowns walking down the mall having their photographs taken by relatives. Hopefully, they own those gowns and didn't just rent them. Otherwise, they will be looking at a visit from the rental gown police.

As usual, there were a fair number of people on the patio of the Bohemian Biergarten, no doubt having a beer and a late lunch, as seen in the photograph on the right. This place specializes in Central European cuisine, and most if not all of their draft beers are imported from Europe. I have walked past this place many times and really like that patio, but have never actually stopped there, mainly because they specialize in Central European cuisine and most if not all of their draft beers are imported from Europe. After all, right next door is The Post, which specializes in fried chicken. They also brew their own beer and have a happy hour from 2:00 until 6:00 featuring $5 pints. How can you top that? 

At the east end of the Boulder Mall is Postino, which also has a very nice and very popular outdoor patio, mainly because of a happy hour which features $6 glasses of wine between 3:00 and 5:00 every day. The rest of the time those glasses of wine sell anywhere from $11 to $15, and so I understand why those bar stools, seen in the photograph on the left, are always occupied. On the other hand, they only have 3 beers on tap, the snobs. What's the deal with that? In any case, it was a great day for a walk on the mall, not to mention a great day for people watching, too. It is Boulder, after all.

The Final Snowfall Of The Season?

The Denver area received a rare May snowstorm this past Tuesday and Wednesday, most likely the last snowfall of the season. Here in central Denver, we received about 6 inches of the white stuff, although the roads seemed to stay pretty clear. Meanwhile, up in Evergreen, in the foothills west of Denver (elevation 7,200 feet), they received 15 inches. After the snow stopped Wednesday, my sister Susan and I headed up there to get a final taste of winter. I took the photograph on the left at Evergreen's Dedisse Park, showing Evergreen Lake in the background. Despite the relatively high snow total, the pavement was dry up there, too, and people were out walking around the lake and just enjoying the day. It is indeed very pretty up there during the winter, and I can see why people enjoy living there, but it does have its downsides. I once knew someone who had a house in Conifer, Colorado, located south of Evergreen at an elevation of 8,300 feet. He loved living up there but eventually decided to move back to Denver. Shoveling snow 9 months out of the year eventually just got a little old for him. Figure that.

Evergreen is a suburb of Denver and is considered to be located in the foothills. For some reason, here in Colorado, and probably elsewhere, too, they consider anyplace at an elevation between 6,000 and 8,000 feet the foothills. Being from Chicago, this absolutely mystifies me. After all, the highest mountain in the Appalachian range is Mount Mitchell, at an elevation of 6,684. So why are they mountains back there and poor Evergreen is merely in the foothills? Life was never this complicated back on Chicago's South Side. In any case, Evergreen is an upscale community, as you might expect, but it still does have a crime problem, as you can see from the photograph on the right showing kids engaging in winter activities right behind the "No Winter Activities" sign. And just after I took that photo, the entire family climbed up there to also engage in illegal winter activities. No wonder the Jefferson County Sheriff's Department has such a major presence in that area.

As we were heading out of town, I turned onto the road leading up to the top of Mount Blue Sky (formerly Mount Evans and at an elevation of 14,271 feet definitely a mountain, right?) and drove a few miles before u-turning and pulling off to the side of the road to take the photograph on the left. As I mentioned before, Evergreen is a pretty upscale community and homes there are not cheap. But low and behold, as you can see from that photo, I think I have found a fixer-upper that can probably be had for a song. It needs a little work but just look at that view. A little bit of repair to the roof and walls, a new fireplace, and you will have a place to hang your hat. Be sure to talk to your realtor today. And no thanks necessary.

The April And May Issues Of Chicago Magazine

I recently went through the April and May issues of Chicago Magazine, the one magazine of the three I subscribe to that I actually read. The cover story for the April issue is "The Best New Restaurants, Our 13 Favorites, Ranked." The introduction to the article written by the magazine's editor states that the current trend in Chicago restaurants is "the arrival of midwestern cuisine," and that two of these new restaurants, Creepies (No. 1) and Petite Edith (No. 5) "are doing this particularly well, creatively incorporating regional elements into dishes at their French-inspired bistros." I'm not exactly sure how they can mix French food with Midwestern, but then I am not a gourmet, by any stretch of the imagination. All I know is that they don't mention the average cost of dinner at either of those places, although they do say that Petite Edith is famous for introducing Chicago to the $225 duck. Enough said. The one restaurant that I thought might be good is the number 12 pick, Pizz'Amici, a pizzeria located in the West Town neighborhood. The food critic who wrote the article says you will say wow three times between each bite. But the next time I drive back to Chicago and want to get a taste of classic Chicago pizza, will I go to Pizz'Amici, located in a North Side hipster haven, or to my old favorites, Vito and Nick's and Aurelios's, those South Side Chicago institutions? You know the answer to that one. And the most interesting thing I read in Chicago's April issue is that Iowa has made a bid to relocate the Chicago Bears to the Hawkeye State. Seriously.

The cover story for the May issue of Chicago Magazine is "The Insider's Guide to Vacationing in Wisconsin." It consists of 8 articles featuring different areas in that state that are especially worth visiting. And one of them is "The Apostle Islands and their Gateway, Up North - Way Way Up North - to Bayfield and Beyond." This is a part of Wisconsin I know very well. Back in 1918, my Grandfather Hoyt and Great Uncle John bought 80 acres south of the town of Herbster, which is a 30-minute drive from Bayfield. The photograph on the right is of me standing on that property several years ago. Bayfield is a very pretty town on a hillside overlooking Lake Superior, and the article mentions bookstores, bars, restaurants, and various types of shops worth visiting, as well as great places to stay. Bayfield is the gateway to the Apostle Islands, which consist of 22 islands popular with kayakers and outdoor enthusiasts. Madeline Island is the only one that is inhabited, and a ferry connects its quaint town of La Pointe with Bayfield. 

My Great Uncle John let his half of the Herbster property go during the Great Depression, but my Grandfather Hoyt kept his half, and gave it to my father Nelson, who gave it to me, and which I still own. It is about 6 miles south of Herbster and is accessible via a snowmobile trail, about a one and a half mile walk from the nearest road when snow isn't covering the ground (August). Unfortunately, the trees are so thick, the property is inaccessible beyond that trail. I do wish my grandfather had bought 40 acres in Bayfield, as seen in the photograph on the left, instead, but those are the breaks. Others articles of interest in the May issue are a photographic essay called "Chicago on the Move," featuring pictures of people in transit in Chicago, whether by public transportation, car, or on foot, a piece about the State of Indiana making a bid to relocate the Chicago Bears to Hammond, and why it would be good for Illinois taxpayers, and an interview with Joel Mokyr, the Northwestern economic historian and Nobel Prize winner. All in all, two worthwhile issues to peruse.

Springtime In The Rockies!

Denver and Colorado are currently experiencing severe drought conditions. As of yesterday morning, snowfall in downtown Denver was 49% of average, 29 inches below normal. Basically, we virtually never had winter this year. And it was the most snow-starved season in 30 years for ski resorts in Colorado and Utah. The good news is that yesterday and today Colorado is experiencing its biggest May snowstorm in decades. While 4 to 8 inches are predicted to fall in Denver through this afternoon, snowfall in some parts of the mountains is expected to be over 2 feet, which will help with the drought, but by no means end it. March and April are considered to be the snowiest months in Colorado, although not so much in recent years, and so everyone is excited about this May storm. The television weather forecasters are positively giddy about it. And Denver Public Schools has canceled classes for today, although to be honest, I think that might be going a bit overboard. The University of Denver, seen in the photograph above that I took from my living room window yesterday afternoon, has also canceled classes for today. As the former Finance Manager of the DU Bookstore, I do have to admit that I just loved snow days - what a joy to wake up to - and so I guess I can't begrudge anyone getting a day off from work or school today. Enjoy!