Untitled: Final Fridays Are Finished

The Untitled: Final Fridays events at the Denver Art Museum are history. They are being replaced by Untitled: Creative Fusions, which will take place quarterly (the last Fridays of January, April, July, and October).  I suspect that the change is due to the drop in attendance at these events last year, which I myself blame on the end of the free buffet table.  Art is so much more inspiring when combined with free food.  In any case, I did happen to visit the DAM last week, and as expected, there was very little new to see.  One exception was "Phantom Canyon, A Digital Circuit," which consists of 15 digital artworks on display in the lobby areas.  One of these "artworks" is titled "Angel," by British artist Mark Wallinger, in front of which which I posed in the above photograph.  The description on the wall plaque says that this video shows Wallinger as his "alter ego," Blind Faith, walking backwards on the escalator at the Angel Underground Station in London, speaking the beginning of the Book of John backwards.  The video is then reversed to make it appear that Wallinger is walking forward and speaking normally.  The Denver Art Museum (The DAM) probably spent a small fortune acquiring this piece.  You think they would be able to afford a monthly buffet table if they can spend good money on something like this, but that is just my opinion.  The correct one, of course, but who am I to say?

More From The Denver Zoo

As I mentioned in yesterday's post, I visited the Denver Zoo on Wednesday to take a few photographs and enjoy the sunny and relatively warmer weather (it hit 41 degrees in the afternoon).  However, not too many people seemed to agree with me about the weather, since the zoo was relatively empty.  There was, however, a small crowd that gathered to see a show put on by a seal and it's trainer, as seen in the photograph on the left.  The seal saluted it's trainer, did a batman impression, leapt up and hit a ball with it's head, and showed how it evades predators (although I assume the zoo doesn't actually put predators in with those seals).

There were also a few visitors in the ape house, where gorillas are kept on one side of the building, and orangutans on the other.  Sadly, the gorilla baby and it's parents were sent to the Jacksonville Zoo in hopes they can grow their family there. There are still 3 bachelor gorillas that remain in Denver, including the one in the photograph on the right interacting with a family and posing for a group photo.

What I want to know what is happening with Cerah, the baby orangutan.  I have not seen it in a long time, and when I check on the zoo's website, the only mention I see is a celebration for it's first birthday, back in March of last year.  The older orangutans are still out and about, including the one in the photograph on the left, no doubt enjoying the sunny, cool weather.  I must say, the inside of their compound is a mess, filled with hay and various objects put in there to amuse those animals. It is such a mess that somebody reported the state of the place to the newspapers, who after talking to zoo officials, reported that this was just how the orangutans like it.  Kind of like me, I guess.

As I was leaving the zoo, I walked through the monkey house, where I ran across the red-tailed lemur in the photograph on the right.  This poor thing looks really hostile, and I can't blame it.  It is kept in an inside cage all the time, and has probably never seen the outside world.  No wonder it is so angry and bitter. The zoo should definitely put it in an outside compound once in a while and let it feel what a natural environment is like. In any case, I think that if you want to take really good photographs at the zoo, it is best when there are few other visitors, so that you will be the focus of these animal's attention.  In other words, stay away from free days, where the odds of being trampled to death or run over by thousands of baby strollers is a real possibility. Stay safe out there, people!

Visiting Some Cool Cats

I went to the Denver Zoo yesterday.  I was planning to go Tuesday, but it was so damn cold and windy I put it off until yesterday. Fortunately, Wednesday was sunny and warmer, although not too many people decided to take advantage of the 40 degree temperatures to visit the zoo.  No matter - the weather did not seem to bother the animals, especially the big cats.  I tried to take photos of Tatu, the baby lion cub, and it's father, Tobias, starring right into the lens, but as you can see in the photograph on the left, they were both more interested in starring into space, no doubt meditating on the meaning of life.

For a minute there, I actually though Tobias was going to turn all the way around so that I could get a good shot, but unfortunately he wound up turning around only halfway, as seen in the photograph on the right.  No matter - I think the photo shows Tobias in a charmingly reflective mood. And as one of the zoo's volunteers has said, he is an incredibly gentle creature and very good with his son Tobias, and so how can I complain?

Fortunately Tatu's mother Neliah was not afraid to face me and pose for the camera.  I must admit that she does look pretty crabby in this photograph. That is probably because I happened to mention that Tatu looks much bigger than when I last saw him, and therefore not nearly as cute as he used to be. Just telling it like it is, Neliah.

I was also happy to find that one of the tigers was willing to pose for the camera, too.  I think that since visitors were few and far between at the zoo yesterday, the animals were feeling lonely and neglected, and so were much more sociable than usual.  Once again, I have to say that it is a shame they can't be released from their cages (supervised by Denver Zoo interns, of course), so that they can interact with zoo visitors.  I am sure they would just love to be scratched behind the ears, and I myself would love to take a photograph of that.  As I have said many times before, that is just the kind of guy I am.

A Little Too Much Like Winter...

It seems like it has been snowing every other day this month here in Denver.  We do, of course, get snow in the winter, but more often than not we also get sunny, fairly mild days to balance out the occasional snowstorm.  I myself am not a fan of the snow and cold, and it is making me surly.  Especially when I see so many people wearing shorts when it is so cold outside.  What is the deal with that?  Granted, there are some days when shorts are appropriate, but not when it is cold as hell.  That is just crazy.  It must be all those Californians who have invaded our state in recent years.  In any case, I took the above photograph of the snow-covered lake in front of the boathouse at Washington Park on my way home from the art museum on one such snowy day.  The boathouse is a popular spot for weddings, but I suspect not in February.

Burgers And Beers With Stuart At The Wynkoop

I had burgers and beers with my friend Stuart last night at the Wynkoop Brewing Company in Lower Downtown Denver (LoDo).  And I must say, they make a good burger - not to mention a good beer - there. This is the same brewpub that John Hickenlooper, the former Colorado governor, started back in 1988 when he was laid off from his job as a geologist.   Once he became governor, he sold his interest in the place to avoid conflicts of interest.  Hickenlooper is now running for the senate, and I have to wonder whether he might try to get his share of the business back if he doesn't win the election.  The least they could do is give him a job as a waiter, right?

Tropical Swap

I just finished reading Tropical Swap, one of Laurence Shames wacky, comic Key West novels. Shames lived in Key West for many years, and wrote 8 of these books, but then stopped writing the series after moving to Ojai, California, near Los Angeles.  I suspect he moved there to write for the film industry and start making some real money.  And then, about 5 years ago, I noticed that he had published a new  Key West novel called Shot on Location.  I liked the book, but only recently bought Tropical Swap, the next one in the series.  These books only seem to be available on Amazon, and are not cheap.  I suspect they might now be self-published. In any case, like all his others, the story involves innocent outsiders who either move to or visit Key West and wind up getting involved in crazy adventures with the eccentric locals.  There are now 4 more books in the series that I have yet to read, but hope to rectify that situation soon.  If you want a good laugh, you can't go wrong picking up one of these stories, which for me is high praise.

The Denver Travel And Adventure Show...

I went to the Denver Travel and Adventure Show at the Colorado Convention Center here in Denver yesterday.  In addition to booths promoting cities, states, countries, cruise lines, and a large number of travel companies, there were also quite a few speakers, including my personal hero, Rick Steves, travel guide writer and host of the PBS series Rick Steves Europe, seen in the photograph on the left posing for the cameras before starting his talk.  I arrived early in hopes of getting a good seat, and was surprised to find a spot in the front row.  It was standing room only by the time Rick started to speak, and virtually everyone there was my age or older.  I guess Doug, my friend and former University of Denver co-worker, was right when he said that Rick Steves was the "Lawrence Welk" of travel.  No matter - I enjoyed his talk and thought his remarks were informative and spot on.

Another speaker was Pauline Frommer, Editorial Director for Frommer's Guides, and seen in the photograph on the right.  She started her talk by telling how her father, Arthur Frommer (who at 90 years old still works every day), founded the company. He had just graduated from Yale Law School when he was drafted.  This was during the Korean War, and he fully expected to be sent there, but because he spoke both German and Russian (his parents were immigrants), he was sent instead to Berlin, working for military intelligence. During his free time, he traveled throughout Europe, and his fellow soldiers peppered him with travel questions.  He decided to write a pamphlet called A GI's Guide to Europe, which was quite a success, and not too long after he left the army, published Europe on 5 Dollars a Day, the most popular travel book in history. And the rest, as they say, is history.  This is the last day of the travel show here in Denver, and both Rick Steves and Pauline Frommer will again be speaking.  Be sure to catch them if you can.

Let The Games Begin!

Baseball spring training games start today.  How great is that?  When my mother Mary was still alive and living in Stuart, Florida, I would often come down in March to visit and catch a few of those exhibition contests while I was there.  At first the stadiums were small and fan friendly, such as Payne Park in Sarasota, where the Chicago White Sox used to train, and Holman Stadium in Vero Beach, where the Los Angeles - and before them, the Brooklyn - Dodgers trained for many years.  Back then players and fans entered and left the stadiums the same way, making for a much more intimate baseball experience.  It was all about getting ready for the season, and as I recall, ticket prices were cheap.  These days, in addition to getting players in shape, spring training is also considered an important revenue source. The teams now train in small versions of major league parks, and tickets cost the same as during the regular season.  But I am still happy that spring training games begin today in both Florida and Arizona. It is, after all, a time of optimism for baseball fans everywhere.  At this point, every team has a chance to win it all, at least in theory. And in honor of this special day, I am featuring a photograph of my mother that I took in front of Roger Dean Stadium (located in Jupiter, Florida) at one such spring contest back in March of 2002.  I can't remember which teams played that day, but who cares?  It was spring training.

The Littleton Museum Part II - Visiting With The Animals

I mentioned in yesterday's blog that I recently revisited the Littleton Museum, which features not only exhibits showing that city's history from the 1860s to the present, but also has two "living history farms" from the 1860s and 1890s with actual living animals.  The first farm animal I encountered was the horse in the photograph on the left, who was more than happy to pose for the camera.  I get the feeling that the animals here don't get enough visitors, and certainly not enough attention.

The bighorn sheep in the photograph on the right was friendly, but does seem to have a serious under-bite.  I really think that museum staff need to bring in a dentist to see if he or she could help.  There were a number of other sheep in the pen, too, but most of them seemed to shy away from me, behaving like, well, sheep.

The goat in the photograph on the left was extremely friendly, and not only was willing to be photographed, but followed me all along the fence of it's pen.  When I headed off to look at the 1860s schoolhouse on the other side of the grounds, I could still see him or her, front feet on the fence, following my progress.  Museum staff definitely need to visit with this animal several times a day, if not more.  Perhaps they could throw a ball for it to catch.  If dogs like to do this, why not goats?

And, of course, how can I not include the museum's guard cat.  It watched me as I walked past the 1860s farmhouse, and later on followed me inside and watched my every move while I was in there.  This cat was also here the last time I visited a few years ago, and so must be a fixture at the place. And I might add, ever vigilant.

Revisiting The Littleton Museum

 It has been  a while since I last visited the Littleton Museum, located in that town just south of Denver, and so decided this past Saturday to take advantage of a break in the weather and do so.  Despite my rant the other day about the ugliness of most of Denver's suburbs, there are some exceptions,  all of which began as independent towns back in the 1860s. Littleton, like Arvada, began as a farming community, and both eventually became centers for commerce in the area.  Golden and Boulder (although Boulder, despite being close, is not really a suburb) started as communities supplying miners.  The Littleton Museum consists of a modern facility with historical exhibits, but more importantly, includes two "living history farms" from the 1860s and 1890s.

The 1860s farm consists of a one room cabin, as seen in the photograph on the right.  It is protected by a guard cat (in the bottom right hand corner of the photo).  I have walked past this building on other visits, but never went inside, which I wound up doing Saturday.  The cat followed me in, of course (that is it's job, after all), and kept a close watch on on me the entire time I was there.  There was a large fireplace in the room, along with pots and pans and and various other household items, and I must say you have to admire the pioneers who lived there.  And I did check at the front desk and verified that this was indeed the original building from the 1860s.

The 1890s farmhouse, seen in the photograph on the left, was more comfortable, with a living room, dining room, kitchen, and two bedrooms.  It was also filed with Victorian era furniture, and would still be a very nice place to live.  Of course, I assume that if you did try to move in, museum staff might object, and so I recommend not trying.  And in addition to the museum building and the old farmhouses, the site also includes a lake, lots of places to hike, and a working farm with lots of animals.  What could be nicer?  Plus, just like the Lakewood Heritage Center, admission is free, which, I have often mentioned, is my favorite price-point.  On the other hand, the History Colorado Center, Denver's historical museum, charges an admission cost of $14 ($12 for seniors), and they don't even have any live animals.  Talk about a ripoff.

Drinks With Valarie At Right Coast Pizza!

I had drinks and appetizers with my friend Valarie (seen in the photograph above) yesterday afternoon at Right Coast Pizza in Wheat Ridge, a suburb of Denver just to the west of that city's trendy Highlands neighborhood.  Valarie, as regular blog readers will remember, was the Operations Manager at the University of Denver Bookstore back when I was the Finance Manager there.  Valarie and her husband Jake were planning on traveling to Vietnam, Cambodia, and Thailand this month, but due to the coronavirus, the trip was canceled.  They plan on rescheduling in the fall, when hopefully the coronavirus will be only a memory.  In the meantime, Valarie is still keeping busy volunteering for the League of Women Voters, The Action Center in Lakewood, and other worthy causes.  I myself am working to make the world a better place through my blog.  And so why is nobody impressed?

The February Mutt Of The Month

This month's Mutt of the Month was tied up next to Dos Santos, the trendy taco bar on East 17th Street here in Denver.  As you can tell from the above photograph, this dog really seemed to want some company, and was more than happy to have it's portrait taken.  I suspect the owner was inside, busily scarfing up those tacos.  I myself have been tempted to go in and try them, but on further reflection - by which I mean looking at the menu - I see that they serve hipster style tacos with very weird ingredients.  Even worse, they charge $4.00 each for them.  I think I will just stick with Taco Bell, and in the bargain pay half the price.  What can I say?  As far as food is concerned, I am a peasant.  In any case, I hope the owner of that dog brings it a few gourmet tacos to munch on the way home.

Big Changes For The Platte, Not To Mention Elitch Gardens...

The South Platte River runs right through Denver, and the spot where Cherry Creek meets the Platte River is where the city was founded back in 1858.  Very close to downtown, just beyond the bridge in the photograph on the left, is Elitch Gardens, an amusement park which straddles the east side of the Platte.  The park's downtown location has gone through a variety of owners, and is now the property of billionaire Stan Kroenke, whose company has recently announced that the site will become a mixed use real estate development called River Mile.  It will feature slim, 59 story apartment and office towers and a revitalized riverfront with retail, park space, and walking trails.  And am I considering taking up residence there?  Only if I win Power Ball between now and when construction begins in 2021.

The original Elitch Gardens, by the way, opened in 1890 at the corner of 38th and Tennyson here in Denver.  It was originally called Elitch Zoological Gardens, was Denver's first zoo, and soon added a theater, ballroom, and amusement rides.  When I first moved to Denver, I visited the park several times, and it truly was a garden, with amusement rides sprinkled in between. However, the family that had owned it since 1916 wanted to expand, and moved to a new location near downtown Denver back in 1995.  After two seasons of disappointing attendance figures, the family sold the park, which then became Six Flags Elitch Gardens, and went through several other owners after that.  The original site stayed vacant until 1999, when it was developed into an upscale urban neighborhood (which I also couldn't afford).  I took the photograph on the right of the park's main entrance back in 1998, not too long before it was torn down.

After the original Elitch Gardens closed, I never did visit the new amusement park.  I road past it many times while biking along the Platte River, and also while riding on the light rail train, but from what I could see, the grounds looked like a desert.  No gardens, no grass, no charm whatsoever - just a bunch of amusement rides set down on a sea of concrete.  According to the River Mile website, the first step in the new project will be to construct parking garages, and then start development on the surface lots, allowing the park to continue operations for a few more years.  For better or worse, it will take decades to complete.  In any case, I took the photograph on the left of the roller coaster at the old Elitch Gardens site at the same time I took the photo of the  main entrance, not too long before it was demolished.  Happily, Elitch's rival, Lakeside Amusement Park, which opened in 1908, is still around, and charges only a small fee to enter the park, as opposed to the $65 admission cost for the new Elitch's.  No wonder I hate that place.

A Truly Walkable City

We had a bit of snow here in Denver recently, but the next day  - as often happens here  - was bright and sunny.  Being retired, I was able to take full advantage of this and take a brisk walk around Washington Park, which can be seen in the photograph above.  It is quite a treat to be within walking distance of this park, and to live in one of Denver's many walkable neighborhoods.  This would not be the case if I lived in most of Denver's suburbs, which seem to consist mainly of endless rows of apartment complexes and streets lined with ugly strip centers.  I will, of course, refrain from naming the ugliest of these places - such as Lakewood - to avoid raising the hackles of these community's residents.  That's just the kind of guy I am.

A Visit To The Mizel Museum With Mark

My friend Mark (seen in the above photo) and I visited Denver's Mizel Museum yesterday afternoon to see an exhibit entitled Abide, a collection of photographic portraits of Holocaust survivors by University of Denver photographer Wayne Armstrong.  In conjunction with Paul Docktor and DU's Holocaust Awareness Institute, the exhibit features photographs of survivors who live or lived in the Denver area, with a plaque next to each photo telling that person's story.  It is a very moving exhibit.  The remaining Holocaust survivors are fast disappearing from our midst, and this exhibit is a way to make sure that their stories will not be forgotten.  I strongly recommend everyone see it, if possible.  Check out the Mizel Museum's web site, which gives details on making an appointment to view it, at https://mizelmuseum.org/exhibit/abide/.

A Game Of Ghosts And A Time Of Torment

I recently finished reading A Game of Ghosts and A Time of Torment, two of John Connolly's Charlie Parker private detective/horror novels.  I had read his latest two books, and liked them, and thought I would read his two previous books, also.  And I have detected a definite pattern to these stories.  All seem to involve sinister groups made up of both the living and, sometimes, the dead, committing various crimes and murders to sustain it's members.  In A Game of Ghosts, Parker is hired to find a private detective that has gone missing while investigating a mysterious group called The Brethren.  A Time of Torment finds Parker trying to find the reason his deceased client was framed for a horrific crime, sent to prison for 5 years, and eventually killed, which involves another mysterious group called The Cut.  Both of these novels kept my interest and were good reads, but reading too many of the same series one after the other can make the stories lose their freshness. I think from now on I will just wait for the latest book to come out and read that. And if you do decide to start reading the Charlie Parker series, I recommend starting with The Woman in the Woods and A Book of Bones after that.  Then you can decide on your own whether to "binge read" the rest.

Denver's Old Terminal Bar

Last week I did a blog about the places three famous members of the Beat Generation  - Ken Kerouac, Neal Cassady, and Allen Ginsberg - used to frequent here in Denver.  I left off the old Terminal Bar - a one time Denver fixture that catered to workingmen coming off their shifts at nearby Union Station and the old Terminal Annex Post Office - because I could not find much proof that the three of them actually drank there.  Once gentrification came, the Terminal Bar was sold by original owner Nancy Archer to Dave Query, who made it the second location, after Boulder, of his Jax Fish House and Oyster Bar chain.  Query writes in a company blog that Jack Kerouac used to live upstairs, and if he lived upstairs in what was then more or less a flophouse, he and his pals must have drank at the bar downstairs, right?  I also read that Query preserved the Terminal's old horseshoe shaped bar when the space was renovated, but when I recently looked in the windows, I saw only a sleek, modern, sushi bar arrangement.  Which makes me wonder what the Beats would have thought of sushi?

Lincoln's Birthday!

Today is Lincoln's birthday, which always reminds me of my days back at Fort Dearborn Grammar School, located in the south side Brainerd neighborhood of Chicago, where I grew up.  I was never crazy about school, and getting both Lincoln's birthday and Washington's birthday off in the dreary month of February was a wonderful treat.  Now, of course, thanks to the travel industry's lobbying efforts years ago, these two holidays have been combined into President's Day - always on a Monday, of course - so that people might be persuaded to travel somewhere over the long holiday weekend.  And in honor of those poor students back at Fort Dearborn (and it is still there, by the way), who have lost such a valuable holiday, I am once again featuring a photograph that I took there of my teacher, Mrs. McCormick, from my desk in her classroom.  I  think she even caught me doing this, and reprimanded me.  A rascal to the end, I guess.

Spring Training Begins!

Major League Baseball spring training begins this week in Florida and Arizona.  Pitchers and catchers for the Colorado Rockies and Chicago Cubs report today, and on Wednesday for my south side heros, the Chicago White Sox.  When my mother Mary was alive and living down in Stuart, Florida, I would often go down to visit and attend some of the exhibition games near there.  That is where I took the above photograph in March of 1996 at what is now called First Data Field in Port St. Lucie, Florida.  If I recall correctly, it was cold as hell that day, and therefore I was able to get a good seat right behind home plate. And will I attend any games this year?  Unfortunately, my sister Susan and I are renting the condo in Stuart out to help pay expenses, and I doubt our tenants would be happy if I showed up on their doorstep with a suitcase.  Of course, my cousin John and his wife recently purchased a home in Tuscon, not too far from the Phoenix area, where the White Sox, Cubs, and  Rockies all train, but I am not sure they would be overjoyed to see me show up on their doorstep, either - especially if I told them I would be staying 6 weeks. However, the old expression "fish and visitors stink after 6 weeks" shows that my doing so would certainly not be out of line.

The Colorado Rockies Focus On Real Estate

This year, the Colorado Rockies have decided to put their money into a real estate development called McGregor Square (seen in the photograph above), instead of improving their baseball team.  The Rockies lost 91 games last year and finished just one game out of last place, but still managed to draw almost 3 million fans.  I imagine Rockies management  must figure that if that many people are willing to watch one of the worst teams in baseball, there is no reason to spend good money to improve the club.  The smarter move is to put the money into a three building office-condo-hotel-retail complex just south of the ballpark.  Of course, that doesn't make Nolan Arenado, the team's all-start third baseman, very happy.  He thought owner Dick Monfort  and the rest of the team's management actually wanted to win, and after recently signing a big contract, has made his concerns known. The problem just might be that Arenado doesn't understand investment theory. Perhaps he should take a class. That ought to fix things.

More Stuart Beach Nostalgia

Now that it seems to be snowing nearly every day here in Denver, I am once again getting nostalgic for Stuart Beach, which is located in Stuart, Florida, where my mother Mary lived for almost 30 years. Somebody - I have no idea who - took a photograph of my sister Susan, mother Mary, and myself at the end of Stuart Beach's boardwalk back in August of 1997.  And let me tell you, at this point, just the thought of Stuart Beach in August seems like a glimpse of heaven.

The beach was always the "go to" place whenever we visited, and since most of our visits were in August, it was nice to hang out on that boardwalk and enjoy the breeze off the ocean. Not that it wasn't enjoyable to visit the beach in December, and watch the tourists pretend to have fun while freezing to death in their bikinis and speedos. You have to take your fun where you find it, after all.

Snow Returns To Denver

After a nearly snowless January, it seems like it has been snowing almost continuously here in Denver since we moved into February.  The most recent storm started this past Thursday afternoon while I was up in Fort Collins. The weather forecasters said northern Colorado would be hit hardest, and so when only light flurries were falling as I drove home that night, I figured I had lucked out.  However, the closer I got to Denver, the harder it started to snow and the stronger the winds became.  Fortunately, I had reached the parking lot of my building when conditions got even worse, and I was very happy to have made it home in one piece.  Friday morning, I woke up to find it was still snowing, as seen in the photograph on the left.

It never did stop snowing yesterday, and since I had already done enough playing in the snow the day before, I decided to stay hunkered down all day. According to the local newscasts, the situation in the mountains was much worse, with I-70, the main route to the ski areas, closed in both directions.  All those poor weekend warriors heading up to the mountains for a ski weekend were trapped for hours in traffic, and either eventually turned back or waited for the roads to reopen late Friday night.  All this despite the fact that Punxsutawney Phil did not see his shadow and predicted an early spring. So much for the science of meteorology.

The Beats Go On

Tonight the 11th Annual Neal Cassady Birthday Bash takes place at the Mercury Cafe here in Denver. Cassady was a major figure of the Beat Generation, and prominently featured in On The Road, Jack Kerouac's famous novel. Cassady grew up in Denver, living with his father in the Metropolitan Hotel, by that time a flophouse on Larimer Street.  Cassady and his first wife met Jack Kerouac and Allen Ginsberg in New York in 1946, and they all later spent a lot of time here in Denver.  In fact, Kerouac was so taken by the city that he bought a house in Lakewood, just west of the Denver city limits, in May of 1949 (seen in the photograph on the left ), and sent for his family to come join him. However, by August, just three months later, they had all left. Lakewood often has that effect on people.

Seeing how the media here in Denver has made such a big deal out of Kerrouac, Cassady, and Ginsberg's time here, I decided to read some articles on the sites associated with them.  Not surprisingly, most of these places are bars.  Kerouac and Cassady did not lead healthful lives - Kerouac died at the age of 47 in 1969, and Cassady died a year earlier, just shy of his 42nd birthday.  The most famous hangout for the trio was the bar at the Colburn Hotel. Cassady met Carolyn Robinson back in 1947 while she was studying for her masters degree in theater arts at the University of Denver (my alma mater!), and living at the Colburn hotel.  They all hung out together in the hotel bar downstairs, now called Charlie Brown's Bar and Grill, seen in the photo on the right.  Cassady and Robinson got married in 1948, right after his first marriage was annulled.

As far as I can tell, if a bar was anywhere close to downtown Denver and in business back in the 1940s, it was assumed that Kerouac, Cassady, and Ginsberg drank there. Cassady's favorite bar was at the corner of 15th and Platte, now known as My Brother's Bar (seen in the photo on the left).  A bar has been located in that building under different names since 1876. Cassady once wrote a letter to a friend asking him settle his bar tab there while he was in the Colorado Reformatory (they used to have a hell of a football team). That letter hangs on the wall of the bar, along with a photograph of Cassady and Kerouac taken there.

One of places that Cassady, Kerouac, and Ginsberg liked to hang out was El Chapultepec, back in the early 1950s. It was a jazz club, and at the time in a neighborhood with a pretty bad reputation.  The three of them were rumored to get high out in the parking lot, and then head into the club to listen to jazz. The owner at the time let them sit in a booth without ordering, perhaps happy to have a literary crowd in the place.  These days, El Chapultepec is in the heart of LoDo, one of Denver's trendiest neighborhoods, and just down the street from Coor's Field, where the Colorado Rockies play baseball.  The only danger in the neighborhood these days is being shoved aside by groups of Millennials and Gen Xers on their way to the next hipster hot spot.  And does all this make me want to read On the Road? Hell no.  Just the opposite.

The Lakewood Heritage Center

The other day I drove out to the Lakewood Heritage Center, a history museum and collection of historic buildings in Lakewood, just to the west of Denver.  It is located on a large parcel of open space along a lake, at the site of Denver socialite May Bonfils hobby farm and mansion, which was donated to the city after her death. Both Bonfils and fellow socialites Molly Brown and husband J.J. had country homes here.  They wanted a place away from the city - a spot where absolutely nothing was happening, which still kind of describes Lakewood today. The last time I was here was when I took my mother Mary to an art fair that took place on the grounds.  As I recall, it was filled with people perusing the booths, and was quite enjoyable.  I checked the internet, and it seems that that art fair no longer exists - it probably violated the city's anti-fun ordinance.

The museum and visitors center is actually quite nice, but what I liked most were all the historic buildings from Lakewood's past that have been moved to the grounds.  They have buildings from Colfax Avenue, including a motel from 1949, a variety store and beauty parlor from the 1950s, a diner, and a gas station from the 1940s.  On another part of the grounds are a country school from the 1860s, a house from the 1880s, a pump house and water tower (not the most exciting structures I have ever seen), and a 1930s farmhouse.  There are also buildings remaining from May Bonfils hobby farm and mansion, including the farm office, calving barn, and caretakers cottage.  The 1940s era gas station is a recent edition to the site, and restoration is still in the planning stages, as is obvious from the photograph on the right.  All in all, visiting the Lakewood Heritage Center made for an enjoyable afternoon, although I have to stay that staying in Lakewood for much longer is probably a mistake, and I mean that with all due respect.

Getting Together With The DU / Bonnie Brae Gang

I got together last night with still more friends and former University of Denver co-workers at the Bonnie Brae Tavern here in south central Denver.  It has been a while since we have all gotten together, and it was fun to catch up with everybody.  Wally, the former Operations Manager of the University of Denver Bookstore, sitting on the far left, and his wife Linda, third from the left and retired from the Denver School of the Arts, are hoping to visit San Francisco, where their son Pete has volunteered to lead tour groups around the city.  They want to be the guinea pigs for his first tours. Renee, second from the left, who works downtown at REI, and her husband Bill, on the far right, and former Operations Coordinator at the DU Bookstore, plan to travel to England and Scotland this coming April.  Mark, seated second from the right and - as regular blog readers know - works at the University of Denver's Anderson Academic Commons (known as the library back on earth), plans on going to Maui in March, a Viking Cruise from Paris to Prague in August, and to Leeds, England in November.  He definitely wins the prize for most trips planned for 2020. Of course, somebody has to be paying him to visit Leeds in November, but that's just my private opinion.  I assume the Leeds Chamber of Commerce will do anything to get visitors these days.

Watching Tottenham Beat Manchester City At Ester's

I went with my friend Mark (seen in the photograph above) to watch Tottenham play Manchester City this past Sunday morning at Ester's, a popular pizza joint here in south Denver that opens early for the Colorado Hot Spurs, the local Tottenham fan club.  I am truly amazed at how many soccer fans - not to mention British ex-pats - show up for these games so early on a Sunday morning.  Once again Mark and I had to sit in the other room, since the main gathering place was filled to the rafters. What the hell time do these people arrive at to get a good seat? In any case, everyone was very enthusiastic, but I had to think how much more fun it would be if Manchester City fans were in one room, and Tottenham fans in the other for these games. Would that make for an exciting Sunday morning, or what?  Happily, Tottenham beat Manchester City (who is 2nd in the Premier League standings) 2-0.  And as sportscasters always like to say, "the crowd went wild."

The Last Day Of Monet: The Truth Of Nature

Yesterday was the last day of Monet: The Truth of Nature, a major art exhibition at the Denver Art Museum, and I decided to go along with my friend Stuart (seen in the photograph on the left) to the museum while he toured the exhibit.  I myself had already seen the show with my sister, Susan, back in October, and so while Stuart was looking at the Monets, I roamed around the rest of the museum, taking a closer look at the art on display.

I had already seen most of this artwork before, but how could I resist taking a closer look at such items as the dance mask from New Guinea that I am posing with in the photo on the right, and which I wish I could borrow for Halloween?  Let's face it - this mask truly represents my inner soul.  This is it, people.  The true me.  And if that doesn't scare you, nothing will.  And ending on a more positive note, the Denver Art Museum's new welcome center and the museum's North Building will open this summer after a two year renovation project.  I hope this means that the free buffet table at the monthly Final Friday event will at last return.  Without free food, the art doesn't seem to have the same appeal.  Just call me a traditionalist.

Spring Training Is Only 10 Days Away!

Baseball spring training starts in only 10 days.  How great is that?  It is a sure sign that spring has just about sprung.  It reminds me of when I would head down to Stuart, Florida years ago to visit my mother and  take in a few exhibition games while I was there.  I took the photograph on the left back in March of 1996, when I drove down to Municipal Stadium in West Palm Beach to watch an Atlanta Braves exhibition game.  The Braves and Montreal Expos trained there through the spring of 1997, after which the Braves moved to a new stadium in Kissimmee, near Disney World, and the Expos to newly built Roger Dean Stadium in Jupiter, Florida.

I actually liked that old ballpark.  My mother and father and uncle and aunt would often go down there in the summer to watch the West Palm Beach Expos, a Florida State League Class A team, play, and take advantage of those evening breezes off the ocean. These days major league teams look at spring training as a money generator, and demand that cities provide them with modern, mini versions of their home ballparks.  After losing those two teams after 1997, West Palm Beach finally built one of those new parks and lured the Washington Nationals (who ironically used to be the Montreal Expos) and Houston Astros to train there.  Of course, not only have we lost the charm of those old parks, but spring training ticket prices have increased exponentially, often costing as much as a regular season game.  Talk about adding insult to injury.