Red Rocks and More Good Eats

At South Park RV Park, Denver, Colorado...

We drove a short distance to the quaint little town of Morrison today, perhaps most noted for its proximity to the Red Rocks Ampitheater. This remarkable theater is formed within an outcropping of slabs of red sandstone rocks pushed up eons go when the Rockies were being formed. At one point, the giant slabs of rock form a semicircle in which stadium seats were built to hold nearly 10,000 people. The picturesque enclosure provides not only a uniquely beautiful outdoor experience but outstanding acoustics as well. It has been ranked the number one outdoor concert venue in the world for decades. Here are a few photos:

Inside the visitor center was a complete list of all the artists who have performed at Red Rocks, and it includes all the greats, as far back as the 1940s. There are even records of performances there as early as 1906 when it was a completely natural area. It is thought that the Ute Indians used it in a similar fashion before that. It struck me that I was familiar with very few of the artists who have appeared there since about 1970. I suppose that dates me terribly, but I consider myself incredibly lucky to have grown up with music that actually had memorable lyrics and melodies. What passes for music today is little more than noise, in my opinion.

After checking out the theater, we decided to stop in at The Cow Restaurant, recommended to us by much-appreciated reader Debbie Boyd.  Perched on a creek bank right on the main drag, the eatery wasn't all that much to look at from the outside, but this was a place where the owners put a righteous spin on classic dishes. I ordered fish and chips, and Sandy ordered a hamburger with onion rings. 

The Cow Restaurant

Everything was very good, and the service was outstanding. Here's a photo of the fish (I substituted green chile pork stew for the chips). The fish pieces were huge, perfectly fresh and fried to perfection. 

The stew was very spicy, just as I like it. Yes, this place definitely goes on our list of favorites, linked above in Favorite Restaurants.

We made yet another stop at the Taste of Denmark Bakery (this place should be illegal) and picked up a loaf of cranberry walnut bread. I almost didn't want to include a photo of one of the warm slices with melted butter, but I think I have a slightly sadistic streak. So here it is, with no apologies:

After this little tour, we thought it would be a good idea to rest up for our move to this RV park. So, we settled into the recliners and, sure enough, we were able to force a little nap. (Precious little force was used, I might add.)

During my awake periods, I did a little planning for our eventual meandering trip back to Texas in September. Yes, I know it will still be hot there, but I have no choice; we have a wedding to attend. Otherwise, we would be staying away until the first norther. This frenzy of planning required making reservations at RV parks well ahead of time, something I hadn't really done prior to having been burned here in Denver by the hoards of travelers and the scarcity of RV parks we've encountered.

Napping and trip planning being as arduous as it was, we decided we might be hungry again. Wishing to have a light supper after our big lunch at The Cow (not to mention the warm bread and butter as a snack), we drove to J's Noodles Star Thai restaurant on South Federal Boulevard. This highly-recommended place was nestled in a shopping strip with the patrons jammed into a tiny space that held no more than ten tables. 

We shared a chicken and stir-fried vegetable dish that was incredibly good, and Star Thai will definitely go on our favorites list. We could easily have eaten an entree' apiece, but sharing this light and tasty dish made us feel a bit better about the lunch and the bread we ate earlier.

Now one could easily infer from this blog that all we do is eat out, and you'd be more correct than not, but we try to limit eating out to once a day. (We're not always successful.) We've talked before about our meal habits and, for us, finding good local restaurants is part of the fun of being retired and traveling. And, since we keep track of the really good ones, we can look them up in the Favorite Restaurants page here in the blog if we forget. If you happen to make use of this list, I hope your experience is as good as ours.

South Federal Boulevard in Denver took us into a very diverse neighborhood that has very many little mom and pop eateries like Star Thai; you will not find any big chain restaurants here. But it has been our experience that some of the best and least expensive food can be found in neighborhoods like this. We plan to try some more we have spotted along the way.

Thank you, Lord, for this wonderful life; please forgive me if I don't appreciate it enough each day.