A BLAST FROM THE PAST....

One of the disadvantages of bidding for vacation every November is that it is not always easy to determine what events are coming up, or even what kind of plans to make for the year ahead.

Louis has been bugging me about going on another cruise--the last one was 2003--but I am not keen on water, hot weather, beaches, sand, and bathing suits.  So, I would prefer maybe a river cruise, either on the Mississippi or even better, somewhere in Europe like the Danube or the Volga.  How about through the Panama  Canal?  

Nota gonna happen in my lifetime!  So, we compromised on a cruise to the same Caribbean area as before but didfferent ports.  That was before my vacation bid for this year, so when I got the first ten days of November for my second vacation of the year, we started to make plans.

Along about summer, though, the details started to unravel and we made smaller plans.  This time to spend a few days in Montreal.  That is a doable with my tickets on United, the right time  of the year, etc.   But then things at Louis' work started to butt in because year end for his company is October 31st.  The aftermath of all those year end balancing acts that a CPA has to do--the Comptroller for the company--pushed way beyond the first of November leaving only Thursday through Sunday before I have to be back to the Friendly Skies.

So, Louis suggested a "stay-cation" in Denver, and I enthusiastically agreed.  I told him to make all the arrangements, and I would be a happy camper.  We started this morning and went to the temple.  From there it was a short drive on a pristinely beautiful Fall day with blue sky and temps in the high 60's to West Colfax to our lunch destination--

Casa Bonita!  Yes, it is still there.  They just celebrated their 40th year in business, but it is pretty much the same as it was when we first went when Harold and Brice were just getting ready to begin school.  Earning money to go there was the complete objective of the Nichols Brothers' Five Cent Sales, which we had for three or four years in a row.

At two pm it was pretty deserted, but they seated us on the second floor where we had a terrific view of the pretty young woman who made several dives while we were there.  The Mariachi Band wasn't strolling around, but I really enjoyed a prolific array of Oldies as Louis and I ate and talked and shared memories of the times we went to Casa Bonita with our kids.  It was a real shower of good memories as I looked around at Black Bart's Cave, the grotto, the Arcade, the shops.  Remember how those double lines snaked around and around and around for about half an hour before finally getting to the food assembly line and to our table.

Louis LOVED  the food.  I remember it as the bland mix of rice and beans accompanying the taco, enchilada, and burrito--the combo plate which is now $14.95. (And it was actually more than we could afford to pay when the combination dinner for each person was $4.95!)  But...the little red flag is still at each table.  Louis ate his entire plate, one third of mine, and ordered a second complete dinner.  I ordered another taco--they're still pretty good--and an order of three sopapillas, plus a fourth just as the meal ended.  They were as delicious as I remembered them and still remain, for me, the gold standard for sopapillas no matter where I am or where I order them.  

It was a fun day.  We shopped in Cherry Chreek where I bought yet ANOTHER nativity set and are now ensconced at the Hampton Inn on 20th and Sherman just north of downtown Denver.  Tomorrow we have plans to ride the light rail, go to the Colorado History Museum, and some other fun stuff before seeing Kinky Boots at the Bonfils Theater tomorrow night.  Of course we will be eating at the Cheesecake Factory--just for old time's sake.

Who says you have to go far away to have a terrific vacation?  Not me!