Bourbon & Beyond Day 2

 Great second day at Bourbon & Beyond!!  Immediately after getting through security, I went directly to the VIP area and secured a table for us.  Then we watched the first several bands including Darren Kiely from Cork, 10,000 Maniacs and The Robert Cray Band.  10,000 Maniacs definitely got the memo, playing their hits from the 1990's as well as a wonderful cover of Roxy Music's "More Than This".  The lead singer is now Mary Ramsey, since Natalie Merchant departed the group in 1995.  She did an amazing job on songs that she didn't originally sing as a lead vocalist. Robert Cray was also very good. Such a good guitarist.  As close to Jimi Hendrix as I'll ever see live. 

Lunch was some chicken from Gus' Fried Chicken. So well seasoned and freshly fried. 

After lunch we saw a Fork & Flask presentation from Elizabeth Banks (Hunger Games, Pitch Perfect, The Better Sister).  She has a new line of canned wines she was promoting called Archer Roose. We tried the rose and it was decent.   She also talked about her career in Hollywood, indicating it is much easier to act than direct.  No one brings you coffee as a director.  Her most challenging role was definitely in the Hunger Games.  We also saw a presentation with Chef Edward Lee, Chef Amanda Freitag and Gavin DeGraw. Chef Freitag made a pulled pork shoulder with cole slaw. 

Access to Kentucky Kingdom theme park was included this year so we took a stroll through the park.  This used to be Six Flags branded park.  Now it seems to be mostly the type of rides you'd see at a 72 hour town carnival. Now rides for us but we did find a really good Caribbean food truck.  Angie had a jerk smoked chicken wrap and I had some spicy chicken curry.  

We then headed back towards the main stage and awaited Phish. I know they have a lot of followers.  It seems to me similar to the following that The Grateful Dead had or Jimmy Buffett.  I had never seen them or heard any of their music so didn't know what to expect.  We stayed for one song and that was enough. I'd define them as a jam band. A lot of talented musicians on keyboards guitar and drums, playing a long jam session.  It just isn't for me. But others were enjoying it. We headed back to the hotel after our short walk and are reviewing the artists for tomorrow which includes Ringo Starr, The Ocean Blue and The Pixies.  We'll likely have a similar plan as today, trying to get a table in the VIP section.  

Bourbon and Beyond 2025 Day One

 We had a great first day at Bourbon & Beyond!  The festival is about twice as large as last year. The five music stages are much further apart than before.  And there are usually three stages active at any one time so lots of places for people to be so it never feels crowded.  After a "walk around" we headed to get some lunch at Prince St Pizza. I use a recipe that is modelled after their pizza. The pizza was really good.  It's similar to a Detroit style. I like my sauce better but this was a top notch pie!!

At noon we saw a Fork & Flask presentation hosted by Chris Santos from Food Network's Chopped and other programs.  He was also here last year in the same capacity. Chef Claudette Zepeda was going to make her Death Row Cheeseburger. Its signature features were pickled tomatillos and a parmesan cheese sauce.  She worked with Katie Crutchfield from the band Waxahatchee. Chris passed out samples and the burger was really tasty. Afterwards we watched several bands from a shaded area with comfortable seating.  

Later we saw another Fork & Flask presentation with Terry Bradshaw and his son-in-law who were making Texas Twinkies.  These were cream cheese and chorizo stuffed poblanos, wrapped in bacon and then smoked. Terry was also promoting his bourbon which is 51.9 proof which also "coincidentally" was his completion percentage in the NFL.  Terry likes to talk and I think he would have spent another two hours just chatting it up with the crowd. 

We saw a really good Bluegrass band named Chatham Rabbits.  The lead singer was a school teacher only a few years ago and her husband convinced her to give the band a try.  They had some great original music.  

After that we saw Marshall Crenshaw. He had a disjointed set of some new music, an extended period of changing his guitar and then finally getting to his big hit from 1982, "Someday, Someday".  It was a disappointing 45 minutes of music. What I've liked about other artists we've seen at this festival is they understand the job. You have a short set and you need to get to the songs people want to hear. 

The highlight of the day for me was seeing Pat Benatar and her husband Neil Giraldi. They had an amazing 60 minute set with almost all the songs you'd expect. Including a finale mashup of "Heartbreaker" and "Ring of Fire". Although I really thought she'd also work in  "Hit Me With Your Best Shot".   But definitely a great set.  We headed back to the hotel after that. We're staying at the Crown Plaza which is only a fifteen minute walk from the festival. 

Today we'll head over to the festival around 11. Today's highlights will be 10,000 Maniacs (sans Natalie Merchant), Robert Cray, a Fork & Flask with Elizabeth Banks, Mary Chapin Carpenter and Marc Cohn.

Goodbye Denver

 We checked out of The Ramble this morning and got our Lyft to DEN. Enjoyed some time in the United Club Lounge for some breakfast. Our flight to IND is on time and we're onboard. It's a full flight so we weren't lucky enough to have an empty middle seat. We'll land about 2:30 so we'll likely be back in the apartment by 3:30. A wonderful trip planned by Angie!! So happy to get to see three more MLB teams play at home. Also two Presidential Libraries and a National Park!! We'll be home for about a week before the next adventure begins.

The picture is our last dinner in Denver which was at a wonderful pizza restaurant called Cart-Driver. Delicious combination of kale and sausage. 

Denver: Colorado Rockies game

 Breakfast time!! What a great menu at Snooze!! I had the Habanero Pork Belly Fried Rice. Angie had the Sweet Potato Veggie Smashup. Plus a pancake and some green chile!! All very tasty. I loved fried rice with eggs for breakfast!! They had added some kimchi for an extra kick. After breakfast we checked out the Denver Central Market which is a collection of restaurants serving everything from oysters to pizza to bagels. We just looked but it would be a great option for a longer trip.

We headed to Tap Fourteen's Rooftop patio for pre-game wings and beer. They have 70 local beers on tap. 

And then it was time to play ball! We had great seats in the section behind home plate. 

Onto Denver

 We had a smooth drive from Angels Camp to SMF yesterday.  We needed some lunch and the Escape airport lounge was in Terminal A, so we made our way there. They had some good bites including pork meatballs and a turkey, Brie and caramelized onion sandwich.  We boarded our flight to DEN at 3:30. We had seats 8D and 8F and were lucky enough to not have anyone in the middle seat.  We landed early, arranged for our Lyft and got to the Ramble hotel by 8:30.  The Ramble is a great hotel. 

We needed some dinner and I had spotted a place called Work & Class across from the Ramble that was busy.  Always a good idea to follow the Bourdain Rules. And its name was appropriate for Labor Day!!  The menu is primarily small plates for sharing.  We started with some tasty plantain empanadas. For our main we had hickory smoked picanha, cooked a perfect medium rare!! And sides of mashed potato and hatch chili Mac and cheese.  Everything was so good but a special shout-out to the chef that knew how good goat cheese and green onions tastes on mashed potatoes!!   We'll be trying that at home. 

This morning we will check out Snooze which is a breakfast restaurant with an interesting menu. Later today we have tickets to see the Rockies at Coors Field.  

Columbia State Park

 With one last look out the window of our room at Half Dome, we checked out of the Ahwahnee this morning about 8:30. We drove two hours to Columbia State Park. This was one of the prominent places in California for the discovery of gold in 1850.

Some of the town buildings still stand today, many with the same purpose as before. Such as the Bowling Saloon, the apothecary and the Wells and Fargo office for trading in your gold. Although sadly, we didn't find any. They have a free daily tour of the town where you learned about the history of the town. There is no admission and free parking. Definitely include this as a stop when you visit this area.

We had planned for lunch somewhere in Murphy's, but our tour guide raved about the pizza at the St Charles Saloon so we were persuaded. They had a great beer list. I tried the Apricot Wheat and Angie had the Must Be The Honey from Belching Beaver. Both really good!! For lunch we had an amazing pickle pizza!!

A delicate garlic white sauce topped with prosciutto and sliced dill pickles. I'd only had pickle pizza once before last year at the Indiana State Fair. It was decent but the St Charles version knocked it out of the park. Great crust, balanced sauce and the brininess of the pickles brought out even more flavor in the sauce.

After lunch we headed to Calaveras State Park to find some sequoias. It was a bust. The North Grove trail was partially closed and we couldn't find a parking spot. We took a little scenic drive around the park. Here's a photo of us with NOT SEQUOIAS.

We headed to the Best Western in Angels Camp. We decided just to grab some meat and cheese at the grocery store and call it.

Yosemite: Valley Floor and Glacier Point

We had a morning tour of the Valley Floor. Lots of scenic views of El Capitan (or frequently referred to as El Cap), a very popular 914 meter cliff face which is very popular for climbing. And of course perhaps the most famous mountain here, Half Dome, named that way since it looks like a sphere was cut in half.

After the tour we took a walk to Yosemite Falls which usually is dry in August. But they had a huge storm one week ago which turned on the faucet!!

In the afternoon we took an eighty minute bus ride to Glacier Point for more views of Half Dome, Nevada Falls and Ventral Falls. This wasn't our best tour. The guide talked for 80 minutes on the way up and 80 minutes on the down about whatever he wanted. It was a good view at the top.

We had dinner in the lounge. Then, we watched the sunset over Half Dome. This is what makes it worth paying more to stay at this hotel.