Our Date In Denver

It’s been a while since Conner and I have had a proper date. The last hurrah was the night before we left Austin and we went to our favorite restaurant, Justine’s; reasonable prices for delicious French food and an amazing atmosphere. That was over three months ago. I love dates. I don’t care if I spend every minute of the day with Conner, I still need a date every once in a while. There’s an unspoken “date etiquette” that occurs where both parties make an effort at being charming and engaging, and to reignite the ‘come hither’ flame once again. Dates are essential.

So he and I ventured into downtown Denver for a proper date. Denver is a relatively new city and therefore, rather shiny and clean without much history. I love history so all I can say about Denver is that it’s nice; easy to drive around, easy to navigate, easy to find a cheap place for a drink. The main pedestrian area is the 16th Street Mall; several blocks long with street musicians, shops, and restaurants. A lot of it feels like a strip mall with chain after chain, but there are pianos dotted along the center of the walkway that makes it feel more charming.

As we were looking for a place to eat we ran into this guy, who’s shtick was to serenade me and if I liked it then Conner was to give him some money. He even gave Conner some tips on how to make the shtick work just in case we needed some more gas money along the way and Conner was feeling up to a cappella singing. So Darien proceeded to sing me a song about showering together, lathering up and down, etc, etc. He had a nice voice, but nonetheless it was a little embarrassing.

To top the evening off we strolled back down the road and watched some punk kids playing excellent jazz music.

And saw a spray paint art demonstration. Why is it that from Austin to Denver, spray paint art is all the same? There’s always a boom box playing electronic music and the theme is always celestial paintings.

We ended up not going, but there’s a vodka bar off of Writer’s Square called, The Red Square. They infuse their own vodka with flavors like ginger, beet, and red pepper. Apparently it’s pretty great, but to end your night there, not begin there because you’ll be on your face before you really even get started. The one Jena told us to try was the garlic infused vodka—“when you burp it tastes like a whole meal. Dude, it’s awesome.”