The Bachelorette Party

There were no Chippendales, tequila shots, or karaoke. I didn't even receive any sexy lingerie. Instead, my best friend Amy Johnston & I flew out to Denver, Colorado for a weekend of beer drinking.

beers before our tour at Great Divide Brewery

Amy affectionately dubbed our trip "Girls Deployment" because her husband Eric is currently serving the U.S. Army in Afghanistan. When he was deployed a couple of years ago, we also vacationed together in New Mexico. We usually try to time the trips about midway through his first six months as it helps break up the time before he comes home for R&R.

our floor at The Curtis Hotel was called "Chick Flick"

Amy & I had both been to Denver before but never together. We didn't have much of a plan other than to explore the downtown area on foot, drink beer, and try to meet up with Eric's best friend Steve. We were generally pretty lucky with the weather, although it did rain off & on during our first full day.

the REI flagship store at Confluence Park

The trip was easy and relatively inexpensive. Round-trip tickets from Nashville to Denver were only $275 nonstop on Frontier Airlines. Amy spent even less on her ticket because she used rewards card points towards the purchase. We successfully low-balled a Priceline bid for a hotel room in central downtown and only paid $71 per night at The Curtis (Doubletree) including all taxes and fees. We took public transportation from the airport when we arrived Thursday night (a lengthy combination of a bus plus light rail) and a Super Shuttle shared ride van to the airport on Sunday. Family members provided similar (free) service in Nashville. Our only other expenses were food & drink which totaled $212 for the two of us. Yes, we drank a lot of beer!!!

spotted this t-shirt in a souvenir shop

We did a few free things like touring the State Capitol, Denver Public Library, 16th Street Mall, brewery tours at Great Divide and Wynkoop, walked the Cherry Creek pedestrian path to the REI flagship store, etc. We were also lucky that Denver PrideFest was happening that weekend in Civic Center Park so we spent some time enjoying that event on Sunday.

Amy poses with Pride

All in all it was a great weekend even without any drunken debauchery!

The link to all of my photos is embedded in this post's title. Just click on the title and the Picasa Web Album will open.

Here's a list of the tasty beverages we consumed while in Denver.
6/16
The Corner Office: Secretary Martini (AS) & Ruby Red Martini (AJ)
6/17
Pints Pub: tasted Dark Star Ale; drank John Bull Brown Ale (AS) & Bitchcraft Blonde Ale (AJ)
Great Divide Brewery: Claymore Scotch Ale (AS) & Colette Farmhouse Ale (AJ)
Breckenridge Brewery: tasted Ballpark Brown & Thunder Stout (nitro); drank Vanilla Porter (AS & AJ)
Argyll Gastropub: Boulevard Bock (AS & AJ)
6/18
Wynkoop Brewery: tasted Obamanator; drank Railyard Ale (AS & AJ), Schwarzbier (SZ), Cowtown Milk Stout (AS)
Falling Rock Tap House: Bull & Bush Big Ben Brown Ale (AS), Odell 5 Barrel (AJ), Boulevard 2 Joker (SZ); Sierra Nevada Ovila Abbey Dubbel (AS), Big Ben Brown (AJ), Rogue John John Hazelnut (SZ)
Amato's Ale House: Tommy Knocker Butt Head Bock (AS), Left Hand Sawtooth Ale (AJ), Breckenridge Brewery 72 Imperial (SZ)
Paramount Cafe: Tommy Knocker Maple Nut Brown Ale (AS), O'Dell Cutthroat Porter on nitro (AJ)
6/19
Rio Grande Mexican Restaurant: house margarita (AS & AJ)
The Corner Office: Ruby Red Martini (AS) & Ft Collins 90 Schilling Red Ale (AJ); Skyy Vodka Martini (AS) & 90 Schilling (AJ)

beautiful beers at Amato's Ale House