I’ve been focusing on spending time with my friends, so I
haven’t had a chance to update, but now I have some free time and can get
caught up a little bit.
I decided to stop in at PJ’s Bistro (www.pjsbistro.com) for lunch. I had checked out the other restaurants (at
least, those that were open) and its menu appealed the most to me. I had a Baked Chef Sandwich on Ciabatta –
turkey, ham, bacon, tomato, swiss and cheddar, baked on the roll. It was amazingly delicious and filling. It came with shoestring fries that had been
deep fried to perfection. It would be worth
checking out again on another trip.
Later in the day, I drove back to meet Julie at her house
and we drove out to the Garden of the Gods (www.gardenofgods.com) – a public park
just on the edge of the city, bordering on Manitou Springs. It’s a stunning landscape of weathered red
sandstone spires and boulders that they have built paths and trails through
that you can meander around admiring their simple beauty. We walked around for a little while, then
headed back into Old Colorado City so Julie could get some lunch.
Yesterday (the 23rd), we wound up spending the
day, having Turkey Day – Part 2, at her sister’s house on the other side of
town. We just heated up leftovers and
played games all day. It was a real fun
day. It’s the kind of holiday I really
enjoy – low stress, high fun – and spending it with wonderful people.
Yesterday (the 24th), I took Julie and Gene to
lunch to thank them for housing me for several days. We drove over to the Old Colorado City area
since the restaurant we were going to dine at near downtown was closed for the
holidays through next week (bummer!), so we opted for something else. We wound up choosing an Italian bistro –
Paravicini’s (www.paravicinis.com) on
the main drag. It turned out to be a
wonderful choice! They had some great
lunch specials available, and we could enjoy some appetizers and soup as well.
We ordered the Bruschetta Pomodoro. It was a wonderful bread, heated up and
topped with a little melted mozzarella cheese, and topped with tomatoes,
garlic, red onion and olive oil. It just
melted in your mouth.
For my entrée, I had the Tortellini Carbonara. It was a little salty (in a good way), savory
and cheesy. The tortellini was cheese
filled and the sauce was an alfredo, with peas and prosciutto mixed in. It was one of the best takes on Carbonara
I’ve had in a long time. The texture was
smooth and velvety. I’d definitely order
it again.
Last evening I was at a colleague and friend’s home in
Bailey, Colorado (up in the mountains west of Denver) and we headed out for
tapas last night – it was an interesting menu and I will share with you in the
next day or so. I’ve had some major
issues today, that I will talk about on my next posting. Tomorrow I head out for a long slog of a
drive through Utah to Nevada to spend a night in Vegas before I head home.