A Hockey Day In Denver

Happy leap day! Is it weird that I'm motivated to get a post up today just so I can have it up on February 29th? Probably. But hey, in this period of blogging drought, I'll take whatever motivation I can get!

This past weekend, there was an NHL game played at Coors Field as part of the Stadium Series. As someone who's been to several Colorado Avalanche games and spent kind of a lot of time at Coors Field, it was really weird to see the Avalanche playing at Coors Field. It was incredibly cool, sure, but really weird. And it reminded me that, hey, I've blogged about Coors all over the place but I still have some hockey adventures that I haven't blogged about yet!

So today we're throwing it all the way back to October 10, 2015. Honestly, I only know the date because it was the night of game two of Mets/Dodgers in the NLDS. I missed Noah Syndergaard's first career playoff start AND I missed the Chase Utley slide that caused the recent rule change. But you know what? It was kind of worth it. Hockey's a great time.

Anyway!

I went with my friend Barbara, she of all my prior Coors Field adventures. As the hockey game was at night, our initial plan was actually to tour Coors Field that afternoon and hang around Denver until the game. But lo and behold, all stadium tours were cancelled that day. (That would become something of a pattern with our attempts to tour Coors.) We decided to make a day of it in Denver anyway, and started things off with a stop at Voodoo Doughnuts. Real talk: if you go to Denver, go to Voodoo Doughnuts. I got a buttermilk bar and a grape ape donut and, because the shop has no seating, we drove to (shocker) Coors Field to sit outside on the benches and eat. That's when I took this very embarrassing ~purple aesthetic~ photo:

And holy wow, guys. Those donuts. So good. It was a beautiful day outside, I saw a bunch of people wearing Mets gear (in Colorado! WHAT?!), Barbara met some dogs, and it was basically just a great life decision.

After a little bit of time we wandered down Blake Street to Union Station, where we were given some free yogurt (Denver rocks) and explored a little bit. It's a really cool building, and you know how much I love those! (Though, I will admit, it's a little underwhelming compared to some of the train stations I experienced in Europe. But hey. No complaints.)

We killed some time in the Tattered Cover bookstore in Union Station, and then... walked to the real Tattered Cover store down the block and killed some time there too. Because books are great. THEN it was off to Larimer Square for a quick stroll-through.

It seems like a cool area to shop and eat, but as we were interested in doing neither of those things, we weren't there for very long. Instead, we adventured our way to the Denver Museum of Art. It was a pretty decent walk, but I love a good wander through a city. (And we came across a guy giving away free iced tea on the street. Seriously, Denver rocks.)

Another thing I love? REALLY COOL BUILDINGS.

*drools*

We didn't even go to actually "go" to the museum. I just wanted to see the building. We would've walked around the museum if we a) had more time, and b) didn't have to pay for admission, but instead we sat in the cafe for a bit to rest (and finish our donuts, of course). Then we walked back to the car, and it was time to actually, y'know, go to a hockey game.

I was very excited about this game because the Avs were playing the Dallas Stars. The Stars used to be the Minnesota North Stars, and I'm the proud owner of a Neal Broten Minnesota North Stars sweatshirt (because I love Neal Broten a lot). So I finally had an excuse to wear my sweatshirt! It was strange wearing the color of the enemy while rooting for the Avs, but I survived.

We went to the arena really early so we could get close to the boards for warm-ups. It was very successful.

 I was taking a panorama and the lighting changed. Awesome.

We were total newbies and ended up on the Stars' side of the ice by accident. But in the sweatshirt I was wearing I totally fit in, so it worked.

And then we went to our (kind of nosebleed) seats and watched the Avs destroy the Stars for their first home win of the season. It was AWESOME.

Hockey games are so intense. I'm not really a yeller when it comes to watching sports, but at live hockey games, everybody is a yeller. It's great. You should try it sometime.

...And then I left the game and discovered that Noah Syndergaard had a playoff loss to his name and that Chase Utley had broken Ruben Tejada's leg. What a night.

While I can't recommend losses and broken legs, what I CAN recommend is Denver and donuts and hockey. ;)

My Colorado Bucket List Strikes Back

Remember my Colorado bucket list from last year? Last December I moved back to New York when my internship ended and therefore slapped a "done" stamp on that list. A month later I was back in Colorado, but never got around to creating a new Colorado bucket list -- I was a little bit preoccupied with all things Sochi 2014. And then weeks turned into months turned into almost a full year later... and I finally think it's time to get round two going.

The only thing is that I still don't know how long I'm going to be here. Will I still be living here when the weather warms up again? Don't know! So this'll be a baby-sized bucket list, just of things I can do in winter weather. (I'm certainly not visiting Cave of the Winds or hiking Pike's Peak or going to the zoo while it's below freezing outside.) Hopefully there'll be another Colorado bucket list created for the warm-weather seasons, but for now, I'm using this as motivation to hold myself accountable and get my butt out of my apartment this winter!

1. Go on a walking tour in Denver. I did five walking tours in five different cities while I was in Europe, but I've never done one in an American city. It's high time to change that! Unfortunately most of the walking tours I've found are self-guided or aren't running during the winter, so I'll either have to wait a bit or suck it up and guide myself. We'll see. Either way, I've spent some time in Denver (the botanic gardens and LoDo), but not nearly enough. It seems like such a cool city, and I definitely need a good chunk of time to walk around and explore a bit!

2. GO TO AN AVALANCHE GAME. The caps lock is extremely necessary, because at this point I've been in Colorado Springs for parts of THREE NHL seasons and have not yet been to a game. And after a year and a half of being a Colorado resident, I have fully adopted the Avs as my team. So it's absolutely required to get myself some merch and get my butt to a game. I really wish Denver wasn't an hour away, 'cause that's kind of a schlep for a game, but I WILL make it happen.

3. Go to a Colorado College hockey game. I got to experience every other major college sport while I was at Miami, but I (obviously) never got the Division I hockey experience (though we did have a pretty decent club team!) I went to a CC game last year with some friends and it was super fun! And if I complain about the Avs playing too far away to be convenient... well, CC plays at the World Arena right in Colorado Springs. If I want to see a hockey game, it doesn't get any more convenient than that.

4. Tour Glen Eyrie castle. Did you know there's a castle in Colorado Springs? Because there's a castle in Colorado Springs. I think it's more of a mansion than an actual castle in the strictest sense, but it's called Glen Eyrie Castle and it's right by Garden of the Gods and I MUST GO SEE IT. I haven't seen a castle since 2012. Let's fix that.

I think I like the concept of a bite-sized bucket list: short, sweet, and totally doable in the next few months! Now I just need to wrangle some friends into doing things with me. Any takers? :)

Zero Regrets

YOU GUYS. I met Apolo Ohno last week!

I feel like I probably should've maintained some sense of mystery or suspense and NOT just blurted that out right off the bat. But here's the kicker with this story; it's actually not all that much of a story. Remember how I wrote about a million words the last time I did something like this, when I met Jim Craig and Buzz Schneider? How I planned that encounter for months, paid a lot of money, and watched the whole thing go to hell only to ultimately work out really awesomely? Well, this experience was the exact opposite. (Except it also worked out really awesomely!)

Last Wednesday, I was doing my usual thing on social media when I saw this:

I’ll be in #Boulder this week! Come 2 the @NewtonRunningLab 4 a meet & greet w/me this Thursday from 12-1pm! #HelloBetter
— Apolo Anton Ohno (@ApoloOhno) July 30, 2014

After doing a brief happy dance that Colorado was once again proving itself useful (the first time being when Kerri Walsh Jennings stopped by the Springs, and the second when I went to Vail for Mark Johnson reasons), I hit up Google maps to see how feasible this trip would be. Turns out that Boulder is about an hour and a half, hour and 45 minutes away from Colorado Springs.

So I hesitated. That's kind of far to drive for a quick afternoon, especially by myself, especially on less than 24-hour notice, and especially in a car thats radiator is cracked and could blow whenever it so chooses. And besides, at this point it had been raining for a solid two days -- would the roads be flooded?

But within about five minutes, I realized that I had no idea when or if I'd get another chance to meet Apolo, and that I'd regret it forever if I decided not to go. So I decided to go.

I made sure I was on the road bright and early the next morning -- or, well, it would've been bright if it hadn't been raining -- because I was prepared for the absolute worst. I mean, seriously, after getting my phone stolen and then getting lost for an hour in New Jersey in my pursuit of Buzz Schneider, I was leaving absolutely nothing to chance. I was prepared to get lost, to get a flat tire, to be unable to drive through flooded roads... hell, I half expected Buzz (the car) to blow up.

...But the sun broke through the clouds within fifteen minutes, and the drive was absolute smooth sailing. Buzz did not blow up. The roads were perfectly dry (though holy construction zones, Batman!). I did not get lost, and didn't even have to drive around in circles to look for parking once I arrived; there was a parking garage about one block down the road, and parking was FREE! And I got there a flawless 20 minutes early. It was honestly the complete antithesis of what I expected.

There was a fairly small line of people when I got there, and they were all clutching copies of Apolo's book or old newspaper clippings for him to sign. I felt distinctly awkward at my lack of things, and thought longingly of my copy of his book and my extensive Vancouver 2010 magazine collection, all at home in New York. Alas.

They set up a table in the corner of the store, and then Apolo was led out -- quietly, casually, with no fanfare -- and the line started moving. He'd spend a little time chatting with everyone, sign the photos the store was providing and anything else anyone wanted him to, and pose for pictures.

I thought briefly of getting a selfie with him (how awesome would that've been?!), but ultimately asked the dude in line behind me if he'd take a picture for me. Going to meet-and-greets alone is kind of a struggle when there's no official photographer! So thank you, kind stranger!

I'd decided to wear my Sochi U.S. Olympic Team shirt that day, for fairly obvious reasons, and as soon as it was my turn to approach the table, Apolo took one look at me and said, "I like your shirt! That is awesome." (I knew wearing that shirt was a good idea! Victorious!)

Then he asked for my name, for autograph purposes, and I gave my usual spiel. "Darci, with an -i, not a -y."

"Okay, so D-A-R..."

"Yep, D-A-R-C-I."

This happens just about any time anyone writes my name, ever. So as he was signing his name, I said, "So I commiserate with your 'Apolo with one L' struggle."

He laughed. "Ohhh yeah!"

As he came around the table and take a picture with me, I handed my phone to my temporary photographer and said to Apolo, "Just so you know, it was on my bucket list to meet you, so this is very exciting."

He chuckled and said, "Well, you just got it! You got that check!"

And THEN we took a picture together!

I shook his hand and thanked him, grabbed my autograph, and skipped out of there. I was still half expecting something to go atrociously wrong, so you best believe I was all about quitting while I was ahead. So I left, and texted my mom something incredibly eloquent (I think my exact words were "YEEEEEEEE!").

There was a little sandwich place and a lovely courtyard right across the street, so I grabbed some lunch over there and ate outside, because instead of 60 degrees and raining it was about 80 degrees and sunny. That was a pleasant surprise! And instead of getting my phone stolen, I had a nice chat with the very friendly guy who took my sandwich order. I tell ya, I adore New York, but sometimes Colorado just does things better.

But that was not the end of my day! Since I was already in Boulder, I decided to swing by the Celestial Tea Factory and check the final item off of my old Colorado bucket list! I'd been wanting to go there for almost literally a year, but Boulder is (like I said) kind of a drive. But meeting Apolo had given me an excuse to go to the tea factory, and the tea factory had given me an excuse to meet Apolo, so it was just a total winner of a situation.

The Celestial Tea Factory was probably about a five-minute drive from where I was in town, and it's reeeeeally on the outskirts of everything. Tours of the factory are free, and when you walk in and get signed up, they give you a little ceramic mug for sampling and a single teabag as your tour ticket! My tour was the Sleepytime decaf tour. It was adorable.

They had probably about 10 or 12 different types of tea you could sample while you waited for your tour to start -- and obviously, I tried all of them. The tour itself takes you right onto the factory floor, which was so cool! You actually get to see the teas getting packaged on the assembly line, and go into the various rooms where they keep the different ingredients. The peppermint room is a game changer, man. Wow. Talk about clearing the sinuses.

The tour doesn't allow photography, though, so you'll just have to take my word for how neat it was. The lack of photography is actually kind of a blessing, because they make everyone wear hairnets. That is a look I decidedly chose not to immortalize in a selfie, thank you very much.

Unsurprisingly, the tour finishes up in the gift shop, where I unsurprisingly bought myself an absolutely beautiful mug and some cold-brew peach tea. And then I decided to also get a dainty four-leaf clover necklace too because, what the heck, everything else that day had been free! #treatyoself

And then I headed home. There was traffic, but all that did was let me take a quick picture of the scenery! Nothing got stolen, I didn't get lost, and it barely even rained. I'm still kind of shocked.

I'd call this day a success.