Rocky Mountain High

Posted by Kevin on Sep 21, 2011 in Ramblings | 4 comments

My lack of participation on the interweb has been due in part to being in the beautiful state of Colorado. Last Tuesday, the Groupie Wife and I packed up the little roadies (not literally) and headed to Conifer Colorado to visit the Groupie Wife’s cousin.

Colorado, home of the Bronco’s, the Rockies, skiing, and Coor’s!

If you have ever been, you know how beautiful it is, and how you want to stay outside and enjoy God’s creation. Gone was the heat and humidity of South Carolina, replaced by the crisp, clean (humidity free) air of the Rocky Mountains.

I always enjoy travelling, and experiencing new things, especially food!

On the second day of our journey, while the groupie wife was dealing with altitude sickness, I was taken to a great little pizza joint called “Beau Jo’s”. (Pronounced Bo-Jo’s.)

I got there just in time to dive into their pizza buffet. If you have never tried Colorado style pizza, you are missing out. The crust is fluffy with a crunch, and top it with some honey, and you are in pizza paradise!

I tried several different slices.

First on the plate was “Ranch with Chicken, bacon, cheddar and mozzarella cheese”.

The ranch covered the crust, topped with cheese, bacon and chicken. While typing this paragraph, I just heard it thunder outside and thought it was my tummy, that’s how good this pizza is!

Second was sausage and mozzarella cheese, with Beau Jo’s special pizza sauce.

This slice was a quick victim for my mouth!

And third was Beau Jos’ pineapple, ham and mozzarella cheese. This was excellent with honey!

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Later that week, we went to another pizza joint in Golden Colorado called, “Woody’s”, a family owned and operated joint cooking up delicious wood fired pizza.

Behind the pizza bar is a giant brick oven. Ablaze in the back corner is a stack of firewood, with pizza’s snuggling up next to its warm embrace.

For dessert one evening, we took the little roadies to a wonderful place called “Menchies”.

Menchie’s is a frozen yogurt place. They have a wide variety of flavors with over 40 toppings. What sets them apart, besides the wonderful frozen yogurt, is the fact that you pay by the ounce, not by the topping. You get to fill your bowl with as much fro-yo as you want. You can mix the flavors for the perfect combination and pile on as much topping as you can! When you’re done, you put it on a scale and pay.

The fro-yo is outstanding, and it is real. The tartness of the yogurt is balanced by the sweetness of the cream. My roadies were a huge mess by the end of their dessert.

But probably the best place we ate was at a 50′s diner called, “Gunther Toody’s”.

It is decked head to toe with poodle skirts, rock n’ roll, and even a motor cycle.

The food was incredible! I ended up with their burger/shake special. A hamburger with all the trimmings, fries and a HUGE Butterfinger shake. All for $9.99

Then on Monday, our last day in Colorado, I fixed my signature, “Don’t Touchy My Hibachi” chicken and rice with my “Shake you Sakura White Sauce”.

It was a great time with family and food, accompanied by the great Rocky Mountain high (altitude that is!). And like all good things, this had to come to an end. Although it was sad to say goodbye to family, it was nice to get back home to South Carolina. Boy have I missed our state bird, the mosquito.

I want to say a very special thinks to Bill and Kelli for putting up with the little roadies. Also, a very special thanks to Kelli Nixon of Kelli Nixon photography. The head shots were killer and I can’t wait to share them with everyone!

PS: All photos courtesy of the respected restaurants.