We’re BACK for our 11th Annual New Year New Place trip!! This year we are on our way to Denver, CO!
If you’ve been following along for the last few years, you may be aware first day delays are sort of my thing. I could probably count on one hand the number of perfect first days I’ve had, and unfortunately, today is not one of them. That being said, my delay was only about an hour, I got my first Starbucks pumpkin drink of the season, AND I had the entire row to myself! So really, was it that bad?
You may be wondering, why Denver? Why Colorado? In general, there’s usually no rhyme or reason behind the destinations I pick for these trips. I always strive to keep these trips as cost effective as possible, so I usually start by choosing the time of year I want to travel then narrowing down the list by which flights are the cheapest. The flight universe is the main chooser of destinations if you will. However, one more factor played a part in this year’s decision…
Madison is joining us again!! You may remember Madison from last year’s 10th Annual Trip to Punta Cana, and she must’ve loved it sooo much she wanted to come back this year 😉
Madison is one of my childhood best friends, and we’ve known each other since we were about 7. We both grew up in Florida but, as you know, I’ve since moved to Connecticut, and she’s since moved to Tennessee. We’ve discussed coming to see each other multiple times, but there have never been ideal flights to and from our respective airports. In finding that out, we did realize both of our airports offered nonstop flights to Denver! After tracking some date options we settled on this weekend, and here we are!
Madison arrived last night so she got to do her own thing while she waited for me to arrive. Even with the delay, I arrived around 2pm, and then went to go pick up our rental car – a first for NYNP trips!
Since we have a decently busy itinerary, we decided it was best to get a rental car so we weren’t relying on Ubers to get around. We’ll also be able to keep some extra stuff in the car which will be super helpful as we hop from place to place.
After walking through the Denver airport, taking the shuttle to the rental car place, and having a very chatty employee get my car ready, we were cutting it very close on time to our first stop of the trip: Casa Bonita!
Madison had spent some time in Downtown Denver, so I picked her up after getting the car. We quickly realized we wouldn’t have enough time to go back to our Airbnb, change, and leave in time to make our reservation, so we opted to go straight there. Luckily, Madison was ready to go. I changed from my airport clothes to my dinner clothes in the back of the car and did my makeup in a record 15ish minutes!
Casa Bonita was purchased and renovated by the creators of South Park and is a massive themed entertainment Mexican restaurant. I’m talking cliff divers, sorcerers, puppet shows, tarot card readings, arcades, and more. It is quite the experience!
It all worked out, and we walked up to the restaurant right on time. I opted for a Green Chile Brisket Taco Salad while Madison opted for the Carnitas Nachos. They were pretty good! Once you’re done eating dinner you can walk around and check out all the different areas. I can see why people spend so much time in here, you don’t even know if it’s still light outside. It was definitely giving Vegas vibes. We were shocked to see it was still daylight when we left around 7!
We ended up switching some of our night time plans around after seeing it might rain later this weekend, so we ended up at Celestial Denver after dinner – an immersive light and music show at St. John’s Cathedral. This was amazing. There are honestly just no other words.
You’re sitting in the cathedral, watching a light show experience that utilizes the entire church. There’s lights, there’s animals, there’s stars and clouds, even a thunder and lightning storm, all while a live choir is singing. I’m going to put some pictures below, and even those don’t do it justice. If you ever have a chance to attend this experience, we highly recommend.
My only complaint is that they don’t sell a projector with the show that I can bring home and watch every night before bed. It was calming, enticing, peaceful, and just awesome.
It would’ve been the perfect pre-bed activity, but the night was still young so we decided to get a drink at a local bar – Thin Man.
Take a second and think about what you might imagine a bar called Thin Man to look like. If Chinese lanterns and lights all over the ceiling was in your mind, congrats! I’ll bet that Jesus and crosses all over the walls weren’t, and honestly, it wasn’t in mind either. Not complaining at all, it was tastefully done in my opinion, but I certainly wasn’t expecting it. I tried the Cucumber Ginger Ale Vodka drink, and while it was alright, it didn’t compare to the cucumber drink from New Orleans… nothing ever will.
Now we’re back at our Airbnb, settling down, and I’m writing this blog before we hit the hay. Colorado is 2 hours behind Connecticut, so even though it’s 11:38pm as I’m writing this, it’s 1:38am to my body. We also have a super early day tomorrow so it’s time to get some beauty sleep!
Day 1 in the books, see you tomorrow!
