Dinosaur Ridge, Domo

The boys are energetic and cannot be contained. I told them they're a couple of little goofballs then after that everything and everybody was a little goofball. And none of us know exactly what a goofball actually is. It just sounds funny.

The boys know only California. My brother takes them to all the places available to see. He likes to drive. He likes to take his family out. He told me they drove to San Diego and through some package that comes with tickets to some fifty attractions they did all the major ones. He listed them all but I cannot recall all the details, Sea World twice, some ride that goes very fast and gets everyone wet, museums, attractions for children, amusement parks and the like. But the best time that the kids had was the beach. Nothing at all but ocean and sand.

After all the research and planning and discussion and writing back and forth they decided on the easiest thing of all and that really did turn out to be the best thing. Alona mentioned wanting to see dinosaurs. James told me his son has some 200 dinosaur toys. The Denver Zoo is presently hosting a traveling show of dinosaur animatronics and the Natural History Museum with its dinosaur bone collection is right next to the zoo. While Dinosaur Ridge is all about a walk of one mile up a straight paved road cut into the side of a ridgeback. I've already shown photos of that place twice here. The photos that I had enlarged and printed on canvas and again with a drone.  It's nothing. Just rocks. Alona was the person most excited about the exposed unusual rock formations and the dinosaur footprints. While the boys climbed all around. We cautioned them there are snakes and instead of heeding the caution, thereafter it was snake, snake, snake, snake, snake. The boys had snakes on thier minds the whole time. Then the tiny one-room museum, a bit of a bore, actually, from my pov, but a very real thrill for Alona and the boys. I've never seen anyone get so excited about so little. However, the gift shop included in the visitor's center really is outstanding. And the prices are unbelievably cheap. The people so nice, they kept both places open well past closing time just for us. And they're taking home a lot of souvenirs. Real fossils sold as if they were regular rocks.

The planned dinner at the Buckhorn Exchange was a blowout. The place was packed. It didn't even occur to us to make reservations on a Thursday. The last time I took James and Alona here, in the parking lot Alona clamped onto James' arm and asked him somewhat fearfully, "Where are you bringing me?" The place looks dodgy from the outside. And the projects were built up around it long after the place became famous. Inside are all exceedingly macabre animal heads and very strange things on the menu like ostrich and alligator tail, snake, and Rocky Mountain Oysters but she loved it.

These Ukrainians are just insane.

On the same street just 3 blocks north is another unique and famed restaurant, Domo, as you know, "Thank you" in Japanese. It is an extension of a martial arts dojo that more or less took over. It's slowly but steadily expanded both inside and outside. It's designed as authentic farm house and it's more authentically Japanese than Tokyo itself. It took some convincing but another win. Both tremendous places right there in the projects. It's weird. The waitstaff at Domo is preternaturally patient. The waiter spent an inordinate amount of time discussing their menu with Alona. I said, "Just BUY something already."

Because anything that she ordered would be excellent. You don't have to know what it is.

Live and learn innit.

We have reservations for for Monday at Buckhorn Exchange. Alona will not be denied. And the boys had a fantastic time.

Buckhorn Exchange. You know, going overboard is one thing, and losing all control another. But this place is truly historic and 100% authentic. It's the oldest restaurant in Denver. Photos taken before and already shown on my other site.

See what I mean? It gets worse. In the back is a mounted two-headed calf, and a whale's penis suspended from the ceiling.

 

The boys are in the distance. They climbed all over this ridge. Just like we did before this became an attraction. Every time I've been up here there have been only a few cars parked at the bottom. It's wonderfully uncrowded. Actually, this is the most people I've seen. And everyone that we encounter up here is willing to engage conversationally. 

Waiter with the patience of Job. 

The tables inside were the original flagstone sidewalks somewhat unique to Denver, I think.

The chairs are logs with cushions fashioned to fit the diameter of each log.

The suspended ceiling lamps are branches tied together with Japanese newspapers fitted for shades. 

Giving the whole place a 'something from nothing' feel to it. It's like a theme restaurant except every item is real. Collected by the owner and not by an agent. 

We spoke at length with the waiters. Tonight all young men. We interrogated them about what it is like to work there, and to a man they all spoke of the owner as disciplined and dedicated and honorable. They took pride in the civic work that he organized outside his restaurant. The restaurant funds his civic activities, city, state, national, and international. I asked, "Is he a disciplinarian?" Without hesitation they said, "Yes." As a matter of pride. They were actually proud to be part of it. 

Photos published before on another site.

The garden is extensive. This is taken from where I sat. I took a lot more photos. 

Gardening tools used everyday. Come on. Does it get any more authentic that that?

Oh! I forgot. Parking at Domo was tight. But James said, "Pffft. In California you get only 1 inch." On the way home I noticed a paper flapping under the windshield wiper. "Did you get a ticket?"

Alona said, "It looks like someone wrote their own personal ticket."

James said, "Probably a note that says something like, 'your door touched my door."

I said exaggerating sarcasm, "HEY! Why don't you just go back to California and learn how to drive."

The boys who were tiring, becoming clingy and whinging and nodding off, suddenly perked up. They joined the sarcasm fun. They understood what we were talking about and made up their own sarcastic notes to leave on someone's car. "Hey! You dented my door!"

"Hey, my wife is fat and you parked too close for her to squeeze in."

"Why don't you lean how to drive?"

"Who taught you how to park, anyway?"

"Hey! You're a terrible parker, go back to California."

The boys thought that someone leaving their dad a note to go back to California was hilarious."

It was suddenly a party in the van imagining what the note says.

Once we parked at my apartment, turns out, the note was nearly illegible. But it was sweet. It said that we gouged their door. Alona asked what "gouged" means and we were very careful not to touch any cars. The van has sliding doors in back, so it wasn't the boys. And it ended with a smiley face. Denver really isn't so rude as we all playfully imagined. But the boys went from being all done in to a state of excitement about joking over a note.