Wednesday, January 21, 2015

Mile High Magic


Denver Colorado is called the "mile high city" because it sits at 5,280 feet above sea level. And although the altitude sometimes gets to us, we consider Denver to be a magic city. It has the perfect combination of western heritage and urban sophistication. It also has lots of fun and historical things for a visitor to do.



 Denver's famous "Clock Tower" was built in the early 19th century and has been renovated to it's current glory. In the winter there is a small ice-skating rink in a park just below the tower where we like to go to play.  Check out the skating cowboy!!!














One of the other great historic buildings in Denver is the Union Station. First built in 1881, it's current renovation has made it an architectural gem with lots of the original details - check out the chandeliers - but also lots of modern touches. It currently houses restaurants, stores, bars and the Amtrak office.







     I did say there were "bars" in the Union Station, right?  Well the Terminal Bar is my favorite. It is housed in the original ticket office and you can sit on old train benches with brass foot rails and sip a drink while you look out of the old ticket windows. All of the drawers, cubby holes, and brass fixtures are still in place. It's easy to picture the train travel from 1881 till now [well, maybe it's easier after the first drink!].



  Here I am, ready to sell you a ticket to Omaha or finish my cosmo.... whichever!









Friday, January 9, 2015

NO - more PAII




 This year the PAII [innkeepers] conference was held in NO [New Orleans]. So of course my client Elizabeth Padilla and I had to go - duh! I know you just think we went to New Orleans for the food, fun, music and sightseeing but you are wrong. We went to the PAII conference to take classes, talk to fellow innkeepers, network and see new industry trends. Well, maybe we wanted to do a little of both.





This is a cooking class I took that was taught by famous New Orleans chef Kevin Belton. I actually did not learn much because innkeepers do not often cook etoufee or jambalaya for breakfast. But we did get to taste his special homemade pralines after we watched him make them. What a treat! He teaches at the New Orleans School of Cooking and if you go, you can take classes 6 days a week.



This is networking at its best - IIN is a group of Interim Innkeepers. I am a member and it is always fun to meet fellow innsitters at these conferences, catch up, tell stories and get new tips. Because we interim innkeepers are scattered all over the country the PAII conference is a good chance to meet.


       


 Networking is even more fun when there is a "masquerade ball" for all the innkeepers. In the traditional New Orleans style there were lots of folks in masks and green, gold and purple were the predominant colors. Elizabeth and I shopped for our feather boas on Bourbon Street and then got to wear them at the party . FUN!










 Of course we did also do a bit of sightseeing. We strolled the parks, ate bignets, visited the cathedral, shopped for trinkets and even got to hear a little bit of jazz music.
                                         Such fun with the Innkeepers in New Orleans!

                                       What's your favorite thing to do in the "big easy"?