Monthly Archives: November 2021

Davie’s Chuck Wagon Diner

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As we approached Davie’s Chuck Wagon Diner, I reminded Johnna that I wanted to eat there for the atmosphere and offered to buy her lunch if our breakfast was terrible.

Honestly, I really just wanted to see the sign and figured it was worth the visit if the food was at all decent. There was no need to worry as the quality of the food and service surpassed even the fabulous atmosphere of this 1957 era diner.

It’s a prefab diner, manufactured in New Jersey and shipped by train to its home here on Denver’s Colfax Ave. Weighing in at 46 tons, transporting these old diners and placing them on their foundations was no small task.

Look at that sign.

Tabletop juke boxes, gorgeous tile work and a counter full of regulars make for great atmosphere. The menu features your traditional diner fare and our waitress was amazing. We hardly waited five minutes before she returned with our steaming hot breakfast plates. I had a veggie omelette, hash browns and sourdough toast and it was all delicious.

Check out these horse tiles.

And the pink tile ladies room.

And the regulars at the counter!

Davie’s Chuck Wagon Diner is well worth a visit if you enjoy diners and vintage okaces. Find the location, hours and menu at their website by clicking here!

Western Adventure, Year Four

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For the last four years, my friend Johnna and I have met somewhere within driving distance of her Wyoming home for a girl’s trip. I look forward to it because it provides much needed time with my friend and because we go places I wouldn’t likely visit on my own.

We met in Denver last week, each of us with a wish list of things to do. We accomplished almost everything we hoped for and a couple of extra things too.

On this trip, we stumbled into some great places to eat and shopped a good bit because it got dark so early. We visited the Colorado State House, Molly Brown House, Stanley Hotel, Botanic Gardens and the Garden of the Gods.

We wandered far and wide, sometimes aimlessly and often with purpose. It was magnificent. All of it.

Denver weather was mostly pleasant at a moderate upper sixties with beautiful blue skies most of the time. Of course, the wind was so strong for a couple of days that it would knock you over and that only worsened during our drive up to Estes Park. The wind was so bad I told Johnna that if you tied a helium balloon to a small child they would float away.

I came home with a phone full of pictures and a ton of memories to share with you. I’ll follow my usual pattern, sharing some in the next few days and then start weaving them in with other stories from other places over the next several weeks.

I can’t wait to show you some of this stuff and I’m hoping you enjoy the armchair journey as well. Come back tomorrow. We will visit my favorite new diner!

Headed Home

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Waiting for a flight provides ample opportunity to relax. I like to people watch and scroll social media while I decompress. Plus, when I’m leaving on an adventure, it gives me a chance to plan for the next few days and to get excited about the trip ahead.

Coming home, the airport wait helps with the transition back to reality. That’s because, at some point, I shift from not wanting my adventure to end to just wanting to be home.

I spent the last few days in Denver with my Western Adventure Pal Johnna. The flight out was ideal. We arrived early, no one sat next to me, I had plenty of leg room and everything went smooth as could be.

Coming home was terrible. First we were delayed while crews retrieved debris from the runway. Evidently, the plane ahead of us lost pieces of a tire on take off.

I really hope they didn’t need that tire.

It was hot on the plane and it was full. Plus, our descent and landing were rocky at best. We won’t even talk about how the shuttle bus line was ridiculous and things just didn’t go well.

I’ll be glad to sleep in my own bed tonight and to see my Scout who I’m told was a little angel while I was away.

Look for some stories from Denver soon.

Colors

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DC’s Chinatown is vibrant and colorful. This mural is larger than life and stopped me in my tracks. Can you imagine having such talent?

It’s the unexpected stuff, the things that you’ll never find in a travel book that make exploring this big world of ours truly grand.

What was the last thing you saw that really made you stop in admiration? I would love to hear about it.

Veterans Day

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It’s hard for me to pass up vintage pictures. In fact, I have a small box of photos of strangers that I’ve picked up in antique stores and junk shops over the years.

I call them “the family.”

I mostly buy candid photos rather than portraits. Occasionally they are labeled but they typically have no names or years, no stories, and no way to identify the people in the photos.

Sometimes I buy them because the photos are cool and I simply like old photos. It also makes me sad to see them languishing in a box on the floor, unwanted and without anyone to remember them.

This 8×10 of a sailor was a dollar in Denver last year. He looks like just a kid and I’m sure he was. It’s not labeled. No name or year.

I wonder what ever happened to him. I hope he made it home. I wonder if there’s anyone left in his family to even know his name or wonder what he looked like or how smart he looked on his uniform.

Our history is teeming with stories of young men and women who joined up, generously signing that proverbial blank check to our nation. Far too many don’t ever make it home. Others do but leave a piece of themselves in far off lands, instead bringing home more trauma than anyone should have to endure.

On this Veterans Day, I hope we all will remember that.

Say thanks to a veteran in your life. Say thanks to a stranger. Be grateful to the kids like this one who you never knew. After all, they served for all of us even though they didn’t know us either.

It’s the least we can do.

Do More

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Do more than just exist.

It’s up to you to decide what that means. Travel. Go back to school. Get a better job. Retire. Walk in the woods. Go fishing. Buy a cute outfit. Turn up the music. Soak in some bubbles. Eat chocolate. Celebrate life. Do things you enjoy.

Life is more than drudgery. Do more than exist. Today is the first day of your life. Go live it.