Colorado - Day One

Ryan and I landed in Denver around 1pm on Monday and picked up our rental car. We were both too excited to stop and eat so we grabbed a few granola bars, nuts and water and headed off to Boulder where we would spend the next few days. Ryan is an alumni of the University of Colorado in Boulder and had not been back in about 9 years. He had some friends anxiously awaiting his arrival. Although we had seen them at our wedding 3 years ago, Ryan was obviously unable to spend some real quality time with them.
Our first treat in Boulder was the classic hotel we checked into. The "Hotel Boulderado" prompted several cheesy renditions of "Hotel California" while we were there. But...seriously...walking into this place felt like going back in time and the bed was the single most comfortable bed we have ever slept in....ahhhhhh..... Below are photos of the room and the lobby including the amazing stained glass ceiling.
Once we got over the utter coolness of the hotel, we finally caught up with one of Ryan's friends from school, Thomas. They immediately fell right back into place as if they were together just yesterday. Our first stop was the Rio Grande (sorry, I failed to get photos) where Ryan worked as a waiter for most of his college days. His other friend, Eric works there now and is a bartender extraordinaire! He showed us a great time and I had a fantasic meal of mahi mahi tacos and margaritas.....all in all, a very welcoming day to our vacation!