The 10th annual boys’ weekend is here and for the first time it’s not in New Orleans. We tried something new with the 23rd annual edition of the Telluride, CO Blues and Brews festival. Three days of music and beer at high altitude
in Colorado. We flew into Grand Junction and then drove to Telluride with a short stop in Montrose for refreshments at an interesting dive bar (Niko’s).
Here’s a picture of Telluride village from the cable car that runs over to Mountain Village. The festival was held in the park at the end of the village on the right had side of this view.
After the long drive, all we could muster for on Thursday night was a cocktail at the bar downstairs from our condo.
Friday began with a trip on the cable car over to Mountain village and a kick-off bloody Mary.
Then it was back over to the village for the festival. A huge highlight for me was Jason Isbell who played a varied and spectacular set. Joe Walsh closed the day and was as zany as ever. Here’s his tribute to Glen Frey, “Take it to the Limit”. It got very cold very quickly when the sun set behind the mountains – many layers needed.
After a quick rest back at the condo we headed out to the New Sheridan bar to listen to some excellent reggae music. The place was totally packed and the music was great.
Saturday began with the first of a couple of torture sessions that I was in store for – a hike 1200 feet up the Beaver Creek trail to some waterfalls. Breath doesn’t come easy at that altitude and climbing that quickly. And for pure humiliation I was passed by a 3 legged chihuahua on the way up and down. The views were excellent though. There was no time for lolly-gagging on the trail since the Grand Tasting started at the festival at 11am. This is an event where 30 or so local breweries provide tastings of their brews – and it’s included in the price of admission and so not to be missed.
After the tasting we saw performances by the California Honeydrops (recommended), North Mississippi Allstars (mixed reviews), Anders Osborne (pictures below and a good performance with just a bit too much noodling and fiddling with overdrive effects), and Gary Clark to close out (great start to the set with Bright Lights). It quickly got too cold for much more of the fest.
In the evenings the festival puts on “Juke Joint” events at small halls throughout the village. We caught performances at both the Sheridan Opera House and the Elk’s lodge just down from the condo where the Delgado brothers put on an excellent show for a small number of blues fans. I last saw them at Biscuits and Blues in San Francisco and they were equally good at altitude.
Sunday started well with a trip on the gondola back over to Mountain Village. The plan was to have brunch and enjoy the Cowboys game. That went well for about an hour and then the deadly duo (Denny and Sean) were able to arrange a mountain biking tour they really, really wanted to do. So back over the mountain, pick up bikes and gear, load into a transit van and head up to 10,500 feet to start the Galloping Goose run. This was advertised as a perfect “intro” mountain bike ride suitable for kids.
It started out well with wide, easy trails and these gorgeous views. My first challenge was a puncture about a half mile above Trout Lake pictured above. The crew was completely oblivious to my issue as I walked down to meet them at the lake. Puncture repaired, we headed on down. Some road riding was fine, and then the torture began. Narrow and very steep trails through the woods and streams, and then a couple of miles along the side of a cliff on a narrow pathway. I’m not good with heights – particularly steep drop offs – so there was some walking for me. 17 miles later and a 2200 foot descent and the torture was over and I was ready for a drink and something good to eat. My fist mountain biking experience is behind me. Lesson learned – investigate the reality of the trail before starting.
Monday was a short drive back to Montrose airport and a quick flight home. Montrose has 3 gates but has a TSApre line – something not offered at DFW terminal B with 30 plus gates.
Another excellent boys’ trip in the books. Time to start planning to make Cuba a reality next year.
The next morning, after a multi-course breakfast buffet, it was off to Montmartre for one of our favorite meals. We almost worked off our breakfast climbing the never ending stairs from the Abesses metro station to Montmartre but weren’t quite ready for lunch. Stopped at a great open air cafe for a Bloody Mary and the crossword. Then on to Cafe Bruant for their amazing duck and foie gras salad and a huge pot of moules frites.
arrival celebration champagne. As usual I was thoroughly spoiled by my Mum with great cooking – Stornoway black pudding for breakfast, steak pies, fantastic deserts. On Friday the fishmonger comes to the house and delivers “Fresh Fish” – delicious and now known as “Fresh Fish Friday”. We had a nice trip over to the beach at Irvine where the wind blew out any remaining cobwebs from our jetlagged heads.
My Mum gave my Dad an iPad for his birthday present. It was loaded up with pictures from the dinner (see selfie of Diana and my brother in law, David, below) and pictures and videos from the family. We were quite nervous about the technical challenges that the gift might present, but are happily surprised with the ease that Dad places facetime calls on Sundays.
I was able to enjoy a couple of good nights out in Tokyo with our excellent hosts. Here’s Deepak with his model of the “Black Ship” that Captain Perry sailed to Yokohama in 1854, and began opening up Japan to the West.
Our second outing was to Mixology, a craft cocktail bar in Akasaka. This is an area of Tokyo with a lot of small and very unique stores. The cocktails were excellent and watching the precision and detailed work by the bar tenders was very educational. 
I had a cocktail that was mixed with smoke in a skull vodka bottle – very good – almost like a Talisker peaty scotch from Islay. The food was very creative as well – here’s a picture of an egg with a syringe of Sauterne wine that was injected after the soft boiled egg had cooled for a few 
minutes. I can’t imagine this dish would be allowed in the United States.
The flight home was smooth and uneventful. Just a few days to rest and get time zone adjusted before heading to Scotland for my Dad’s 80th birthday celebration.
finished their diving certifications on Thursday and Friday. Here they are hitting the beach after certification dives on Thursday while we relax under an umbrella with Blood Marys. We joined them on the boat on Friday as they finished up the checkout dives.
enjoying the sunset on our last evening. I head the question, “Can’t we just stay one more day?”, several times throughout the day.
esting to see the Village Vanguard in a documentary called “Becoming Mike Nichols” that I watched between catch up naps on Saturday – apparently he and Elaine May performed there in their early days as an improv duo. The documentary was about Nichols work up to and including “The Graduate” which was his first movie at age 36. It was also Dustin Hoffman’s first movie – Nichols had seen him perform at an off-Broadway production.
Tuesday and Wednesday were long work days at 180 Maiden Lane in the Wall St area. 80 folks locked up in an auditorium with rotating speakers, panels, and group discussions.
day I made my first Blue Apron meal in a while. Catfish with ponzu and red pepper sauce, ginger toasted peanuts, garlic infused rice, and sesame seed zucchini.
ed the book “Just Mercy” by Bryan Stevenson this week. This is a mind blowing account of the racial injustices of the judicial system in the South (particularly Alabama) told through stories of many cases that the author, a Harvard lawyer who has never really earned much of a living, has worked on over the last 20 years. The progress that Stevenson has driven almost single handedly over the years with many Supreme Court hearings is phenomenal.
After beer we had lunch at Hutchin’s barbecue joint. Their smoked barbecue meats are excellent. Finn had a rib and brisket combo lunch and I had my usual pulled pork sandwich. We added a couple of treats – Texas twinkies. These are large jalapeno peppers stuffed with cream cheese and brisket and wrapped in bacon. I saved some for Diana who also thought it was delicious.
For Saturday dinner we had planned to go to “Twenty Seven” restaurant in Deep Ellum but were very sad to find out that it had permanently closed. This was one of our favorites in Deep Ellum that served delicious and eclectic small plates that allowed you to sample several things. The chef, known as Chef DAT, is going back to doing the pop-up and underground dinners that he was well known for before opening this place.
I’m off to finish getting prepared for my trip to Japan tomorrow morning. Then I’m cooking Crispy Catfish and Parsley Mashed Potatoes for dinner. Looking forward to sharing news of my Japanese adventures next week.
Sunday was Father’s day. Here I am with my loot – Cowboys grilling tools, apron and chef’s hat from Will; Miles Davis art from Campbell, Finn, and Melanie; and a lovely selection of cards.
n beans and creamy jalapeno sauce (my favorite of the three – the chicken spice rub was delicious); Beef Arepas with pickled onion, avocado and radishes (arepas are flat, round cornbreads); and Maryland-style Cod Cake sandwiches with tartar sauce and red cabbage slaw.