Tag: birthday

Casa Bonita

I was watching an episode of South Park a few years ago with my wife. It was the episode where Cartman convinced Butters that he had travelled in time to a post-apocalyptic world just so he could take his spot to go to a birthday party at Casa Bonita. My wife could not believe how much I was laughing, and she could not understand what was so funny. I pointed at the screen, and told her that Casa Bonita was exactly like that. She looked at me and stated, “That place is real!”

Yes, Casa Bonita is a real place, and it holds a special place for many people who grew up in Denver. There have been many birthday parties that I went to at this place, and my memories of it are fond, even though the food was never any good. It had been a staple of Denver for many years, and the legend grew because of the South Park episode. Still, the old building started to fall apart, and fewer people came, and eventually they had to close down. It laid abandoned for many years.

This was until Trey Parker and Matt Stone, the creators of South Park, saw an opportunity to refurbish the building, and return Casa Bonita back to its glory days. They came in and put back together the crumbling infrastructure of the building. They added a real kitchen that could actually cook more than two items. They hired a chef to make the food worth the visit. And they kept the magic that made Casa Bonita the place it was, it is, and as it should be.

They obviously kept the arcade that was a part of all childhood memories of any location that we went to while children. They kept a few of the games that we loved so much. I was able to find Centipede, Ms. Pac Man, and Galaga. They have also updated many of the games, and there are some more modern ones to appeal to the younger generation. And if you are into useless crap, you can still try your hand at Skeeball to get a bunch of tickets to buy that crap.

Of course, they could not get rid of Moco, the gorilla that walks around with its handler where you can your picture with it. It is odd to see when you first witness it walking around, but in a place as strange as Casa Bonita, it somehow seems to fit.

There are also many other forms of entertainment to keep you in the building and enjoying yourself. You can sit through one of the puppet shows where a talking taco will make you laugh with all the food pun jokes that it can come up with. If that is not your cup of tea, you can get your fortune read, watch an illusionists, or watch a mariachi band. It is all a little schticky but if you lean into the schtick, it makes it a lot of fun and you no longer notice the schtick.

And of course, they kept the thing that made Casa Bonita the legend that it is in Denver, the cliff divers. Of course they have not kept the original cliff divers, but the replacements they have found are still skilled in the abilities to dive and entertain. Parker and Stone have also made the diving safer for those entertaining the crowds. Rumor has it that the old place where the divers came out of the pool was the electrical room for the restaurant. The new place is free from accidents happening that would cause quite the stir in the newspapers if they happened.

Casa Bonita has returned back to its glory days, and has become a tourist destination in Denver. If you are thinking about going while visiting the city, keep in mind that at this time, it is hard to get a reservation. I had to get mine four months in advance, and it happened because the person that made the reservation had special status with the restaurant. It is a little pricey now, but it is a lot of fun and worth the visit. I’m just glad to know that the pink building in Lakewood is not sitting there empty, and laughter and joy still ring out from its halls. It might be another thirty years before I go back again, but I am glad that I was able to sneak in this one time while visiting home.

Thanks for reading.

The Search for the World’s Best Beer – Brussels, Belgium

There comes a time in everybody’s life when they have to stop what they are doing and go out in search of something that in the grand scheme of things is not really important. It may cause you to travel to corners of the world that you have never been before, and you may have a hard time justifying this search to the people who you have responsibilities with. But still you should put those responsibilities aside and go out on that silly quest and in the end, discover that this silly quest was more important than you originally intended it to be.

My call to adventure actually came last April when my wife and I were looking at where we would travel to in the upcoming school year. Being in Jordan, the thought of Europe always comes up, and eventually all things on the map pointed to the land of frittes, chocolate and beer, Belgium. But then we had to ask ourselves when would be the perfect time to go, and that is when we started looking at the beginning of December as a way of celebrating an important birthday, my fiftieth. Rarely do I take time off of work to go out and do stuff for myself. I figure as a teacher that I get enough time off already, and I should be able to plan around that. But considering my birthday always falls at a busy time of the year, and I never really get to celebrate it, this was excuse enough to go out to Brussels for a long weekend and take a couple of days off in the process.

It wasn’t until the dates came closer that I found the main purpose of this trip. I was always going to go out to Brussels to drink some Trappist beers. They are some of my favorite beers in the world. But I was talking to a friend of mine who used to live in Brussels, and he told me about Westvleteren. He was telling me that this is considered to be the best beer in the world, and it is hard to come across one of the unassuming bottles with this brown nectar inside. He told me about the hidden corner, a block off the Grote Markt, where I could find the local bar that serves this beer. He even warned me about the price of 17 Euros to obtain a bottle.

It was all the incentive that I needed, and I was off to Brussels in search of this perfect beer. Of course, I could not buy one early in the morning. The bar that served it did not open until three o’clock in the afternoon. So I spent the day sightseeing and enjoying the Christmas market. I was brought back to my childhood as I enjoyed waffles and my favorite Christmas cookie, the speculoos. My mom used to make these when I was a kid, and we would always enjoy them on St. Nicholas Day. I had no idea that these were common cookies in Belgium, and was happy to find them all over the place.

Speaking of St. Nicholas Day, the city of Brussels was celebrating it as well. It was almost as if they were expecting me to come to relive my childhood. Their famous statue of a peeing child, the Manneken Pis, was dressed up as the valued saint on this day, and it made me chuckle to see him this way.

The peeing child was a common sight all over the city. It does bring a lot of people to the city in hopes of watching it pee, and to see what he will be wearing on any given day. There are apparently over 1000 different outfits that he has, and there are seems to be something special going on where he is wearing one of them. The people of Brussels have also found a way to make a joke out of him in a million ways. It goes great with the attitude of the city, and allowed for many moments of laughter as I made my way around the city.

Eventually, the sun dipped below the horizon, and the bars started to open their doors. We made our way to Au Bon Vieux Temps and laid down the 17 Euros for the best beer in the world.

Was it worth it?

In more ways than one. What was a silly little quest turned out to be a memorable trip and a birthday I will never forget. I am glad that I took those days off, and maybe I shouldn’t wait another ten years to take a little side trip like this. They are always worth the quest.

Mid-Life Crisis

What does it mean to get one year older
And reflect back on the time that was spent?
Did I take my life and live it bolder,
Or do I ponder on where my time went?
Did I hold the moments worth savoring,
And pack them away to define my life?
Instead, did I linger on harboring
On harder times that brought nothing but strife?
There’s a lesson learned as I continue
To stroll down the path I laid before me,
That as a younger man, I never knew,
Is the way to make life worthy to see.
Life is a collection of memories,
And it’s better to pick the ones that please.