wedding road trip

Margaritas with Hail on the Side

Katie and I both found it appropriate to take Chris to the one place that had been the source of many Denver nights: Rio’s. Rio’s offers the strongest margaritas in the Mountain West but disguises them in sugary sweet goodness that makes you think you should have more than one.

Big mistake. Back when I lived in Denver, I had many nights that ended with the prophetic statement, “blame it on Rio’s!” Katie even had one night that began with Rio’s and ended with her “going for a walk” as I attempted to buy us late night burritos at Illegal Pete’s. The night concluded with me circling the block looking for my blonde-haired partner in crime as she chatted up every bar patron in Lodo. Good times, good times.

On this particular Friday night, Katie, Chris, and I found ourselves spending time with Jason, a math wiz and future Internet Wunderkind. The four of us started off the night at Rio’s, and quickly engaged in a feisty conversation about politics and how our home state of California is going down the toilet. Despite Katie’s strong suggestion that we should not eat the food, we downed a quesadilla and two margaritas each, moving the conversation on to marriage. I’ve noticed on this trip that the alcohol tends to flow faster the second a topic like “to death do us part” is brought up. This is obviously a coincidence.

Buzzed and happy, we casually strolled up the street in search of some “real” food. As we rounded the corner, it started to rain. Giggling, Katie and I ran up the street thinking, “isn’t this cute, it’s raining!” Two seconds later, it started to hail. I’m sorry, but where I come from, summer and hail don’t mix. But in Denver, the land of the schizophrenic weather, everything goes. We ducked inside the Wazee Supper Club, where we gorged on good conversation and piping hot pizza. By the end of the night, still resembling drowned rats, we concluded that it was best to stop before things got too crazy. After all, a girl and guy on the road have to get their beauty sleep.

Tags: blame it on rios, day 8 denver colorado