New Years Eve

Well, better late than never. For New Years, Jeff & I did a progressive dinner with three other couples. We first met at Hacienda Colorado for free chips & salsa. Notice the "free" because this will come up again. We got there late so everyone was ready to move on to the next place by the time we got there. So, we then proceeded to Nine 7/5 for appetizers. I had the best Mac & Cheese (spicy) and Edamame there. Needless to say, our bill was $25 for 2 apps and 1 drink. It was not going to be a cheap night. We then had reservations at Panzano's (an Italian restaurant in a fancy hotel) for dinner. One of our friends had printed off the menu from the internet and we all agreed it looked good and affordable. However, when we arrived, we discovered they had a special New Years menu and it wasn't cheap. We were at our table and had to decide if we should all get up and leave and hope to find a new restuarant that could get 8 of us in or stay where we were. We decided it would just be an expensive night and we stayed. We knew there was free bread so we proceeded to feast up on the free stuff. All 4 couples ordered the cheapest thing on the menu and split it with our spouse. Nathan, the leader of our group that night, told our waiter we had to be done by 9pm (it was 745) so we could watch the fireworks and that we weren't quite expecting this menu. I think our waiters hopes sunk of a big tip from our table. We enjoyed our dinner and did make it to the fireworks by 9. Then, we went to The Cheesecake Factory for dessert. We were downtown Denver and got there as the fireworks ended and I think the rest of the city had thought cheesecake sounded good as well. I'm sure there were at least 75 people waiting for a table so we decided to get our cheesecake to go and went and stood in the dessert "to go" line. That was almost as long as the table line. I think we were in line for 30-40 minutes. Finally, we got our cheesecake and proceeded to sit outside where there were some free tables. However, tonight was the night the weather thought it would be good to get windy. Just as we sat down our cheesecake almost blew off the table. We then decided we'd had enough and we'd just call it a night and eat our dessert in the car on the way home. Needless to say, we got home shortly after 11pm and didn't have the energy to stay up till midnight. But, all in all, it was a great night and we enjoyed doing something different and being with our friends.