Fort Collins has two unique movie theaters, and both are pretty cool for completely different reasons. The first is the drive in Movie theater. It is closed now, but when it is open it is a great place to see a movie. The cost is five dollars per person, they have two screens, and they show a double feature every time. You can’t get any better then that, plus even though they sell the typical movie theater stuff you can bring in the good candy. I highly recommend stopping in the King Soopers candy Isle before heading out. From what I heard the best double feature this summer was The Hulk followed by Iron Man. The movies typically start whenever it gets dark, and the theater is located out on overland around the same area as the football field.

The other theater we have is the called the lyric movie theater. I have never been but word on the street is that you sit on couches, and that they sell beer, so it has more of a small town Gilmore Girls theme to it rather then the sticky floor theme that Cinemark is so fond of. I know they show mainly independent films, and from what I have heard you never really know what you are going to get when you sit down. Some movies like “The Diving Bell and the Butterfly;” which is based on a book are intensely depressing, so be aware that going to the lyric is a unique experience, but you might not always get the Hollywood happy ever after.

So, my three girlfriends and I usually do girls night once a week just to catch up, and it typically involves going to dinner and then, don’t laugh, watching One Tree Hill, but during the summer OTH is not on so we had to find something else to do. Instead we started playing Bingo Monday nights at CB and Potts. Which is a really fun cheap thing to do in Fort Collins.

On Monday nights starting at 9:00 there it is dollar beers and you get two four gridded bingo cards, and a crayon (PS they don’t really like it when you get into crayon chucking contests with other tables). There are however rules to bingo night. The first of which is the celebration rule. If you win, and your table does not celebrate loud enough it is grounds for disqualification…so keep that in mind, because the girl that announces takes this rule very seriously : ) Each grid of your sheet is labeled one through four; which is the next rule on game one you must be playing on grid one, on game two you must be playing on grid two and so on and so fourth. The third and final rule is that when any number for the O column is announced you must raise your beers to the sky cheers them and scream A-OHH at the top of your lungs. If you win Bingo ( and celebrate loud enough) you get a coupon for a free pitcher of beer, and you would think four games would go by fast, but the third and the fourth are often played for black out or for an X; which takes alot longer.

I haven’t really been to bingo night since this summer, but I am hoping to go sometime over winter break, and I strongly recommend checking it out, because despite is sounding like something old people do in a church basement its really fun.

Alright Alright you knew it was coming this isa college town so we do have alot of bars, and they have to serve food too so technicallyy they double as restaurants, but if you are looking to have fun on a Friday night we have some good places and some bad ones.

As far as nicer bars go I would have to say Stonehouse Grill; which has a roof patio is the best. It actually is a restaurant too with great food. If you are into more of the artsy hole in the wall scene then Luscious Nectar which has crazy cool smoothie drinks, or Elliots next door; which specializes in martinis are both really cool places.

Tony’s and Drunken monkey are near eachother and attract a similar older crowd. Tony’s tends to smell bad most of the time, but they do give you a flaming shot on your birthday, and if you want to play pool its free on Tuesday’s. Everyone knows the Rio is the best place for a margarita, they have a limit of three though because they are so strong. Across from the Rio is Stake out and Trailhead. These bars tend to draw all sorts of people in, because there is rarely a line, and they have pool as well as air hockey upstairs. Lucky Joe’s is also one of my favorites, because they have peanuts and they almost always have a live singer on thursday and friday nights. The bartenders tend to be pretty effcient and nice as well.

If you want to dance I would suggest going to Zydagos or Washington’s. Both play hip hop and rap dance music. Washington’s dance floor is a little bit bigger, and they line tends to go faster as well. On Thursday nights Washington’s has 18 and up nights too so if you still have friends that are under 21 and need a place to just go hang out Washington’s would be the place. They also have pool tables on the third floor.

The two places on Thursday nights that people tend to go to are Road 34 and Sullivan’s, because that’s when both bars have their specials. Both bars get packed on Thursdays, and Sullivan’s hires a DJ. There are also specialty bars or restaurants like Ma’s juice bar, which does smoothies, or Cafe Vino which is a cool place to have some wine, but not to eat because the portions are tiny.

Alright, so I think that’s about all of them, or at least all that I know of.  Sorry, if I missed any for those fans of the Fort Collins bar scenes please forgive me!

So, if you are not a girl it is likely that you haven’t heard of the  Tapestry House. It is an old Victorian House about three miles north of downtown fort Collins in Laporte. It is owned by Bobbie and Mark Randolph, and is primarily used for weddings; however they do host other events there, too. I was reminded of the Tapestry House as a topic when I was in downtown Fort Collins the other night and they were giving out carriage rides.

Mark and Bobbie apparently got married at the Dove house 15 years ago, and ever since their marriage they decided they wanted to own a place like that, and hold events, so that is eventually what they did in December of 2003. They have two little girls in elementary school, and as they announce on their website they love Fort Collins.

Their most common event are of course the weddings and the receptions, but their prices are high. For a wedding it can run anywhere from 1300 to 1500 dollars depending on the day of the week and the season. It is well worth it though because Mark and Bobbie take care of almost everything for you. In 2009, they will also be having discounted rates for small weddings that range from only 15-50 guests. Currently they are doing winter themed weddings, and they encourage you to stop by and observe for free if you just call first, and let them know. They also hold tours of the historical house and grounds

Alright, so I am sure that we have all been to a CSU football game, and if you haven’t yet I don’t know whats wrong with you. just kidding, but really they are fun. Although football games are more of something to do as a student at CSU there are still an activity people who live here also like to do.

CSU rams play at Hughes Stadium on Sonny Lubick field that is overlooked by the infamous A. If you don’t know the A stands for Aggies, and it is the oldest standing tradition at CSU. The A was first erected on December 12, 1923 after WWI on land that didn’t originally belong to the school. They ended up purchasing the land in a long term lease for a grand total of one dollar. The A is re-painted every year by freshmen football players and Greek organizations.

One of the best parts about the games is listening to a couple hundred drunk kids trying to remember the fight song even though it is printed on the back of every shirt. I don’t think anyone actually knows the whole thing, but here it is in case you feel ambitious and want to learn it. Despite its short length remembering it proves to be surprisingly difficult.:

Fight on you stalwart Ram Team,
On to the goal!
Tear the (Opponent’s) line asunder,
As down the field we thunder.
Knights of the green and gold,
Fight on with all your might!
Fight on you stalwart Ram Team,
Fight! Fight! Fight!

Football Players and the Field (in case you know your blind)

We used to sing whats known as Fum’s Song. We are no longer allowed to sing this song for some lame reason of course, but its still really funny. It was a song made up by Thurman Mcgraw, or Fum for short. He was the schools first football all American, and he went on to play in NFL for the Detroit lions. Anyway this is how the song goes:

“I’ll sing you a song of college days, and tell you where to go.
Aggies, where your knowledge is, and Boulder to spend your dough.
C.C. for your sissy boys, and Utah for your times, D.U. for your ministers, and drunkards School of Mines.
Don’t send my boy to Wyoming U. a dying mother said. Don’t send him to old Brigham Young, I’d rather see him dead.
But send him to our Aggies, it’s better than Cornell.
Before I’d see him in Boulder, I’d see my son in hell!”

Proud to be a CSU Ram

Those are just some of the CSU and football traditions, and I highly recommend wasting a Saturday tailgating and screaming your head off for CSU. Even if the team does let you down sometimes, singing shout at the end of the third quarter always makes up for it.

to explain, we were not ready for the picture, but we are excited we all have wristbands!

So, I didn’t know this until I did some on-line research, but there is a company in Fort Collins that gives hot air balloon rides to the public, and since I didn’t know about it I figured I would tell you all in case you were in the same boat.

The company is called Widetracker Balloon Adventures LLC, and their address is 315 south Loomis Ave. Fort Collins, CO 80521. Here’s a map for the directionally challenged :

Naturally flights are weather dependent, but they like you to make reservations at least 48 hours in advance. The cost is a little bit out of the price range of your average college student, but if you ever have an extra 195 dollars per person lying around, and you are bored I would def say go for it. They also have packagessuch as the Hot Air and Cold Water Package, Holiday Special Package, and Sweetheart package. This company has been around for 25 years, and has one pilot so I am pretty sure its safe.

If I was going to get in a balloon a couple thousand feet above the ground I would want some info on the person flying me. So, here is some background information on the pilot ( as obtained from their website), it says that he has been flying for 25 years in many countries including: Egypt, Kenya and India. I am sure that means he has some stories so your flight will not only be beautiful, because your viewing the rocky mountains, but entertaining as well. He has flown balloons as big as 12 passenger; which again is a testament to his experience. The website also wants you to know that his safety record is tip top.  

Anyway if you want to contact this company to reserve a balloon ride their phone number is 970-482-4492 and their email is Windtracker @comcast.net 

So I thought this week I would go ahead and just talk about some of my favorite restaurants in fort Collins.

Breakfast

Farmers Table-Farmers table is off shields over by king Soopers and by far the best hangover food of all time. There breakfast burritos and skillets coupled with orange juice will put you in a food coma for the rest of the day, but its definitely worth it.

Rainbow Restraunt- Ok so admittedly I have only eaten here once, but everyone I was with ordered something that looked and tasted delicious. They are located off of Laural.

Lunch

Mad Greens- Mad Greens is kind of a far drive they are off of harmony and timberline, but if you just want a light lunch this is the best. They have panninis to go along with their salads, and although all of their concoctions are good I like to make my own.

Spicy Pickle- This is a sandwich shop. There are a few of them around Fort Collins. They have great sandwiches, and as my roommate always says with surprise every time we eat there “the pickle is actually spicy.”

Dinner

Hu Hot- Ok so Hu Hot costs less when you go for lunch, but we usually go for dinner anyway. This is located off college in old town, and is a place that challenges you to keep eating. It is buffet style except you throw everything into a bowl, and watch them cook it for you. You can go up as many times as you like and fill as many bowls as you want, so be sure to eat your moneys worth.

Thai Pepper- Located off of college and Laural this is the best Pad Thai you will ever eat…enough said.

Late night snacks-so we are all in college we have all eaten what taco bell calls the “fourth meal” at two in the morning, so here are some of my favorite “fourth meal” places…not that I don’t eat here other times too.

Jimmy Johns-delivers til 2am, and has amazing sandwiches

DP Doughs- also delivers until 2 am, and I know it sounds ridiculous, but a pizza calzone just tastes better at 2.

Qudoba- I believe the one across from campus on shields is still open until 2am. The people working are always a little grumpy in my experience, but lets face it who wouldn’t be.

So even though we have tons of art galleries on campus Fort Collins also has one. It is located right off of college and Oak in old town, and it is called the Fort Collins Museum of Contemporary art, or the MOCA, for short. The building itself is beautiful, and it is on the National Register of Historic Places list as a landmark in Fort Collins. Designed by James Knox Taylor, the man who was the supervising architect on the U.S. Treasury, the building was originally built to be a post office.  Being in this building is fun, because it has an eerie semimetal feeling to it, and there is a set of back stairs that lead up to a cool kind of hidden gallery. I was almost more overtaken with exploring the place then looking at the art the first time I was there.

The MOCA’s Mission is engage the community in cultural experiences that promote appreciation of contemporary art, and they do that very well. They are a non-profit organization, so everyone you see working there is strictly a volunteer from one the three main groups in Fort Collins that support he museum. They hold six to seven different exhibits per year, along with offering children’s art classes and holding gallery talks for artists to come in and expand on their art.

Entrance to the MOCA is free with a student ID, so I would highly recommend one day when your bored just going in to check out what exhibit they have up, Who knows, even if you are not an art person, you might just end up loving it like I did, because of the wide variety of art they show.  

So, admittedly this is something that you have to do in the summer when it is warm, and not something I did this past week; however it is still one of the best ways to kill a Saturday in Fort Collins with a group of friends. In order to float the Poudreyou need to buy a tube to float on (imagine that). In fort Collins you can get a tube at any sporting goods store, or I have even heard Walgreen’s. However, I would suggest Jax sporting goods off of college and wilox because it is on your way up to the canyon. Albertsons is just down the street, and they have free air to fill the tubes as well.

Two things you are going to want to remember to bring. A rope that is strong enough to tie down the tubes. we didn’t do this….ended up buying a thin rope from albertsons….and it broke scattering tubes across the highway. Although its entertaining to watch eight people running after tubes across 287 I wouldn’t recommend actually doing it. The other thing you will need is flip flops you don’t mind losing, because even if you hang on to your shoes til the very end chances are getting out of the river you are going to lose one. you will need two cars one to park at the bottom and one to bring to the top, and most of the time someone is going to have to lean out the window and hold a tube or two as you drive to the top. As uncomfortable and ridiculous as this looks its worth it.

When actually floating down the river you are going to want to stay away from the sides and the reeds they will pop your tube, and you will have a not so fun walk to the bottom (especially if you have lost your flip flops). It takes about an hour and a half to do the run we did, and we went when the river was pretty high, so we only wound up with minor bruises from rocks and sticks that lie at the bottom of the river bed. When the river is low (and even when it is high) you are going to want to keep your butt out of the water as much as possible to avoid these rocks, because trust me they hurt.  Anyway that’s about all there is to it, I would check with the guys at Jax to see how dangerous the river is before you go, but other then that its usually pretty safe, and its always fun.

Alright so this weekend I went to two shows at the Aggie Theatre, one on purpose and one as a spur of the moment thing. The Aggie is the venue to see a show in Fort Collins, and their slogan, We’ve been entertaining Fort Collins for 103 years, speaks to that. We also have Hodi’s Half Note; which used to be the Starlite Theater, and Avogadro’s Number; which is a restaurant that occasionally has shows in the bar area.

Anyway back to the Aggie. As you can imagine, in 103 years a lot of bands have played there. I personally have seen everyone from big artists like Breaking Benjamin to local guys like Opposing the Arrow who just like to goof off on stage and play music. It is a great place for local bands, such as recently signed Tickle Me Pink, to gain exposure as well.

So, the first show I went and saw was the SkyHigh Music festival on Thursday night. I was there supporting my friends who weren’t on until 12:00, so I only went and saw the last two bands, but both were awesome, and extremely different. The first was Death Hickey Blues who have a mellow chilling out relaxing sound, and incorporate violin chords into most of their songs. My friends band is from Denver, and go by the name of Glass Delirium. They are unique in their dual male/female vocalists, and recently opened for project revolution, and are playing at “live at the loft Oktoberfest” on October fourth. Their sound is so unique that they have been told they sound like everyone from queen to fair to midland.

The spur of the moment show I went to was Head for the Hills on Friday night. As we were walking to Lucky Joe’s, one of my friends realized they were playing, and having gone to grade school with one of the members convinced us to stop in and watch them play. These guys are a Bluegrass band; which is not the typical music I listen to, but they drew a large high energy crowd and played an excellent show. All of the band members are extremely talented, and even if you don’t like bluegrass I guarantee you will appreciate these guys after seeing them play, because of the energy they bring to the stage.

Overall this weekend proved to me once again that the Aggie is probably one of my favorite places in Fort Collins, because they bring such a wide variety of sound to fort collins, and its always exciting to see who they are going to bring next.