REO Speedwagon and Pinot's Palette (August 8th, 2015)

For Christmas, I gave Steve 2 concerts as his gift. The first was 38 Special, which we went to back in May when the whole family came (see our blog post from June 21st, 2015), the second was REO Speedwagon which we will be going to tonight. Just like the 38 Special concert, this one will be held at Hudson Gardens in Littleton, Colorado. 

We headed over at about 2:00 to pick up our friends Dawn and Steve (We call him Steve II because it just gets two confusing, and my Steve is older, so he is Steve I). Unfortunately, we had not planned well, and didn’t have any bottled water, which we had promised to bring, so we had to swing by the store and pick some up on the way. We got to Hudson Gardens at about 3:30, and Steve dropped Steve II, Dawn and I off, and went to park. We all got in line, and it took Steve forever to catch up with us. When he finally joined us in line, he said that he had to re-park three different times. There was also a wedding at the gardens today, so a lot of the parking was reserved for the wedding party and guests. While standing in line, it is fine to tailgate, as long as you haven’t passed the security checkpoint, so we stood in line and had some liquid refreshment. 

At about 4:00 they opened up the security checkpoint, searched our bags, and we were allowed to move up to the gate where they would take our tickets at 5:00. We moved up, put our chairs in line at the ticket gate, and walked back to our spot in the shade before the security checkpoint. There was another couple doing the same thing that we were doing. Their names were Jeff and Debbie. We all stood and talk and had a great time, until it started getting close to 5:00, then took our coolers back to the car and caught up with our chairs that were waiting in line.

Waiting in line for the gates to open.  It's a good idea to have an umbrella, it gets hot!

Me and my Honey waiting in line

Jeff and Debbie were in line right behind us, so we continued to talk once we were in line. At 5:00 the gates opened, and as always, it was a dash for those in the front of the line to get good seats. All of the seating at Hudson Gardens is general admission on the lawn, and if you are lucky, you can get up close and sit in the shade of the stage where it is nice and cool.

Perfect distance from the stage

Last time we were here, we brought our own dinner in, but this time we decided to see what the food trucks had to offer. There were five food trucks, one with sliders and fries (three sliders for $9, and fries were $4), two trucks with Philippine options, one truck that had a larger variety of different foods to choose from, and an ice cream truck. They were all reasonably priced and looked good. We all decided to try one of the Philippine trucks. Between the four of us, we ordered 2 Chicken Adobos ($8 each), 2 noodle bowls with vegies ($8 each) and an order of egg rolls ($4). We took it back to our chairs and ate while we waited for the concert to start at 6:30. 

Hudson Gardens is a botanical garden with an outdoor stage set up in the summer just for these weekend concerts. In addition to the food trucks, they have beer and wine stations where you can get  large Bud Light Lime and Stella Artois as well as red and white wine for $6.00. Unfortunately, there were no permanent restrooms, just port-o-potties, but they are always nice and clean (at least early in the night).

Steve and I saw REO Speedwagon last September on a cruise ship, so we were really excited when we saw that they would be playing at Hudson Garden. Tonight’s concert was really good; even better than the concert we saw last September. We had so much fun with our friends Dawn and Steve, and our new friends Jeff and Debbie.

Kevin on Guitar

And Piano

All of REO Speedwagon

Just as the sun was setting, they came out for their encore and played Riding the Storm Out, which is one of their big hits. What perfect timing, with the beautiful cloudy sunset skies in the background of the stage!

Riding the Storm Out at Hudson Gardens, Great Concert, Great Venue, Great Friends!

When the concert was over, the six of us just sat and talked until we were about the only people left. As we left the amphitheater, we were amazed again at how little traffic remained, and how easy it was to get out of the venue. What a great night, with great friends! 

As we headed back toward home, it was still early, and we all noticed that we were starting to get hungry again, so we stopped at a little place in Old Towne Arvada called Fuzzy’s Tacos. It’s a very casual restaurant that serves Mexican food with a fun twist. We went inside and ordered at the counter, and then wandered outside to see if we could find a place to sit. There is a lot of room to sit inside at Fuzzy’s, including a little mezzanine above the bar, but the evening was so beautiful that we decided to try to find a place outside. They have long tables out on the patio, so unless you have a large party, you typically share your table with someone else. 

Dawn and I found an end of a table that looked just perfect for the four of us and sat down and to our delight, the men were right behind us with margaritas for us and beers for themselves. We all sat and chatted until we heard our names called and the men went inside to get our food. Each couple had ordered their nachos with shredded pork, which are out of this world! 

Shredded Pork Nachos at Fuzzy Taco

These are definitely for a night when we decide to splurge, but such a treat! The four of us enjoyed our drinks and nachos on a beautiful Colorado night in beautiful Old Towne Arvada. 

A little update from Pinot's Palette:

When I checked my email this morning, there was a thank you note from a little place in the Hylands called Pinot’s Palette, where our youngest daughter hosted our oldest daughters bachelorette party (see our blog post from May 16th, 2015). They were thanking us for hosting a private party with them, and invited us to enjoy a free painting session on them. So while we were at the REO Speedwagon concert, our youngest daughter and her boyfriend enjoyed a 2 for 1 night painting the night away at Pinot’s Palette.

Pinot’s Palette is a venue that does painting events. They have a schedule of when they will be doing each painting, and you can call and reserve a seat for that painting. When you get there, the main room is set up with long tables, and there is a small bar at the back. They provide you with an apron, easle, canvas and paints. Throughout the night, the bar is open with a nice selection of cocktails and non- alcoholic drinks for purchase at very affordable prices.

They have an instructor and an assistant for each class, and starting from a blank canvas, they teach you how to paint a painting. Each person is invited to add their own personal touches as they go through the directions, and some people even go way off course and paint whatever they feel like. It is such a fun experience, and at the end of the night, you will come home with your very own painting that you painted yourself. It is a great place for date nights, a girls night out, or any other evening out. You can also rent out a space for a private party, which is also wonderful! 

Tonights painting was sailboats at sunset, which is what our daughter painted, but her boyfriend put a personal touch on his by making it a fisherman instead.  Love it!  Here are the results of their night!

Our daughter's painting of the sailboats at sunset

Her boyfriends painting of the fisherman