Feliz Navidad

Who can resist a trip to the (in)famous Casa Bonita when you've got kids. Or if you've got an weird addiction to sopaipillas. Yes, the food is subpar, but the ambiance, the memories, the divers!

For the many of you who have no idea what I'm talking about, Casa Bonita is a theme restaurant to end all theme restaurants. It's endless rooms of Mexican kitsch, unchanged for at least thirty years. There's a waterfall right in the middle of all the hoopla and every ten minutes or so you get a show which might be a damsel in distress, a shoot 'em up cowboy fight, or cliff divers. Mariachi bands stroll, there's a puppet theater, and a spooky cave to wander through. You can peek into wishing well and when you leave every kid gets to pick a treat from a giant treasure chest.

I've never been this time of year, and it's absolutely gorgeous. This Denver landmark gets decked out with twinkle lights, Christmas trees, and nativity scenes. Last year I took FFM to the awesome Botanic Garden light display but due to construction at the garden they aren't doing lights this year. This was almost as good and we didn't get snowed on.

Ryan and Skylar were kind enough to keep us company. We went on a Tuesday night and things were pretty quiet. The kids explored the endless rooms (caves with dripping stalactites, ballrooms with mirrored walls, cafe style balconies overlooking vast courtyards) and managed to find a set of rooms Melinda and I had NEVER EVER seen in all our years (and it's been decades, folks) of going to Casa Bonita. Did you know there's a mine there? Nope, neither did we but you, too, can eat surrounded by timbers and ore carts. Just put up the little flag and you'll get endless sopaipillas down there, too