Popination Translation
a series of unhinged personal essays disguised as pub reviews. Today: DNVR bar. Or was that Fainting Goat Pub?
Or, kind of not either of these.
Today was an afternoon of multiple Popinations as I negotiated my post-church amblings to meet up with one
in a mini-Substackian meetup. Both places left something to be desired, with my preference leaning more toward the Irish pub than the sports bar with the preseason Broncos. But of course the highlight of that afternoon was meeting Tiffany at one of the most famous bookstores in the state (or is that country?)—but you can go to Notes to see stuff about that.
DNVR bar
I didn’t realize how sporty-spice this place was. I walked in and there were only a couple knots of people clustered here and there with view of the many big screens, several of which were playing…a football game? Huh? And many of these lunchtime fans were decked out in full Denver Broncos regalia, the bright orange and cobalt blue blinding in the dim light of the bar. I wondered if I’d traveled back in time, or forward, maybe? …but then I noticed a bunch of other screens had the Olympics going, albeit with the sound off. A quick Googling as I sat at the long sticky wooden bar told me it was the Broncos’ first pre-season game. Sigh. Can we please have less football? Maybe? More football, less football? (I’d love it if the Premier League would be more readily broadcast here and the other kind maybe yield a bit of its eternal season to it.)(But yes I know I know perfectly well it’s all about money—don’t ‘at’ me.)
So as you can tell, the DNVR bar was not the vibe I wanted today, but I can see its appeal for sporty types and that day, especially Broncos fans. And I found something very interesting just down the block from its entrance: a sign for something called Lavender Hill. Since I had to research this, it can’t count to include in a Popination, but this looks very cool. It’s a .org, so you can do some research yourself if you like.
But I left after only a snack and a pint, as I wasn’t into the vibe and I knew Tiffany wouldn’t be too keen on it either.
Fainting Goat Pub
From sports bar to old school Irish pub. Sounds like an improvement to me. The Fainting Goat was very divey inside and I did like it. Slow paced and dim, it was nice in a dive bar or an old pub kind of way, but again not really the vibe for meeting my new friend, who really just wanted coffee anyway.
They did apparently have a pretty famous rooftop patio, which I didn’t try (you’ll have already heard about my aversion to rooftop patios), but it’s rumored to have a lovely view of the city. And, they do know how to properly pour a Guinness. Maybe the head was a tiny bit shallow, but. Serviceable. Definitely serviceable.
NOTE: I inadvertently named this post by an -ation word I’ve already used! Gahh! So I’ve changed the title, but am keeping the below explanation intact (Popination Explanation? That’s a good one too), because… sigh. Just.
So, why Transubstantiation? it was last week, not this week. But I did go to these two bars last week, so you can imagine we’ve gone back in time a week into Transubstantiation time. I’m okay with that—there are only so many words in the English language that end in -ation (though I’ve been quite surprised at how many new ones I’ve been able to come up with)… and this just happened to hit the right timing. So last week I went to church for Transubstantiation day, and then went out to two middling pubs that disappointed. Oh well. Not every bread and wine experience is magical, or mysterious, or a miracle. Some are just bread and wine. Or beer and fries, as the case may be.
Tiffany and I met at every book lover’s favorite paradise, The Tattered Cover bookstore, after these two disappointing pubs were behind me. And their coffee shop was closed, which is weird and unusual and. Huh. Maybe it was destined to be a disappointing day when it comes to popinations. But meeting her was a treat.
Yay for being the highlight! :D