Our first stop in Tennessee was Memphis. In the morning we went to the Civil Rights museum which was very moving as it’s built into the Lorraine Motel where Martin Luther King Jr. was assassinated. A short film was playing at the center that day and we unknowingly walked by the key speaker in the documentary, Rev. Billy Kyles who was giving an interview. Kyles, who was there the day MLK was shot was one of the few witnesses at the scene and in the film he describes the tenacity and leadership that Martin Luther King Jr. possessed. The documentary was moving as well and highlighted an improvisational speech that Luther gave the night before he was assassinated, the speech is known as the Mountaintop Speech. After leaving the museum I felt somewhat in a daze to really come to terms with how America once was and how far we still need to come as a society and as a country.

There isn’t much vegetarian fare in Memphis, in fact there really isn’t any…so we decided to go to BB Kings on Beale Street which was the only menu we could find that offered something we could eat. I ordered the collard greens not knowing that they come with pork in them, whoops! Afterwards we went to the Sun Records recording studio which recorded greats such as Elvis Presley and Johnny Cash. It was incredible to me to be in the same studio where the founders of rock & roll recorded their unique sound. We also got to see the ribbon mic and guitars used by famous singer songwriters. The bottom of the studio has an old soda shop where they sell root-beer and milkshakes among other gift shop items. The studio is still open and at night serves as a full service recording studio.

After Memphis we headed up to Nashville also known as Music City to see sites such as the Grand Ole Opry, The Gibson Bluegrass Guitar Factory and Music Row.  We took a nice stroll along the campus trails at Vanderbilt University which houses old brick buildings. We grabbed lunch at Cafe Coco which had a great selection of vegetarian and vegan fare. I had a toasted croissant topped with a black bean burger, cheese, spinach and artichoke dip and onions, even though it sounds like a strange combination it happened to be absolutely delicious and just melted in my mouth. Jack had the tortellini in a cream blush sauce with some garlic bread which was also very tasty. Afterwards we took another walk heading towards some of the most oldest and famous buildings in the area such as the Elliston Place Soda Shop.

Both Memphis and Nashville had good, fun, and lazy vibes. Please see our full set here.

We were excited to get to Colorado for a few reasons… the main one being that the timeshare we were going to relax in for a few nights was located in Avon. We spent a few days lounging, drinking wine, reading, and watching the Golden Girls – which in my opinion is one of the best shows ever made. We headed into downtown Vail which is an upscale resort community (Harrison Ford has a house there) where we browsed the shops and strolled along the cobblestone streets. Hungry for a snack we decided to grab some baked brie and pints of Erdinger at one of the many German restaurants located in the town. The brie was outstanding! Perfectly crispy crust that came with fruit, freshly baked bread and linden-berry jam.

After our relaxing hiatus in Avon we decided to go to Denver where we found the city to be rather dirty and lacking in culture. The entire city of Denver had a really strange vibe to it which we didn’t really care for. The saving grace of Denver was the Tattered Cover Bookstore which offered three floors of comfy chairs and stacks upon stacks of books in sections ranging from politics to sustainability to best sellers.

Boulder was a cute and fun town despite the snow we encountered while we were there! Walking with our hands in our pockets and keeping our heads down from the wind we battled the first snow of the season. We stopped in Leaf (a vegetarian restaurant) located near the outdoor pedestrian mall for some soup and sandwiches. The cream of cauliflower soup was very tasty as well as my tempeh rueben.

Earlier in the day we drove up a steep and winding hill surrounded by thick tall grass to a mesa located shortly outside of downtown where the National Center for Atmospheric Research (or NCAR for short) resides. The grass was frozen into hundreds if not thousands of sandy colored icicles which looked odd but beautiful against the Adobe styled building. The building was created by famed architect I.M. Pei more famously known for his controversial glass pyramid addition to the Louvre.

At NCAR we learned about  global warming, creation of tornados, and the atmospheres effects on our entire planet. The center is also a functioning research center which is home to some of the most brilliant scientists of our day. Daily tours last about an hour and are free to the public.

Colorado is home to the snow topped Rocky Mountains and  the pristine Colorado River. We found Colorado to be an absolutely gorgeous state, with most cities being robust in hiking, vegetarian friendly, but a little on the chilly side. Because of the inclimate weather we encountered I did not get to take many pictures of Colorado
but you can view our set here.