First visit: Apr 2024
After piddling around Canon City, we took the beautiful drive on US-50 west along the Arkansas River. We've done this trip many times over the 27 years we've been married, and it never gets old. The river rafting companies are getting ready for the whitewater season coming up in another month or so.
As is our protocol, we prefer to stay at a unique hotel versus the chains (though in retirement I plan on using every single point I earned!). Based on the reviews, we chose Browns Canyon Inn. On first glance it looks like your typical indoor motel from the 80s and 90s. But it's been fully renovated with wonderful rustic decor and lots of displays of taxidermy. Super clean rooms and everything works. And the price is right.
We spent the afternoon looking in shops and taking in the great weather. After dinner, we would walk the river and enjoy the evening (more on that in the next post...). OK then, it's time for dinner. Mrs. RJG says she wants a steak. Well ALL-right! I'm in. After some research, Currents seemed to be a good choice. Quincys was also on offer, but we already ate there this year in Florence, and I wanted to try something new.
We got there early around 5, and it was largely empty. It's a cavernous place, so when it does get jammed in the summer, you're still likely to find a seat inside or out. We started with a bottle of Gravel Bar Cabernet Sauvignon (from Washington), which has a bit of a sharp flavor. We liked it. We passed on appetizers and went straight for dinner. We each ordered the 8 ounce ribeye, hers well-done and mine medium well. Fortunately hers was cooked perfectly and she was very happy with the flavor and the tenderness. Mine came out more like medium, which I actually prefer, but I've been noticing my mediums have been too rare of late, so this might be a winning strategy for less-than-high-end steakhouses. I thought it was excellent. We also got loaded baked potatoes - essentially with bacon and cheese. They were also great. The steak is served on a bed of green beans, which I still think are gross, so I substituted for a cup of green chile. Great move as I really liked the spicy recipe (apparently award winning). It could have stood to be a bit hotter temperature though. Mrs. RJG loved the beans, so there you have it.
Background music was a little annoying. We don't want to hear modern rock and rap over our steak dinner. Jazz, classical, lounge, electronica - something more suitable and appropriate for the setting. Our service was on the "odd" side but overall it was still accurate and reasonably friendly.
Definitely worth going back, and we probably will at some point, but likely we'll try something else next time.
4/13/24 (new entry)
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