Lunch!

Ok, after our rafting trip it was time for lunch.  I'm a fan of all the foodie shows.  I'm not much of a cook but I like watching them.  I was watching Diners, Drive-Ins and Dives a few days ago and found an episode that was about "The Coffee Cup" in Boulder City.  They talked about it as basically a breakfast place that was also open for lunch.  Had to go!

I'd never been in Boulder City before.  It originated as a place for the workers who were building the dam - a place where they wouldn't be seduced by the alcohol and gambling that Nevada was known for even back then.  As their history web site explains "Since 1969, liquor has been legal in town, but opposition to gambling and prostitution remains and growth ordinances keep Boulder City from duplicating the sprawl of Las Vegas."  (I should mention that the casino where we met the raft company is way outside town!  There is no gambling to this day.)  The town itself is a cute little town filled with antique shops, lots of parks and very narrow streets.  "The Coffee Cup" is on the main street; indeed it seems to be the hottest place in town.  It's fairly small with a main room that is about 20' x 40' (7 m x 14m) and another narrower room next to it.  The decor is original - many license plates, water skis, photos of soldiers.  It is obvious it means a lot to the owners and, presumably, the regulars. 

Someone (I think on Yelp) had talked about their chili verde so I was pretty primed for that.  My wife ordered a mushroom cheese burger. Our server was polite and fairly quick.  It was about 12:45 and they were quite busy.  (They close at 2 p.m.)  My chili verde was very good.  I did find one piece of onion that was the size of a quarter of a small onion but the soup was tasty and well done.  Unfortunately the hamburger was not so nice.  They called it a 1/3 lb (150g) burger - no, the chef's finger must have been on the scale as well.  And it was very well done; they didn't even offer it any other way so I guess we can't complain about that except that if you 'hold the feces' you don't have to overcook hamburger!  To make matters worse, the meat was unseasoned; not even salt and pepper.  We thought the cole slaw served with the hamburger was excellent.  So, it may be the only game it town but I doubt if we'll be back.

On the way home we had an unexpected treat.  We were coming over the pass and almost at the top saw a group of 5 or 6 mountain goats!  We were doing about 50 mph (80 kph) and quickly dropped to about half that.  The goats were grazing on the side of the road and there wasn't much room there.  They weren't spooked by the traffic though so I'm hoping they decided to eat elsewhere before they got hit.  There is always some idiot trying to see if he can better his last elapsed time up the mountain.  We've seen them a couple of other times but never so many in a group.  Exciting stuff!  No photos though.  I wasn't thinking or I would have turned around and gone back to check on them.  Duh!

Gotta go.  Have a good one.