All weekend I kept replaying the scene in the 1994 comedy classic, Dumb and Dumber, when Lloyd Christmas (played by Jim Carrey) meets his love addiction Mary Swanson. The interaction went something like this:
Lloyd Christmas: So where are you headin‘?
Mary Swanson: Aspen.
Lloyd Christmas: Hmmm, California! Beautiful!
While Aspen is actually located in western Colorado, it is indeed a beautiful place. Normally I would have no reason to take a 4 plus hour trip out of the city and through the mountains… and when I say “through the mountains” I mean that literally. Yet on this weekend, Aspen played host to ESPN’s 11th Winter X Games. As a fan of pro sports in general I decided to make arrangements with a childhood friend from Connecticut that was working the event for ESPN (good look Bobby A., Matt P.)
Now, I know what you’re thinking…you wouldn’t expect many people of my persuasion to be up on top of a cold mountain. Don’t worry, there’s nothing wrong for having that thought. If you’re not Black or Puerto Rican, it doesn’t necessarily make you prejudiced. The truth is I had the same fleeting thought. But anyone who knows me knows that I am all about new experiences, new places and new faces.
Felicia and I stopped in Vail for dinner on the way to Aspen on Friday night. When we arrived in Aspen, our first stop was Buttermilk Mountain. 
To back up a minute, I must say that I thought about inserting a description of what the drive was like to reach our destination. By that I mean a detailed account of the scenery including ski resorts, hot springs and Rocky Mountains. I would have also talked about the runaway truck exits down mountain slides that sloped at about 7 degrees. This would have been followed by reflections of the narrow pitch black roads winding around mountain basins and tops alike at 8,000 feet. However, any written account of our recent travels would have been lost in translation as it is truly something you have to experience for yourself.
Anyway! On the recommendation of Playboy Magazine (you should know that I don’t actually read or subscribe to Playboy. I guess good publicity just travels fast), we visited “one of the sexiest clubs in America” at the Sky Hotel. I can’t honestly say that people in Aspen are as nice as they are in Denver but it was a good time nonetheless.
We spent Saturday exploring downtown Aspen and watching the extreme athletes tear up the slopes. The day was highlighted by a chance meeting with Common who was there to perform that night (there were also parties thrown by Paul Wall and Talib Kwel
i). Our weekend was capped by a free Common concert and a night on the town where there was another chance meeting with hip-hop legend Lord Jamar of Brand Nubian.
Aspen was like walking through the set of a MTV “reality” TV series. Think O.C. meets The Hills with more than a touch of snow, 
mountain views and cold temperatures. When it was all said in done, our time was a memorable one. The fashion forward and trendy town left an impression on these two east coasters. Albeit the impression was mostly, ‘I’m glad we live in a city’ but that’s neither here nor there. We drank, we ate, we partied and for a brief moment in time we escaped life’s ordinary routine.
Another box on the list of “must do’s” for this ‘youngin‘ has been checked. This post will be the first in my new Section titled Travel. I will probably reflect on some past trips but dedicate 
it more to some upcoming trips we plan to take (LA, Phoenix, Seattle etc.). With that, I’m signing off. Until next time…happy travels!
P.S. The running joke around town was: “How’s your Aspen?”
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