We took a little jaunt over to Fruita, CO, and, folks, this is the first date we’ve been on where we walked out the door mid-date! Perhaps Fruita was a bit of a stretch to begin with…If Fruita were a dating profile he would definitely be pictured with a rifle, his car, and bathroom selfie.
We headed to the Copper Club Brewery for a beer. The Copper Club is known as Fruita’s living room with families playing games, Fido lounging nearby. Folks are also allowed to bring in food or order from nearby restaurants (lots of Dominos pizza boxes were on the tables). It has a true neighborhood feel. And maybe that is why we felt so unwelcomed. We were asked by the bartender where we were visiting from, which is not an outlandish or unfriendly question to ask by any means, but a clear indication that we were seen as outsiders from the get-go.
Don’t Stare At Me!
There was also a man at the bar who couldn’t.stop.stairing.at.us. In a creepy not curious way. He was sitting behind me, even, and I could feel the lazers of his eyes on me. I turned to look at the beer list on the wall, went to order beers, and went to pay, and he tracked me each time. On several occasions when he caught my eye, he didn’t shift his gaze but seemed to zero in even more. It made me so uncomfortable that, despite the deliciousness of the beer, we moved on.
We mosied a few blocks down to Suds Brothers Brewery. Suds also had some nice beer offerings. I had a black lager that was so good! You don’t see black lagers often and you find really good ones even less often. We had three young men next to us who also enjoyed the black lager with a shot of generic Irish Cream…in the style of a car bomb. Was this the norm? Was this out-of-the-ordinary Sunday afternoon fun? Who can tell? We were surprised to see them order and chug their third car bomb (they didn’t seem drunk at that point, so no pointing fingers at the bartender). Typically, we aren’t three-car-bomb types of people and decided to head for the hills after that.
Did we give Fruita enough of a try? Did we judge Fruita by it’s bro-ey and creepy vibes? Yes. Is that fair? Well, like Tinder, there is always another town a swipe away.