Colorado Chronicles : Hot Times in August

A Festival in the Hills

Colorado is where the 3rd most readers of Three States Plus One reside and I am grateful to both all of them. Even though it's only Monday, I wanted to give my Mom and 2nd Dad, Mark these folks a heads up on what will going on in the Centennial State for the rest of August. And away we goooooooooo...(in no particular order)

• 2010 Friday Night Comedy Series - Every Friday Night in August in Keystone.
• The 2010 Carbondale Wild West Rodeo - starts Thursday, Augusta 12.
• Mile High Music Festival - runs Saturday and Sunday (14th & 15th), featuring Weezer and the Steve Miller Band, in Commerce City at Dick's Sporting Goods Park.
• A Taste of Colorado 2010 - this event is actually on Labor Day Weekend, but that's close enough to Augusta to mention this one - it's a biggie. In Denver at Civic Center Park, September 3 - 6.
• Tutankhamun : The Golden King and the Great Pharaohs - now through January 9, 2011 at the Denver Art Museum.

NFL Pre-Season Football - Denver Broncos host the Detroit Lions on August 21 at Invesco Field at Mile High..

That's a short list of some of the things going around the Rockies for August. There are, of course, a million other things to do this month in Colorado. To get more info on an area of the state you plan to visit, simply go to colorado.com and click away!

Maine Minutiae : Cuttin' the Mustard for Over 100 Years - UPDATED

Over a Century of Mustard

My main(e) (<---pun) goal in writing this blog is to feature something you haven't previously known about, and today I may have reached that goal. Unless you have strong connections to Maine (Eastport specifically), like living/have lived here or have family or friends here, chances are you've never heard of Raye's Mustard. You are gonna thank me by the end of this post. Raye's is located in Eastport and has been at the same location for 103 years using the same stone grinding machinery for that entire time! Here's a four minute video that walks you through the whole process of how Raye's Mustard is made. Even watching the video gives you the feeling of traveling back to 1903, the very beginning of of this legendary business. Today, in 2010, Raye's has more types of mustard than the Octomom and Kate plus Eight together have kids. My personal favorite is the sweet and spicy, but I have tried several different flavors and each is very tasty. Another thing: while looking for Raye's Mustard's Facebook page, I learned that at 10PM, EDT, tonight, the company will be featured on Food Crafters on the Cooking Channel. My wife has already set the DVR. :) Raye's really is a good product and they offer a large variety of mustards to choose from so your sandwich will never be the same twice in a row. Pride, tradition and those 103 year old seed mills have proven to be a winner in New England...and maybe your state, too.

***DISCLAIMER : I WAS NOT compensated in any way by Raye's Mustard for writing this post.I genuinely like and use their product...I have some in my 'fridge right now.***

UPDATE : According Raye's Mustard's Kevin Raye via Facebook The Cooking Channel will repeat tonight's broadcast featuring Raye's Mustard as follows:           
Kevin Raye Bummer, Roberta, but don't despair! It will re-air three times, as follows:
August 10, 2010 2:00 AM
August 14, 2010 5:30 PM
August 16, 2010 12:00 PM

Texas Tidbits : The Greatest of the Greatest Generation

Go Vikings! 

Nimitz High School in Irving, Texas (Class of '75!) was named after one of the most celebrated Naval Officers in the history of the United States Navy. Born in Fredericksburg, Texas, February 24, 1885, Chester William Nimitz was the bouncing baby boy of Anna (Henke) Nimitz and Chester B. Nimitz, who died before his hero-to-be son was born. It was young Chester's grandfather, himself a retired sea captain, who instilled the virtues and character in Nimitz that would serve him, and our country, so well later in life. At the Offical US Navy website we learn that young Chester "had his sights set on an Army career and while a student at Tivy High School, Kerrville, Texas, he tried for an appointment to West Point. When none was available, he took a competitive examination for Annapolis and was selected and appointed from the Twelfth Congressional District of Texas in 1901. He left high school to enter the Naval Academy Class of 1905. It was many years later, after he had become a Fleet Admiral that he actually was awarded his high school diploma. At the Academy Nimitz was an excellent student, especially in mathematics and graduated with distinction -- seventh in a class of 114". Admiral Nimitz's rise through the ranks of the Navy ultimately led him aboard the USS Missouri, where on September 2, 1945, on behalf of the United States of America, he signed the document that was the unconditional surrender of the Japanese, ending World War II. There's so much more to this man's story that I'd love to tell, but time and space won't allow me to do so. I urge you to click on the links in the post and read more about this true American Hero who was The Greatest of the Greatest Generation.