Our first visit to Casa Bonita in Lakewood, CO

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originally uploaded by Tiffany Klier.

This was a very interesting experience. If I were to decide on a grade it would generously be a C-. The kids obviously love the warren of areas to explore and the little attractions like this 'bus' and 'train.' There is also a treasure area where mounds of candy is left out in the open for kids to enjoy.

The down sides are definitely in two major areas. First, and what's most important to us, is the FOOD. Ugh! The beans were like wallpaper paste. Ben got a cheeseburger which had a congealed glop of cheese on top of a nasty cafeteria style patty. The fries, which are usually difficult to screw up, where inedible. Jitka can even back me up on that one, because she tried them. Her friend Chandra was visiting from Austin, so they had veggie fajitas, which looked a whole sight better than my 'green' enchilada and Ota's beef ones. Mine was not even green, but it was digestable. Ota's was swimming in velveeta (or something less grand). The only good part of the food was the sopapillas. They were just right, but could have used some powdered sugar. Sopapillas are similar to benees; warm, deep fried, sweet bread, which we covered with honey.

Well, that said, I've come to the second point of contention. The degrading building. There was various places where it's clear the bottom line is too make money and not to care for the facilities. The bathroom floors were wet with urine, there were buckets in main areas that looked like they were to catch leaks, and the whole place had a dungeon-like, musty, smell. You know the smell if you're ever in Disneyland and standing in line at an underground queue.

I'd like to end on a more positive note, so I'll add my observations of the well advertised cliff diving. That was neat. Campy, and you couldn't hear the actors, but neat to see the guy climbing up the fake rock walls and jumping.

Overall, with as much money as they charge for the horrible meals, I think they could do better. As someone said in a review Ota read online: since admission is paying for your dinner, choose the cheapest thing. We should have.