Oh what memories. I came from a small town in South Dakota and was attending the state university. Our band had a concert tour that ended in Denver in 1977. Coming from a small farming town, it was quite an interesting trip. We stayed at the Radisson with the Playboy club on the top floor. It was also the first time I saw one of our male students made up as female to attend a party that was a long time in the planning; (s)he looked good!
Anyway, one of our evenings was free so a bunch of us were talked into going to Casa Bonita. I remember the food was blah, but the concept was really interesting to us “kids” (and we were kids). The cliff divers! The Mariachi band! The caves to explore! My best buddy went in to get a old-timey picture, with us dressed and posing as Butch Cassidy and the Sundance Kid; I still have that picture. It was lots of fun for us.
About 20 years ago we took our kids to Casa Bonita. It seemed a lot smaller, the food even worse, and our kids weren’t as excited about it as I was. Maybe I wasn’t as jaded…