The ARVO meeting this year was very different from my first experience attending the event in 2010. Fort Lauderdale had been a long-time host, so casual shirts and shorts were the typical attire. And as residents, we paid more attention to the beach and nightlife than the actual research posters and lectures. But this year, as a new faculty attending the meeting in Denver, the experience was much more formal … and stressful. Between trying to attend both clinical and basic science talks, I was also arranging meetings with collaborators, mentors, and industry reps – not to mention catching up with old friends whom I rarely see. On Saturday, after bumming a ride with my fellow and almost forgetting to bring my poster, we made it to the airport in time to grab a burger at the gate before a restless flight sitting next to his two toddlers. Dinner with my roommate at Panzano included calamari and polenta sticks followed by a hearty “Carbonara alla Panzano” that was made with homemade pasta cooked to al dente perfection. Sunday was packed with meetings, and the blue bear figurine near the entrance made for an easy landmark to coordinate. For dinner, I met up with my Duke co-fellows at Rioja to reminisce, then walked to the Harvard reception which I’ve found to be bigger and less familiar each year. I dressed more formally on Monday to meet with some industry reps, and was glad that the suit survived both tacos at Los Chingones for lunch and eclectic street foods at Linger with MEEI residents for dinner. I presented my poster on the morning of Cinco de Mayo, then braved the torrential rain for more tacos with my UCD colleagues at Tamayo, and splurged on dinner with a friend at Mizuna with foie gras and Chilean sea bass. My energy was winding down by Wednesday after back-to-back morning meetings. So I just got a burger at nearby Stout Street Social before catching an Uber ride to the airport for my flight home. Despite the busy schedule and being mildly depressed by the successes of other clinician-scientists, I was well-fed on my first visit to the Mile High city and look forward to future meetings.