Day 1
We flew out of LAX at 5:50PM and, due to some storms over Denver International and having to fly to Alburquerque for more fuel, arrived in Denver a little after midnight. We picked up our rental car and drove to our hotel, Hyatt Place Denver South/Park Meadows. This was when we first noticed there were quite a bit of abandoned cars on Denver's freeways and highways. Anyone know why?
Day 2
We woke up just in time for our hotel's daily complimentary continental breakfast (a feature of every Hyatt Place). For those who prefer a hot breakfast, you can order from the kitchen.
After breakfast,we drove to Molly Brown House Museum in Denver. Most people know her for surviving Titanic. She was also a strong advocate for women's rights. In the Hollywood movie, Kathy Bates (not so accurately) depicted Molly, whose actual name is Margaret. Margaret came from a poor Irish family and became rich when her husband, J.J. Brown, discovered how to mine gold, in Leadville, CO, in 1893. They moved to Denver soon afterwards, to the very mansion we visited. Historic Denver has preserved her home since 1970 and gives tours Tuesday-Sunday.After the tour, we went to the 16th Street Mall for lunch. It is an outdoor mall that I.M. Pei & Partners designed and stretches over a mile. I was really looking forward to eating gourmet hot dogs from Biker Jim, but, sadly, Biker Jim doesn't set up his stand on weekends. But, not to fret, we were at 16th Street Mall with plenty of options. To get a better idea of what the mall was like and what was available, we decided to hop on the mall's amazingly clean and free shuttle system, which stops on every block, and head to the two must-sees "in" the mall.
Just a short ride later, we got off on Wazoo and headed to Rockmount Ranchwear. The CEO, Jack A. Weil, started his business in 1946 by introducing America to the first western shirt with snaps. Fans (past and present) include Elvis, Bruce Springstein, Nicholas Cage, and Keifer Sutherland. On the second level of the store is a museum where you can read about the history of the business and see the different styles of western shirts. This is where I read articles about Mr. Weil being the oldest CEO. He went to work daily, up until his passing last year, at the age of 107.
After Rockmount, our stomachs growled and demanded that we eat lunch. We had to save the second must-see for later. For lunch, we hopped back on the shuttle and headed back a few blocks to a street corner stand. The stand was cute and we were hoping the food would taste as good as it smelled (or I was really, really hoping because I had already messed up lunch plans). Thankfully, Boney's Smokehouse was great. We shared a hot link (a real hot link, the spiciest one I've ever had), potato salad, and cole slaw. Willy also had a rib.We headed back to our car after lunch to head to our next destination. Although the car was parked only about three blocks away, we took advantage of the shuttle service. On the way to the shuttle stop, Willy ran ahead of me and got a picture of the 16th Street Mall and the surrounding landscape:
Things to note in the picture: 1) D&F Clock Tower: built in 1910 and is Denver's first skyscraper. 2) Fabulous and dependable shuttle: courtesy of Regional Transportation Department and, again, completely free to riders. 3) Spot me?When we got to our car, we drove southeast to the Civic Center Cultural Complex to visit the Denver Public Library and the Denver Art Museum. Please keep in mind that everything we did on this day is in close proximity to each other. The shuttle service alone allows you to shop, eat, visit museums, arcitectural wonders, and government buildings (including the Capitol and U.S. Mint) all in one trip. We didn't take the shuttle to the complex but we did use it to get back to the opposite side for dinner.
Denver Public Library was designed by architect Michael Graves, who also designed Walt Disney Corporate Headquarters in Burbank, CA. Denver Public Library is the largest library between Los Angeles and Chicago and over a million people visit each year. While walking from the library to the art museum, the clouds moved in and it started to rain! It was strange. One moment, it was sunny and we were enjoying lunch outdoors, and, the next, we were running for cover. Willy later found out that this weather was pretty normal for Denver.
Since the Denver Art Museum closed at five, we only had about an hour and a half. We had to decide if that would be enough time to get through everything. Focus on just a few exhibits? Nah! We opted for breadth over depth. Thus, this began "DAM Tour: Turbo Style." We took stairs instead of elevators and used placards at the beginning of the gallery to help us focus on a few works each exhibit. The museum is very big; it is two buildings that are connected by a bridge. If you are a lover of the arts and visit the Denver Art Museum, do know it will be worthwhile and that you can spend the whole day (or multiple days, even) there.Here is a shot of the Capitol from the highest floor:
Even though the Denver Art Museum closed at five, we were not finished with museums at five. We walked about three blocks to the 16th Street Mall shuttle and took it to the other end (Union Station) to get to the Museum of Contemporary Art Denver. When planning, I was very happy to find that this museum stayed open later than the DAM. This museum is small (downright miniscule compared to DAM) and only two floors were open as the rest of the museum was inbetween exhibits. Still, good Damien Hirst stuff in this one (inclusive of many broken butterfly wings and a full on bull preserved in formaldehyde).
WARNING: What you are about to read may change your perception of me, or us. Please feel free to skip to the following paragraph. For those who've decided to read through, please do know that we do not enjoy taking pictures of strangers nor do we want to pursue careers as paparazzi. However, we do have this picture:
Do we know the two people hugging? No. Do we know at least one of the two? No. Do we know anything about these two? YES! As I was walking across this bridge, after we had left MCA Denver, I walked by this couple, who was sitting on that wooden bench, and I witnessed the guy drop to his knee and propose! It was too sweet, and I couldn't resist. I promise I didn't stare too much and I wasn't too close to them when I took this picture (just kinda). Huzzah to the happy couple!
Okay, time to walk to our second must-see at the outdoor mall. The Tattered Cover Bookstore is the biggest non-chain bookstore I have visited. You can get lost in that store and in those books for hours. They have plenty of vintage, somewhat "tattered," chairs and couches for you to relax and read in. We chose to buy A Heartbreaking Work of Staggering Genius by Dave Eggers, which Willy couldn't wait to get home to read (see picture).
It was about dinner time and we headed on over after the bookstore. The restaurant I planned to eat at was only a block away. Gumbo's specializes in creole food and great service. Creole may not be the first cuisine that comes to mind when thinking about Denver, but this place is great and is definitely going to be a staple in future Denver trips. Our waiter, Eloy, from New Orleans, was confident and honest when recommending good dishes. We each started with a cocktail and then shared a bowl of crabmeat gumbo and crawfish étouffée. We finished off the meal with caramel custard. The bill was just a shade under $50, so this meal will not show up in the cost breakdown.
Day 3
We ate breakfast, packed up, checked out of our hotel, and headed to Red Rocks Park and Amphitheatre. Before planning this trip, I knew nothing about this amphitheatre. Now, I look forward to planning a trip revolved around a concert at this venue (sadly, there were no events scheduled this particular weekend, seemingly the only empty weekend in 2009). A great place to start your visit is at the visitor's center. There is a Performers Hall of Fame display, listing all the events that have been at Red Rocks, and a theater that shows a documentary of the venue's history and covers the legends that have played there. You can also read about the geologic and music history of Red Rocks on interactive educational displays. If you get hungry, there is an on-site restaurant. Just outside the visitor's center is the amphitheatre itself. Besides watching concerts and movies at the amphitheatre, many locals also work out there.
From the amphitheatre, we got into our car and drove a couple of minutes to a trail head. Red Rocks in Denver was originally envisioned to be a driving park, so it doesn't have the extensive trail system of its Red Rock counterpart in Vegas. Our trail started at the Trading Post and looped around to be a little over a mile total. Along the way, we saw the biggest dandelion ever, Willy befriended a deer, and a storm was slowly moving in. Yes, that strange Denver summer weather was catching up to us and we could see lightning in the, not so distant, sky during our hike. Luckily, we made it back before the storm came in.
After the hike, we headed off to Golden, CO, where Coors Brewing Company was born. The brewery offers free self-guided tours with free beer samples at the end. We parked our car at the visitors parking lot, had lunch in downtown Golden, and hopped on a shuttle for a five minute ride to the brewery. At the brewery, we received hand-held devices that led us through the brewery and the brewing and packaging process. When you reach the "hospitality lounge" at the end of the tour, you can sample three servings of beers. Two things I learned: 1) When pouring beer into a cup, you should create a head of foam about two fingers high for peak flavor. 2) Non-alcoholic beer is really, really bad.
The rain started up again when we were walking back to the shuttle but, thankfully, had stopped by the time we reached the visitors parking lot. We had some time before my flight so we were able to catch a light dinner and some ice cream. The airport was about half an hour away and Willy dropped me off with enough time to catch my flight (and find out there was a delay).
Cost Breakdown
$189.20 - 1 Roundtrip flight from LAX to DEN on Southwest (Willy flew courtesy of his company)
$121.94 ($72/$36+tax) - 2 nights at Hyatt Place Denver South/Park Meadows using offer code SUMFAM, which discounts the second night 50% at participating Hyatt Place hotels
$103.97 - Rental car for 2 days from Hertz (the actual rental period was through Tuesday, so this is half of the total)
$16.00 ($8 x2) - Admission and guided tour of Molly Brown House Museum
$4.50 - Metered street parking at 16th Street Mall ($1 an hour and free after 6pm)
$20.00 ($10 x2) - Admission to Denver Art Museum
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$455.61
Notes:
- We received free admission to MCA Denver because we are members of another museum that is a North American Reciprocal Museum.
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