Denver here I come!!
8My husband and I have been discussing our 10 year anniversary plans for a couple years. We were going to go on a Baltic Cruise or visit Australia… then everything shut down. Then we moved. So we almost decided not to do anything. BUT we both had our time off at work and we had a babysitter set up for the long weekend.
We ended up picking a place neither of us have been. So tell me about Denver. We’ll only be there for a couple days but the tickets and hotel are booked. We’ll be there the end of September.
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The airport is large. You should check it out.
@medz
Large, and with a really not-flat roof.
@medz @werehatrack and a baggage handling system that is totally fixed.
@medz great news, we will be checking it out based solely on this comment! Thanks so much!!
Be sure to spend some time appreciating Blucifer.
The Denver Airport, back when conspiracy theories were still fun.
Denver. It’s a city. It’s got City Stuff. But not too far away is Rocky Mountains National Park, which has Big Mountains Stuff. Between the two (ish) is what the folks in the Denver suburb of Lakewood sometimes call “the People’s Republic of Boulder”, a college town with college-y features. I don’t know your tastes, but I know mine…
You’ll ask me for clarification if you need it. You don’t mention if you will have a car. Without knowing any of your interests, but going solely off stereotypes I can apply to the generalities revealed in your post…
Ideas:
@ESQuireTech I’m lazy and still recommend going to Red Rock.
@ESQuireTech I haven’t decided on a car yet. I’ll probably just do Uber/Lyft because car rental costs are really high right now.
The Brewery tour sounds fun. I’ve been to micro breweries here in Wisconsin and done tours and they’re always fun!
I’m reading and responding at the same time and now I’m re-thinking the rental car because the Park sounds amazing and I think my husband might really like that.
The Museum sounds interesting too. We did Washington DC for our honeymoon and went to several museums. My husband has a degree in history so we usually find a lot to look at in Museums.
Ok… i would love the shopping, husband would probably roll his eyes at me LOL.
Anything that is not super tourist-y but fun to check out? Is there like a road strip that people tend to check out (Like Fremont St in Las Vegas or Broadway in Nashville)?
@mbersiam The road/strip would be the 16th street mall. Don’t let the word “mall” make you think it is indoors. It is about 6 blocks of pedestrian-only 16th street smack dab in downtown with shops, restaurants, breweries, bicycle cabs, playhouses, theaters, etc.
Here are some historic walking tours: https://historicdenver.org/tours-events/walking-tours/
@ESQuireTech @mbersiam The tour is closed because COVID.
@ESQuireTech @mbersiam @Salanth
The website doesn’t indicate anywhere that the tours aren’t going on.
@mbersiam Ride shares are also expensive here. To go 6 miles during rush hour can be in the $100 range…at least that’s been my experience lately…so just be warned. And not all things are super close to Denver itself, and traffic can be a lot on certain routes.
I agree with the other advice given, and I was going to suggest the walking tour as well. The museums are all pretty fun here, too. Meow Wolf is also opening soon, if you enjoy that kind of thing and can get tix to it.
Have a great time!
@mbersiam here’s the one i was thinking of
http://www.walkingtoursdenver.com/
TBH He’s totally rad.
There are tons of cool little café situations or, hell, I don’t even know anymore; there were before the COVID. Coffee shops and little combo comics stores and off-beat restaurants.
Make sure to get you some edibles. I’m actually not the biggest fan, but I think it’s a thing one should do—and am glad I have a few times. Just makes me silly, but also relaxed.
My recommendation is to have one or several good friends in Denver and just hook up with one or more of them. Put that in the queue for next time.
I have a college buddy who lives there and several cool people we’ve gotten close to through him. And seriously, I think Denver’s the kind of place that benefits from a personalized guided experience; someone who lives in and knows the city and knows you. The city feels intimate and mostly unpretentious to me, that might just be because of the friends there.
Definitely do something like Red Rock. I’m not a fan of cardio, but I love it nevertheless. I happen to be in Colorado Springs visiting my kid at the moment, and I’d say if you had a longer stay, it’d be worth coming down to Garden of the Gods. But there’s basically one road and it’s notorious and even without that, it’s a good bit of driving. Close enough to go and be back and have time for some other stuff, but I’m not sure I’d mess with it unless that was a primary focus (it could be; at some point in your life, make it). Then there’s Pike’s. Also awesome, but probably not worth it if you’re based in Denver and just there for a few days.
Really, I think the best recommendation I have other than the friend is just chill and enjoy your surroundings, even looking out from the city.
We’re usually here in November. I like just going to Costco and seeing people in casual snow gear (the snow itself is a huge draw for me); there’s a big difference between say, a tourist in snow gear and someone who lives here and it’s their day-to-day.
The more I think about it, the more I’m realizing that what I love about Colorado is spending time having long, rambling conversations (about all of the things, not just—but including—politics, philosophy, art, life, the universe and what the fuck 42 is all about. And having those surrounded by the natural beauty, in the arid climate and—if you’re lucky—with some snow on the ground or at least in sight. But you have your SO. Grab of cup of something at a place with a view, and just be, enjoy each other, exchange happy wandering words.
KRULL! A SKULL! BRETT HULL! AWESOME!
@joelmw lol the edibles is what my husband said is why I picked Denver but it wasn’t the reason. He wouldn’t touch them… i’m a little more open to that. I love rambling conversations myself.
Keep some thoughts in honor of John and Bob, but try not to go visit them.
Keep some thoughts in honor of John and Bob, but try not to go visit them.
Hope you enjoy your trip and congrats on the anniversary.
@phendrick
/giphy thank you
Here’s some more eclectic suggestions:
https://www.atlasobscura.com/things-to-do/denver-colorado
One thing to know - there’s a pretty big homeless population that sets up tents here and there, until the city sweeps them and they set up somewhere else. Not a big threat, but it can be unnerving if you’re not expecting it.
Love CO find a happy spot in the middle of the mountains and just let the calm and beauty soak into your soul
Be careful going to 16th street mall and downtown. All kinds of mentally ill people, homeless people begging, mentally ill/homeless people screaming and yelling at you during the day while walking with your family near the 16th St., Mall… I’m all for assisting those in need, but not when they pose a threat to my family.
There’s people like this all over the downtown area and we did not feel safe. The security/police allow the homeless to set up sleeping quarters in tents, tarps and carriages all over the city and on the sidewalks, which I really don’t understand.
We stayed in Denver for three days and I’ll never go back. There is a park where people gathered across from the Colorado Supreme Court (also downtown) that held all kinds of problem people shooting up and yelling and screaming at people walking and driving by.
We stayed in the downtown “major name” Hotel and paid for parking across the street where we had to share the parking lot and the sidewalk with a bunch of homeless tents. Every time I walk out of the hotel, someone was picking through the garbage, blocking the doorway, begging for money or simply loitering around the hotel… I don’t care of myself, but not my family.
As others have said, the Rocky Mountains are nice and red rock amphitheater abs the airport is nice, but other than that, I have no reason to return to Denver… Ever.
Like bookstores?
The Tattered Cover Bookstore is pretty well known even far from Denver.
Here’s a list of bookstores if you wanna check these out.
The Ten Best Bookstores in Denver
https://www.westword.com/arts/the-ten-best-bookstores-in-denver-6659360
FWIW, I don’t think Denver is really an “Uber” sort of city. Too sprawling, and too many of the places you ought to go aren’t in the city proper.
You have a Giant Blue Bear standing against a building looking in.
Word is that they have pretty decent omelets there.
¯\_(ツ)_/¯
Sorry, only experience with Denver was an unplanned overnight stay when my flight out of LGA was delayed due to snow, causing me to miss my connecting flight. Not only did I have to pony up for a hotel, but no one at Southwest could be bothered to even try to retrieve my luggage for the night so that I’d have my deodorant and clean clothes to change into the next morning. But hey, I had loads of New York bagels in my carryon to nosh on at least.
Oh, and that was the last time I flew, about 2 months before the pandemic pretty much shut everything down.
Also - it sometimes snows in Denver in late September, so don’t rule that out - but it’s usually kind of neat; it makes things pretty and melts away fast!
Enough city stuff? Want to get some altitude? Mount Evans has the highest paved road in North America - 14,264 feet. And you can drive nearly to the peak.
Mile High City? Pffft! That’s nothing in the Rocky Mountains. This will get you 2.7 miles high.
https://www.denver.org/things-to-do/day-trips-around-colorado/mount-evans/
It’s a fun road, and great views.