I'm going, going, back, back, to Denver, Denver! If you have read my older blog post, yes I have traveled to Denver before, and I used to live in Colorado Springs as a kid. As you may know, some places are worth visiting more than once, to see new things, visit new places, and find some new friends. So back in December of 2019 I made another trip, to do just that.
Day 1
Another short two day trip just to enjoy the weekend, I flew into Denver at about 1PM and had about an hour Lyft ride to my hotel. The hotel of choice for this trip was Hotel Teatro. I picked this hotel for its convenient location in downtown Denver, and the fact that I like to be really comfortable, and there was a hot tub. After checking in I decided to go get some food. With a quick Google search and the help of the front desk I chose to go to Ted's Montana Grill located at 1401 Larimer Street downtown Denver. The restaurant was very spacious with a long bar area, table seating, and more intimate booth seating as well. As I'm a sucker for beef ribs I chose to order up the bison short ribs, garlic mashed potatoes, and roasted asparagus. The only other time I have ever tried bison was when I went to Washington a few years back, I had a bison burger at Cabellas. Bison ribs definitely reminded me of beef ribs, didn't taste to gamey like a bison burger, and it was very tender, plus the gravy was excellent.
After getting full, I decided to just stroll around Larimer Square, as it has so many different restaurants, and little shops to explore. After a couple of hours roaming the downtown streets I headed back to the hotel as I had worked up another appetite. So the plan was to change and find another place to eat. After a recommendation from the front desk I decided to check out Vesta, which unfortunately was closed down in 2020 due to COVID. I really appreciated how much space this place had, and the glasswork on the hanging lights bulbs at the bar were pretty cool as well. For dinner I went with a 12oz ribeye, my favorite cut, with a side of crispy potatoes, and char siu pork belly as an appetizer. After eating dinner, I walked around the surrounding are Dairy Block and stumbled upon a live DJ at Maven Hotel. The scene was pretty legit, with lo fi and classic rap filling the space, I met some cool people while hanging around at the bar. After leaving the Maven Hotel I decided to head back to my hotel room as I had an early morning start the next day for more adventure.
Day 2
Started early at 9AM with a trip to Union Station. Union Station is a historic train station and probably the heart of Denver. Opened in 1881 and rebuilt and reopened in 1914 due to an electrical fire that caused massive damage to the original structure in 1894. This iconic tourist destination is still in service today, with trips to and from the airport, amtrak services which can go to San Francisco, Omaha, Chicago, and many more. There are also ride share services, parking, rentals, and shuttle bus. The reason for me going this time is that I was meeting up with a group to do a Denver Foothills trip. The trip in total cost about $80 and included in the half day tour, transportation to Red Rock Amphitheatre, Evergreen Colorado, and Buffalo Bills grave site. If you read the previous blog on Denver I had visited the Red Rock Amphitheatre before, but this time I explored the interior a bit more than the last time. Red Rocks is a cool place if you love nature and music. The space is huge and can seat over 9,000 people and was opened in 1941. There are trails to walk, tons of nature to see across the more than 700 acres of land. The star of the show here is definitely the rock formations, reminiscent of Pride Rock from Lion King. Inside you can find a visitor center, Red Rocks Store, a music museum, and several places to eat.
Next we took a scenic trip down highway 74 to the small town of Evergreen Colorado. This place was very festive at this time of year, with some pretty cool small shops, bars, and restaurants, We were given about 45 minutes to explore the area, and I chose to stop by Little Bear Saloon first. The decorations in this two story bar are hilarious and you can find tons of things hanging from the walls, pillars, and much more. Some things you can find includes, state signage, license plates, money, women undergarments, and lots or carved names and sayings. After having a drink with some of the group I walked a few doors down to Seasonally Yours, which is a gift, toy, candy, and fudge shop. This place brought back a lot of childhood memories, they have classic candies like Big League Chew Gum and Bazooka. I also got to taste some of the fudge and it was amazing, so I had to get some for the road. After gathering a few souvenirs and candy I headed back to the meeting point for the next stop. The final stop for the day was Buffalo Bills Museum and Grave. I wont spoil any of the history of this spot in case any of you plan on visiting and learning yourself, but one of my favorite things about this place is the beauty of the nature that surrounds it. These sites can be viewed from an observation deck or just by walking around the area. This trip lasted a total of 4 hours so I was back in Denver around 1PM. Big shout out to Aspire Tours for the awesome trip, will leave a link below so y'all can check them out.
After leaving and getting back to Union Station I decided to head to the hotel to freshen up and get some much needed grub. I was in the mood for Japanese and was hoping I could find something really good, Google once again got me to Domo. Domo is such a dope place, and sadly it has also been shut down due to popularity really. The place went viral and the owner was understaffed and overworked and made the decision to shut the place down. I had worked up a appetite and the food for lunch included; steamed gyoza, chicken kara-age, miso soup, Shoyu ramen, steamed rice with Teriyaki pork, and hot sake. My favorite park of the meal was for sure the ramen, and I can say it rivaled Ramen Tatsuya in Austin Texas, my favorite place for ramen. The staff were so nice and friendly and they could not believe I had finished all of the food I had ordered. The interior of this building was nicely designed, and much of it is made of wood, with wooden decorations, and lots of Japanese cultural decor. Once I was nice and full I decided to head over to the Denver Botanic Gardens. This was a very cool part of the trip, and this place includes many gardens including, international gardens, western gardens, water gardens, and even a science center in the shape of a pyramid. I arrived here kind of late so I didn't have much time to check out all it had to offer, but if I ever go back to Denver I will make sure to take some additional time to check out the rest of it.
Next stop was back to the hotel to freshen up for the night, and meet up with an old friend I went to high school with in Germany. Rob and I decided to head over to Barcode Lounge to listen to some music and grab some drinks. After a few hours of catching up and enjoying the vibes It was time for me to head back to the hotel for some much needed rest, as my flight back to Austin was at about 11AM.
*Have you even been, or want to go to Denver? If so let me know what are some of your favorite places, or what places you want to see in the comments below.
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